This is my presentation at the Beyond oil conference in 2021. https://www.uib.no/en/cet/119021/beyond-oil-conference#program-2021- Title: Behavioral change for a socio-economic transition: linking system with individual behavior in complex systems.

1. 1
Behavioral change for a socio-
economic transition: linking system
with individual behavior in complex
systems.
Katharina Biely
Gerdien de Vries
TPM
Energy
Lab
Transition Beyond oil 2021, 20.10.21

2. 2
Build back better.
Blah, blah, blah.
Green economy.
Blah blah blah.
Net zero by 2050.
Blah, blah, blah,

3. 3
Unfortunate resilience
• System that does not change
• Whereat such a change would be good
 Why is our system not changing?
 What keeps us following the path?

4. 4
Individuals or institutions
 Who is going to make the switch?
 Who created the alternative track?

5. 5
Transition or tweak

6. 6
Unfortunate resilience
Buffers
Narratives
Defense mechanisms

7. 7
Buffer
• Economic buffer  insurance
• Technical buffer  air condition
 reduces the
perceived urgency
of a problem

8. 8
Narratives
Green growth, green economy, green, tech, sustainable
growth, inclusive growth, net zero, negative emissions,
build back better,…
Weak sustainability “blah, blah, blah”
 technology myopia &
 trust in market

9. 9
Defence mechanism
• Distal  Conscious
– Denial
– Rationalizing (downplaying)
– Projection (others are affected)
– Reaction formation (CSR)
• Proximal Unconscious
– Projection (it is their fault)
– Repression
Climate change, sustainability & defence mechanisms
Its human activity that’s
to blame? Does that
mean I/we have to
change? This is hard to
deal with…
Key references
How do
we respond
when we are faced
with knowledge of
human-caused
environmental
problems?
I don’t
want to feel
scared &
threatened!
This is really
scary, I’m feeling
worried
Responsible?
Me?
Crisis? What
crisis? It’s a
conspiracy
We
(humans) are
not the
cause
Small steps
will get us
out of this
mess
It’s more
likely to
affect _____
than me
A long time yet
before it gets
bad
these are proximal defences*
Defences are pseudo-rational, threat-focused, and activated when
environmental problems are considered consciously,
in current focal attention (see Pyszczynski et l. 1999)
‘We’ hate others who
threaten our denial, e.g.
‘tree-hugging hippies’,
Consume (&
discard)
more, faster!
Keep shopping –
it feels good, it
confirms who I
am, & it’s what is
expected
Unpleasantness
MUST be kept out
of conscious
awareness
Ok, I feel
uncomfortable..
What’s going on
here?
We are not
alone
Different
individual &
shared practices
are possible
Things can
change.
What can we
do?
I feel anxious, sad,
guilty, powerless.
And I’m trying to
manage those
feelings
I feel hopeful
that I/we can
manage this
Talking to others,
sharing
experiences,
working together
=
sublimation
(conversion of defence
mechanisms into productive
energy)
The context: Most of us accept that climate change &
environmental problems are real, caused by humans,
& require urgent action. What are the barriers
stopping people, governments & corporations taking
action, from everyday behaviours & activities to
collective economic, social & political change?
Where to start? The concept of defence
mechanisms, first written about by Sigmund Freud
starts by asking the following question…
This infographic is a visual representation of my
attempts to develop a psychosocial approach to how
defence mechanisms stop us addressing climate change
& related environmental problems as individuals and as
a society (e.g. Adams, 2014a & b; 2015; 2016; 2017)
Make
it go
away
Things are
getting worse.
How can I stop
feeling scared &
threatened?
Things can
change.
What can
I/we do?
Adams, M. (2017). Environment: Critical social psychology in the Anthropocene. In B. Gough (ed.)
Handbook of Critical Social Psychology. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
Adams, M. (2016). Ecological crisis, sustainability & the psychosocial subject: Beyond behaviour change.
Basingstoke: Palgrave.
Adams, M. (2015). The wider environment. In J. Turner, C. Hewson, K. Mahendron, and P. Stevens (Eds.)
Living Psychology: From the everyday to the extraordinary. Milton Keynes: Open University Press. Pp.
369-412.
Adams, M. (2014a). Approaching nature, ‘sustainability’ and ecological crises from a critical social
WORSENING
CRISIS
MEANS
WE
PUSH
THE
THREAT
INTO
THE
UNCONSCIOUS
&
DIFFERENT
SET
OF
DEFENCES
COME
We (a particular
group/nation)
are not to blame
3
types of
response
follow
2
1
3
*Defences are psychologically AND ‘socially organised’ (Norgaard, 2011): indirectly supported by practices
& norms of consumer societies & directly supported by vested interests and campaigns of misinformation.

10. 10
Sublimation
• Recognizing the problem
• Recognizing the defence mechanism
• Actively doing something about it
Yes, but HOW?

11. 11
Theories
• Bourdieu  Habitus
• Practice theory
• Gramsci 
subaltern,
hegemony,
infrastructure / superstructure

12. 12
The beginning
• Crisis
• Expectations are not met
 Discomfort

13. 13
Fairytale talk

14. 14
Fairytale talk

15. 15
Literature
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