The Psychology of Environmental Problems PSYCHOLOGY FOR SUSTAINABILITY 3rd Edition Susan M. Koger and Deborah Du Nann Winter Psychology Press New York London This book is printed on recycled paper. Psychology Press Psychology Press Taylor & Francis Group Taylor & Francis Group 270 Madison Avenue 27 Church Road New York, NY 10016 Hove, East Sussex BN3 2FA © 2010 by Taylor and Francis Group, LLC This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2011. To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk. Psychology Press is an imprint of Taylor & Francis Group, an Informa business International Standard Book Number: 978-1-84872-807-3 (Hardback) 978-1-84872-809-7 (Paperback) For permission to photocopy or use material electronically from this work, please access www. copyright.com (http://www.copyright.com/) or contact the Copyright Clearance Center, Inc. (CCC), 222 Rosewood Drive, Danvers, MA 01923, 978-750-8400. CCC is a not-for-profit organiza- tion that provides licenses and registration for a variety of users. For organizations that have been granted a photocopy license by the CCC, a separate system of payment has been arranged. Trademark Notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Koger, Susan M. The psychology of environmental problems : psychology for sustainability / Susan M. Koger, Deborah Du Nann Winter. -- 3rd ed. p. cm. In the 2nd ed. Deborah Du Nann Winter’s name came first. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-1-84872-807-3 (hardcover : alk. paper) -- ISBN 978-1-84872-809-7 (pbk. : alk. paper) 1. Environmental responsibility. 2. Environmental psychology. 3. Environmental psychology--History. I. Winter, Deborah Du Nann. II. Winter, Deborah Du Nann. Psychology of environmental problems. III. Title. GE195.7.W46 2010 333.72--dc22 2009044528 Visit the Taylor & Francis Web site at http://www.taylorandfrancis.com and the Psychology Press Web site at http://www.psypress.com ISBN 0-203-84797-0 Master e-book ISBN Mom, this one’s for you. I miss you. SMK To all the children on this beautiful planet— because your lives will undoubtedly be shaped by its environmental limits. DDW CONTENTS Foreword by David G. Myers xiii Preface: The Why, the What, and the How of This Book xv Acknowledgments xxi Chapter 1 What on Earth Are We Doing? 1 Psychology as an Environmental Science 3 The Nature of the Problem 4 Biology’s Bottom Line: Carrying Capacity 6 Climate Change 13 Other Resource Issues 16 Psychological Reactions to Environmental Threats 19 The Psychology of Overconsumption 23 Cultural Versus Biological Carrying Capacity 27 Conclusions 29 Chapter 2 The Nature of Western Thought 31 The Intellectual Roots of the DSP and Psychology 34 The Western View of Nature 38 Assumption 1: Nature is Composed of Inert, Physical Elements 39 Assumption 2: Nature Can and Should be Controlled 42 Assumption 3: Individual Human Beings Seek Private Economic Gain 47 Assumption 4: We Must Progress 52 The Nature of Nonindustrialized Thought 57 Conclusions 61 vii viiit$POUFOUT Chapter 3 Psychoanalytic Psychology: Becoming Conscious of the Unconscious 63 The Influence of Freud 64 The Basis and Basics of Freud’s Theory 66 Critique of Freud and Psychoanalysis 79 Object Relations Theory: Reexperiencing the Mother 80 Excessive Early Demands 82 Attention Withdrawn Too Early 84 Using Freud’s Ideas 87 The Psychoanalysis of Environmentalists 90 Conclusions 92 Chapter 4 Social Psychology: Under the Influence of Others 95 Norms 96 Social Norms 97 Personal Norms 102 Identity 103 Personal Norms and Environmental Justice 104 Altruism, Morality, and the Values Beliefs Norms Theory 107 Theory of Planned Behavior 111 Cognitive Dissonance Theory 115 Comparison of Models Linking Behavior to Attitudes 117 Who Cares About the Environment? 118 The Social Psychology of Materialism 122 The Unhappy Results of Materialism 126 Materialism and the Economy 128 Conclusions 129 Chapter 5 Behavioral Psychology: Contingency Management 131 Operant Conditioning 133 Antecedent Strategies: Changing the SDs 140 Consequence Strategies: Changing the SRs 142 Behavioral Self-Control 152 Limitations of the Behavioral Approach 157 Forgoing Freedom 160 Conclusions 162 Chapter 6 Neuropsychology of Toxic Exposures 165 Toxic Exposures 166 Neurodevelopment 169 $POUFOUT t ix Neurodevelopmental Disabilities 172 Cognitive and Attentional Impairments 172 Autism 177 Behavioral and Motor Problems 177 Psychosocial and Psychiatric Disorders 178 Toxic Effects in Adults 179 Accelerated Aging 180 Parkinson’s Disease 180 Reproductive Abnormalities 181 Establishing Cause and Effect: A Research Nightmare 182 Legislative Issues 186 The Costs of Neurotoxins 188 Building the Perfect Beast: The Irony of Pesticides 190 Behavioral Solutions 191 Conclusions 192 Chapter 7 Cognitive Psychology: Information Processing 195 Information Processing Models 196 The Computer Revolution 198 The Constraints of GIGO 199 Additional Constraints on Information Processing 209 Framing Effects 214 Using Cognitive Psychology to Solve Environmental Problems 215 Risk Assessment: Whose Quantification Problem Is It? 216 The Role of Emotions in Judgment of Risk 219 Retaining a Voice 223 Conclusions 224 Chapter 8 Health and the Psychology of Environmental Stress 227 Stress 228 Physiology of the Stress Response 228 Psychological Components of the Stress Response 232 Stress-Associated Health Risks 233 Stress-Associated Behavioral Disorders 236 Stress-Associated Psychological Disorders 242 Stressful Environments 243 Urban Living 243 xt$POUFOUT Noise Pollution 245 Climate Change, Weather and Air Pollution 245 Environmental Toxins 247 Why Do People Choose Stressful Behaviors and Environments? 249 Solution Approaches: Strategies for Reducing Stress 250 Restorative Environments 251 Wilderness Therapy 254 Green Urban Planning 254 Green Buildings 257 Conclusions 258 Chapter 9 Developmental Psychology: Growing Healthy Children in Nature 261 Indoor Children 262 Benefits of Nature 267 Cognitive Development and Reasoning Skills 270 Moral Development 271 Mental Health 275 Children and Animals 278 Fostering Proenvironmental Behaviors in Children 279 Environmental Education 281 Conclusions 287 Chapter 10 Holistic Approaches: Gestalt and Ecopsychology 289 Gestalt Psychology 290 Laboratory Confirmation: Group Effects in Social Dilemma Games 292 Gestalt Therapy 295 Mindfulness 297 The Ecological Self: The Self Beyond the Self 299 Ecopsychology 302 Evaluating Ecopsychology: The Measurement Problem 305 Biodiversity from an Ecopsychological Perspective 309 Emotional Dimensions of Ecopsychology 313 The Ecopsychology of Place 317 Conclusions 318 Chapter 11 Putting it Together: Using Psychology to Build a Sustainable World 321 Comparing the Approaches: Psychological Insights 323 $POUFOUT t xi Visualize an Ecologically Healthy World 329 Work with Big Ideas and Small Steps 333 Think Circle Instead of Line 334 Less is More 339 Practice Conscious Consumption 343 Act on Personal and Political Levels, Especially Local Community Participation 346 Conclusions 352 The Cost of Inaction 353 References 355 Appendix: How to Do It 429 Author Index 447 Subject Index 463 FOREWORD In 1950 the planet Earth carried 2.5 billion people and 50 million cars. Today it has nearly 7 billion people and 600 million cars, and we increasingly burn coal and oil to electrify, heat, and cool our build- ings and dwellings. Moreover, in populous developing countries, such as China and India, consumption is soaring. The resulting greenhouse gases threaten our, and especially our grandchildren’s, long-term future. “The Earth’s climate is now clearly out of balance and is warming,” noted the American Geophysical Union (2007). Glaciers and polar ice caps are melting. Sea levels are ris- ing. Altered rainfall distributions have created increased flooding and droughts, contributing to conflict. (The Darfur carnage has roots in rainfall decline, ecological economist Jeffrey Sachs (2006) has observed.) If we don’t soon get on a different path, “We’re toast,” surmises NASA climate scientist James Hansen (quoted by the Associated Press, 2008). New York Times essayist Nicholas Kristof (2007) invites us to consider: If we learned that Al Qaeda was secretly developing a new terror- ist technique that could disrupt water supplies around the globe, force tens of millions from their homes and potentially endanger our entire planet, we would be aroused into a frenzy and deploy every possible asset to neutralize the threat. Yet that is precisely the threat that we’re creating ourselves, with our greenhouse gases. As Sue Koger and Deborah Winter explain in this important and well-argued book, many pundits can be categorized as either doomsters xiii xiv t 'PSFXPSE or boomsters. Pessimistic doomsters wring their hands. It’s hopeless. Today’s fertility combined with tomorrow’s prosperity equals future calamity. But “if we do not believe in the future, we will become more apathetic, indifferent and scared,” respond Winter and Koger. Optimistic boomsters are much less worried. The free market that has solved so many problems—witness our increasing life expectancy, agri- cultural productivity, and technological efficiency—will surely enable the earth’s growing population to happily inhabit the ecosphere. Koger and Winter reside between the fatalism