Sustainability Science “emerging field of research dealing with the interactions between natural and social systems, and with how those interactions affect the challenge of sustainability: meeting the needs of present and future generations while substantially reducing poverty and conserving the planet's life support systems” National Academies of Science, 2011

1. The Psychology of Sustainability
Beth Karlin
Transformational Media Lab
University of California, Irvine

2. Transformational Media Lab
Mission:
Our lab studies how technology and new media are (and can
be) used to transform individuals, communities, and systems.
Issue-based
B. Karlin
Film
Campaigns
Smart Grid
and Energy
Efficiency

3. 1. Technology and new media are changing how people
interact with our natural, built, and social worlds.
B. Karlin
Underlying Assumptions

4. 1. Technology and new media are changing how people
interact with our natural, built, and social worlds.
2. There are potential opportunities to leverage these
changes for pro-social / pro-environmental benefit.
B. Karlin
Underlying Assumptions

5. 1. Technology and new media are changing how people
interact with our natural, built, and social worlds.
2. There are potential opportunities to leverage these
changes for pro-social / pro-environmental benefit
3. A psychological approach provides a theoretical base
and empirical methodology to study this potential.
B. Karlin
Underlying Assumptions

6. The Big Picture

7. Increasing Consumption

8. Popular Options
Alternative Energy Cap and Trade Increased Efficiency

9. But what about people?

10. People are impacting the environment.

11. People are being impacted.

12. People have choices to make.

13. People can do something about it.

14. Psychology studies people
n Psychology: the scientific study of mental processes and behavior
(American Heritage Dictionary)
n From the Greek “psyche” (mind, soul) and “logia” (study of)
n Areas include:
p Clinical – relieving emotional/behavioral dysfunction
p Cognitive –mental processes (learning, perception, memory)
p Developmental - intellectual, as well as moral development of the mind
p Social - reactions to social stimuli and their underlying mental processes
p Neurological –behavior that springs from reactions within the nervous system

15. It’s not just …

16. … but all of this

17. Environmental Psychology
p The study of human behavior and well-being in relation to the
socio-physical environment
(Stokols & Altman, 1987)
p Concerned with providing a systematic account of the
relationship between a person and the environment
(Russel & Snodgrass, 1987)
p Study of the interrelationship between behavior and
experience and the built and natural environment
(Bell, et al., 1990)

18. Sustainability Science
“emerging field of research dealing with the
interactions between natural and social systems,
and with how those interactions affect the
challenge of sustainability: meeting the needs of
present and future generations while substantially
reducing poverty and conserving the planet's life
support systems”
National Academies of Science, 2011

19. Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior
(APA Task Force on Psychology and Climate Change, 2009)

20. Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior

21. Types of Consumption Behavior
1. Direct
2. Indirect

22. Indirect Energy Use

23. Indirect Energy Use

24. Direct Energy Use
Example: Lighting

25. Behavioral Dimensions
Curtailment Efficiency
Suffer Spend
Karlin et al. (2012)

26. Different Behaviors …
Curtailment
Efficiency
Run full loads Turn off lights
Turn off/unplug
Efficient
Appliances Check toilet
for leaks
Check for
thermal leaks
Change light bulb
Insulate home

27. …Different Predictors
Variable Curtailment Efficiency
Gender .031 -.099*
Age -.012 .370***
Race -.086* .028
Married -.077 .272***
Education -.019 .107*
Income -.052 .172***
Home Type -.021 .284***
Homeowner .004 .425***
Home Size -.030 .281***
Variables tested for differences between feedback Significant differences based on independent sam upsleesr st -atensdt sn on-users
Karlin et al. (2012)

28. Karlin et al. (2012)
…Different Predictors
Variable Curtailment Efficiency
Behavioral Beliefs .152*** .167***
Control Beliefs .162*** .028
Normative Beliefs .079 .026
Price Consciousness .134** .192***
Financial Motivation .038 .030
Env. Paradigm .165*** .056
Environmental Norm .232*** .101*
Environmental Motivation .196*** .074

29. = Different Behavior Models?
Rational Model Moral Model
Focus on values
Is it the right
thing to do?
Media &
Education
Focus on cost
Is it in my best
interest?
Incentives
Karlin et al. (2012)

30. Questioning the Model
Curtailment
Efficiency
Run full loads Turn off lights
Turn off/unplug
Efficient
Appliances Check toilet
for leaks
Check for
thermal leaks
Change light bulb
Insulate home

31. Questioning the Model
Low Cost
High Cost
Infrequent
Frequent
Maintenance Efficiency
Curtailment ?? ?
Karlin et al. (2012)

32. Questioning the Model
Curtailment Efficiency Maintenance
Karlin et al. (2012)

33. Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior

34. The “Risk Thermostat”
Threat response highest:
1. Simple causality
2. Historical precedent
3. Visible/obvious
4. Immediate consequences
5. Caused by an “other”
6. Direct impacts
Climate Change:
1. Complex causality
2. Unprecedented
3. Invisible/imperceptible
4. Impacts unclear
5. Natural/collective cause
6. Indirect impacts

35. Dual Processing Model

36. Cognitive Appraisal
www.cred.columbia.edu

37. Affective response
www.cred.columbia.edu

38. Is it going to ruin my day?

39. Is it going to ruin my day?

40. Does it have a face?

41. Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior

42. Response to Threat?
Perceive Appraise Respond
• Threat appraisal
• Coping appraisal

43. Protection Motivation Theory
p Threat Appraisal
n Threat Severity (How bad is it?)
n Threat Vulnerability (Can it happen to me?)
p Coping Appraisal
n Behavioral Efficacy (Can I do something?)
n Response Efficacy (Will it matter?)

44. Protection Motivation Theory
High Coping Low Coping
High Threat Response Anxiety
Low Threat Apathy Indifference

45. Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior

46. Physical Impacts (IPCC)
p Elevated temperatures
n melting of polar ice
n damage to and loss of coastal land
p Weather extremes
n more rainfall during shorter periods
n Increased risk of fire
p Ecosystem disruption
n stress and death of vegetation
n migration and extinction of animals
p Human Health
n heat stress
n migration of disease vectors

47. Psychosocial Impacts
p Emotional Reactions
n Fear
n Apathy
n Numbing
p Mental Health
n PTSD
n Depression
n Anxiety
p Social / Cultural
n Heat-related issues
n Intergroup violence
n Displacement &
relocation

48. Positive Psychosocial Impacts
p Collective efficacy
p Increased well being
p Positive coping

49. Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior

50. We’re not always “rational”
The “rational actor” is… But data shows…
Constantly calculating costs and
benefits to make decisions
We often rely on instinct and
emotion to make decisions
Knowledgeable and/or
information-seeking
We often make decisions without
seeking additional information
An individual decision-maker Decisions are made socially
Willing to change behavior if
benefits exceed costs
We often maintain costly behaviors
due to habit and/or emotion
Willing to change behavior given
sufficient information
Mass information is not very
effective in changing behavior
Likely to make the same decisions
as others in similar situation
Consumption is highly varied
(3x variability in identical houses)

51. Anchoring
16%
Ariely, D. (2009)
0%
84%

52. Anchoring
16%
Ariely, D. (2009)
0%
84%
68%
32%

53. Endowment Effect
Students in every other seat were given university mugs.
How much are you willing
to pay for a mug?
For how much money
would you sell your mug?
What happened? a) The students with mugs priced them higher.
b) The students with no mugs priced them higher.
c) Both sets of students priced them about the same

54. Endowment Effect
Students with the mugs were
willing to sell them for
$4.50
Students with no mugs were
willing to buy them for
$2.25
Kahneman, Knetsch, & Thaler (1990)

55. Psychology and Sustainability
1. Behavioral Contributions to Climate Change
2. People’s Understanding of Climate Change
3. Coping with Perceived Threat
4. Psychosocial Impacts of Climate Change
5. Psychological Barriers to Action
6. Intervening to Change Behavior

56. Intervention Strategies
p Framing
p Defaults
p Social Norms
p Feedback
p Film Campaigns

57. Framing
Presentation of information in a way that encourages
certain interpretations & discourages others.
“There is no value neutral way of presenting people with information.”
- Elke Weber, APA 2012

58. Framing
p Make it tangible
p Give examples
p Use high-impact words
p Frame in terms of
losses, rather than gains
www.cred.columbia.edu

59. Defaults

60. Defaults

61. Social Norms

62. Social Norms

63. “Information about the result of a process or
action that can be used in modification or
control of a process or system”
Oxford English Dictionary
B. Karlin, 2012
Feedback

64. Kempton and Layne, 1994

65. Feedback

66. Many Films on Sustainability
B. Karlin
Film Campaigns
Food Films
- Food Inc
- Fresh
- Food Fight
- Ingredients
- Food Matters
- Supersize Me
- The Future of Food
- The Garden
- King Corn
- What's on your plate?
- Deconstructing supper
Water Films
- Flow
- Blue Gold
- Tapped
- Thirst
- Blue Legacy
- Story of Bottled Water
- Last Call at the Oasis
Climate Films
- Everything's Cool
- An Inconvenient Truth
- 11th hour
- No Impact Man
- Collapse
- Radically Simple
- Blind Spot
Transportation Films
- Who Killed the Electric Car?
- Revenge of the Electric Car
- Fuel
- Crude

67. Documentaries Today
Film Campaigns
"specific social action campaigns for each film and
documentary designed to give a voice to issues that resonate
in the films” (Participant Media, 2010) B. Karlin

68. Film Campaigns
Britdoc, 2007 B. Karlin

69. B. Karlin
Film Campaigns

70. Film Campaigns
Storytelling
- Show and Tell
Engagement
-Target and Reach
Activism
- Involve and Activate
Change
- Measure and Assess

71. Closing Thoughts
You hold in your hands the future of the world.
Raymond Poincare, 1919
The difference between what we do and
what we are capable of doing would suffice
to solve most of the world’s problem.
Gandhi
Thank you!
Beth Karlin (bkarlin@uci.edu)