LFU:online

After participating in this course, students will gain exposure to contemporary sustainable behavior research. Students will be able to link these studies to reallife environmental issues in the world around them. They will be able to critique and synthesize information from various theories applied in environmental social psychology, and effectively communicate environmental psychological  concepts and apply this research appropriately in designing behavioral or policy interventions.

The focus of the course will be on how social psychology might help contribute to understanding, solving, and/or mitigating ecological problems, including depletion of natural resources (especially fossil fuels), human population overshoot of the planetary carrying capacity, climate crisis, species extinction, and others. This course examines human behavior and human nature in the context of ecological factors. Together, we will assess the impact of social context on the roles of emotion, cognition (e.g. risk perception, social dilemma theory), values, norms, group processes, media influences, and social movements on engagement in sustainable behavior. We will also review interventions for the enhancement of sustainable behavior and the reduction of unsustainable behavior, and arrive at a nuanced understanding of how to enhance sustainability in modern societies.

Small groups and plenary discussions, presentations

active participation, presentation

Boucher, J. L. (2016). Culture, carbon, and climate change: A class analysis of climate change belief, lifestyle lock-in, and personal carbon footprint. Social Ecology: Journal for Environmental Thought and Sociological Research, 25, 53-80.

Brulle, R. J., & Sicotte, D. M. (2017). Social movements for environmental justice through the lens of social movement theory. In The Routledge Handbook of Environmental Justice (pp. 25-36). Routledge.

Chapman, D. A., Trott, C. D., Silka, L., Lickel, B., & Clayton, S. (2018). Psychological perspectives on community resilience and climate change: Insights, examples, and directions for future research. In Psychology and Climate Change: Human Perceptions, Impacts, and Responses (pp. 267-288). Academic Press.

Schultz, P. W. (2014). Strategies for promoting proenvironmental behavior. European Psychologist, 19, 107-117.