Research has shown that human behavior is the most significant contributor to global warming. This is why psychology, as the science of behavior, has a critical role to play if we are to slow it, stop it or—dare I suggest—even reverse it. In 2009, APA’s Task Force on the Interface Between Psychology and Global Climate Change examined decades of psychological research on climate change and related natural and technological disasters. Their report drew from research in environmental and conservation psychology, as well as social and consumer psychology. The task force found that people did not experience a sense of urgency to address this problem—a challenge we continue to face.
Five years later, APA collaborated with the nonprofit advocacy group ecoAmerica on a report predicting that climate change will have significant negative effects on Americans’ health and psychological well-being, due to an increase in the frequency and severity of natural disasters and other climate-related changes. In 2017, APA and ecoAmerica updated their report and emphasized the need to build people’s resilience and promote the adoption of environmentally friendly policies and lifestyle choices. These, in turn, can also have a positive effect on mental health.
Sounding these science-based alarms is one important role APA and psychology can play. But as you will read in this month’s cover story, we need to do much more to change people’s behavior. Businesses and governments are implementing strategies to inspire people to make environmentally friendly choices, whether it’s deciding to bike to work, use low-energy bulbs or stop using plastic straws. Psychological research continues to explore strategies that will steer people to make smart choices. Among effective approaches are those that make environmentally sustainable choices easy to adopt—such as curbside recycling. It is also helpful to frame messages around the social value of conserving. For example, psychological studies have shown that people who are told that their neighbors often conserve energy are more likely to use less electricity.
Of course, much more research is needed to change behavior, as well as to convince skeptics of the perils of climate change. Psychology stands ready to help, along with our colleagues in climatology, physics, oceanography, ecology and other disciplines.
