Thomas A. Heberlein argues that conservation efforts should focus on changing behaviors rather than attitudes. He advocates using "structural fixes" that change social norms and environments to influence behavior, rather than relying on "cognitive fixes" that aim to change attitudes through increasing knowledge. Norms are powerful because they are specific, observable behaviors that people follow to feel positively regarded by others. While attitudes are resistant to change and take direct experience to shift, behaviors can be influenced by altering social norms without changing underlying attitudes.

1. Conservation Movement:
Changing Behavior
Angela Henderson, Fullerton College: English 103
By Thomas A. Heberlein

2. How to Improve Environmental Behavior
Begin with the end in mind:
1. Focus on behavior - what people do and how they do it
2. Understand people’s perceptions of other people’s norms
3. Recognize norms focus on behavior and are more specific than values
4. Create norms by establishing clear, specific, observable, public, or
semipublic behavior
Heberlein, Thomas A. Navigating Environmental Attitudes page 112

3. Navigating Environmental Attitudes
Thomas A Herberlein argues that we need to use a “structural fix” that
changes the social environment that influences what people do.
Structural fix vs. cognitive fix (changes behavior through knowledge)
Attitude change takes time, direct experience, and social influence (page 34)
Voting is a clear, observable behavior that represents attitude (page 56)
“The best predictor of behavior is behavior” (page 63)

4. World View: Values & Beliefs & Attitude
“Values are the basis for many attitudes and play a major role in discussing
pro-environmental behavior” (Heberlein, 15).
The basic difference between a value and an attitude is the value has
no particular object, but the attitude does.
Beliefs tie to attitudes: the cognitive component of attitudes
Social Psychologists recognize that a belief can be inconsistent with
scientific knowledge or knowledge of an authority, but are absent of emotion.
Heberlein, Thomas A. Navigating Environmental Attitudes pages 15-16

5. Understanding Attitudes
An Evaluative Belief - is a belief tied to a value, so it implies something is better
than something else.
Social Psychologists opine that “the real driving force of attitudes is emotion
or affect. This is the irrational part - the part not subject to reason - and the
part that makes attitudes difficult for those trying to deal with them”
(Heberlein, 16).
Strong attitudes resist change because they are based upon direct experience.
identities and many beliefs and values (Heberlein 32)

6. Attitudes defined
Social Psychologits’ conceptual definitions of attitudes include these seven
points:
● Attitudes cannot be seen; they must be inferred from something
● Attitudes differ from behavior which we can see
● Attitudes have objects
● Attitudes have cognitive (belief) and affective (emotion) components
● Attitudes have a direction - positive or negative
● Attitudes are relatively enduring
● Attitudes are related to but differ from values and opinions
Heberlein, Thomas A. Navigating Environmental Attitudes pages 33-34

7. Quote from Thomas A Heberlein

8. NORMS
Norms are behavioral regularities. When everyone does the same thing, we
call it a norm.
Norms come with rewards and punishments sanctioned by others.
Lefties vs. righties
If you follow the norm, you feel positive, but if you don’t you feel negative
about yourself.
Page 92

9. Secret
Think carefully about behaviors you want to change, and then creatively try to
change them without trying to change attitudes. (page 139)
“Educating self-selected, highly-motivated people works which is how we can
build positive environmental attitudes” (145).

10. Deactivate a Norm
Deny personal responsibility
Deny negative consequences
Page 98

11. Don’t Forget
“Positive attitudes that people hold about the environment, [even if it is a low
percentage], form an important foundation for building” (148)

12. Works Cited
Heberlein, Thomas A. Navigating Environmental Attitudes. Oxford UP: 2012.
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