Can Psychology Help Save the World?

SUSAN CLAYTON

n thinking about how to address environmental challenges, many people overlook the

I relevance of psychology. But whether we focus on causes of the problems or on their

consequences, people are relevant: human behavior, human attitudes, human well-
being, and human interactions. The field of Conservation Psychology has arisen in an attempt to
integrate and publicize the psychological theory and research that are relevant to understanding
and promoting the connections between humans and are insufficiently invested in nature are often suggested
the natural world.1 The goal of Conservation Psychology to be the reason why people don’t engage in the kinds of
is not only to study the interdependence between sustainable behaviors that are needed. But it would be
humans and nature, but also to encourage a healthy wrong as well as simplistic to infer that people don’t care
and sustainable relationship. Conservation psychology about nature. Indeed, surveys show that people place a
includes contributions from all the subfields of psychology: very high value on nature and often accord it moral and/
e.g., clinical psychologists can explore the therapeutic or spiritual significance.2 Conservation psychology can
effects of exposure to nature, in general and for troubled help to understand the complex sources of environmental
populations in particular; developmental psychologists attitudes and behavior.
look at the significance of early exposure to nature on Two facts about human behavior, simple but often
the formation of an enduring environmental empathy unexamined, provide an important foundation for this
and ethic; cognitive psychologists research the ways in project. One is that behavior is a function of multiple
which we perceive environmental changes and threats; causes, many of which are irrational and/or outside
physiological psychologists investigate the impact of conscious awareness. This means that people do not
environmental toxins on behavior and brain function; and always know what’s good for them, and even when they
social psychologists study the role of nature experiences do they may not act on it; logical argument about the
within a social context, and ways in which social factors importance of addressing environmental threats is not
promote or inhibit pro-environmental behavior. enough to affect behavior. A second is that behavior is
Human behavior—how we reproduce, consume, susceptible to change. Patterns of behavior that may
and utilize geographical territory—has contributed to seem like inevitable consequences of “human nature” are
global climate change, desertification, pollution, and the nevertheless malleable, responding to both unintentional
loss of biodiversity, and human behavior will have to and intentional influence. Even something as fundamental
help us mitigate and adapt to these problems. Thus the as reproduction shows huge variability across social and
involvement of behavioral science is critical. Attitudes that historical contexts. An understanding of the core influences

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Can Psychology Help Save the World? S. CLAYTON

on behavior can allow for positive interventions to promote People who anticipate environmental crises that they have
a healthy human-nature relationship. no ability to prevent or forestall will, in many cases, just
As part of human behavior, we need to consider stop thinking about it. Another common response to fear
human perceptions. Reactions to environments and events is to respond by affirming the correctness of one’s own
will depend on how those environments and events are system, values, and lifestyle in a process of self-validation
perceived and interpreted. Are they even noticed? People and system justification that can, paradoxically, lead to
overlook a surprising amount of information, as has been greater consumption of environmental resources. Thus,
dramatically demonstrated through studies showing, people need to be provided with positive means to manage
for example, that a large proportion of people can miss their fears and affirm their identities, perhaps by being
a gorilla or a unicyclist that is clearly within their field given ways to protect nature and steward their own valued
of vision. Peter Kahn has referred to “environmental places.

Recognizing the interdependence of social and environmental ties suggests that we should
encourage social policies and institutions that include interactions with the natural world
as a fundamental part of a society.

generational amnesia” to describe the fact that people are Another influence on environmental attitudes can be
frequently unaware of the extent of environmental damage clearly seen in the political polarization of environmental
and degradation that they witness.3 Once something does issues in the U.S.: Republicans are far less likely than
attract our attention it is still screened through interpretive Democrats, for example, to believe the science behind
filters. The extent to which environmental problems, such climate change. Attitudes have implications for human
as climate change, are perceived as a threat is determined interaction, and in this case environmental attitudes and
by many factors beyond the information that is available. behaviors can serve as a mark of group identification. Some
In general, the impact of attitudes on behavior is people may express opposition to environmental initiatives
overestimated. Much of a person’s typical daily behavior not because they don’t care about the natural environment
is performed mindlessly, according to habit, social norms, but because they do care about the political group with
and/or immediate situational influences. Thus when which they are associated and that group has come out
looking for specific behavioral changes, it may be best to against the initiative. (The same is true, of course, on the
ignore attitudes entirely and focus on the other predictors. other side of the debate.) Similarly, pro-environmental
Studies have shown that energy use, for example, can be behaviors such as taking the bus, or using a clothesline,
drastically reduced if energy conservation seems to be have consequences for the social label that one receives that
normative. In a recent experimental study, Nolan et al. were can be stigmatizing. So environmentalists have to try to
able to reduce energy use among California homeowners avoid taking positions that line up too closely with existing
by providing information about the (lower) energy use of social divisions, and emphasize, instead, the shared values
a typical homeowner.4 The effect of this information was that can be agreed upon by all of the groups involved.
stronger than the effect of a message based on environmental Conservation psychology is not only concerned with the
protection or even self-interest. At an even more basic level, ways psychology can contribute to protecting the natural
sustainable behaviors such as recycling are strongly affected environment, but also with how attention to the natural
by how easy they are to do. Reminders and feedback, and environment can contribute to psychology. In particular,
to a lesser extent incentives, also have a powerful impact on psychology has always had a goal of promoting research,
pro-environmental behavior. and the applications of research, in order to enhance human
In the long term, of course, we don’t just want to create welfare; to increase human welfare, we need to recognize
small behavior changes. We want people to rethink and how intimately connected it is to the natural environment.
prioritize their relationship with nature. Thus it is important It is well known, for example, that environmental toxins
to understand the reasons for the apathetic or even can have direct impacts on human health. Less visible are
hostile attitudes some people have toward environmental the possible effects on mental functioning. A large body of
initiatives. Some of these reasons include fear and denial. research documents the detrimental effects of lead, mercury,

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Can Psychology Help Save the World? S. CLAYTON

and PCBs on cognitive functioning and sometimes social Recognizing the interdependence of social and
behavior. Environmental problems will ultimately have an environmental ties suggests that we should encourage
indirect effect on the well-being of everyone on the planet: social policies and institutions that include interactions
global warming and overcrowding affect social behavior with the natural world as a fundamental part of a society.
and intergroup conflict; opportunities for interaction Such institutions would include both formal and informal
with animals and nature affect emotional well-being and educational environments, conservation organizations,
stress reduction. Promoting human welfare while ignoring urban and non-urban parks, and any other mechanisms
threats to the natural environment may be like putting that present people with environmental knowledge and
on a raincoat as one’s ship goes down in a storm. When experiences. These experiences, which develop a relationship
the World Commission of Economic Development report with nature within a social context that directs and supports
defined sustainability as a goal, they explicitly linked the two the relationship, may be predictive of attitudes, behavior,
goals of environmental health and human development, and even fundamental beliefs about fairness with regard to
including attention to human as well as environmental environmental issues. Thus, while the natural environment
welfare. provides psychology with a deeper understanding of
At the core of psychology lies the person. Underlying human nature, psychologists should provide educators,
the field of conservation psychology is the question of how environmental policy-makers, and conservationists with
individuals make a connection to the natural environment, the information to support their work in sustaining the
how it becomes a fundamental part of who they are. Why human experience of nature.
does this matter? Issues that are relevant to our sense of self
attract more attention, arouse more emotion, and connect &
to other aspects of our life more than issues that are less
personally significant. They are also more likely to motivate
attitude change and behavior. People make this connection Notes
to nature in a variety of ways, from the often minor ways 1. See S. Clayton and A. Brook,. Can psychology help save the
in which aspects of the environment are used to represent world? A model for conservation psychology. Analyses of Social
Issues and Public Policy, 5 (1), (2005): 87-102; S. Clayton and
a positive image of oneself—I have the most beautiful
G. Myers,. Conservation psychology: Understanding and promoting
garden, I have bought an acre of the rainforest, I have human care for nature. Oxford, UK: Blackwell, 2009; and C.
adopted a stretch of highway—to the deeper connections Saunders, The emerging field of conservation psychology.
represented by the love of some natural entity, be it a tree, Human Ecology Review, 10, (2003): 137-149.
a lake, or an animal. 2. W. Kempton, J. Boster, and J. Hartley,. Environmental values
Experiences with the natural environment shape our in American culture. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press, 1995.
individual identities, telling us who we are as individuals 3. P. H. Kahn, Jr., The human relationship with nature. Cambridge,
and how we relate to other aspects of the natural world. This MA: MIT Press, 1999.
has implications for our individual actions, our perceived 4. J. Nolan, P. W. Schultz, R. Cialdini, N. Goldstein, and V.
moral obligations toward nature. Am I a steward of nature? Griskevicius, Normative social influence is undetected. Personality
and Social Psychology Bulletin, 34, (2008): 913-923.
A child of mother Earth? Or simply a consumer of natural
resources? Identities describe roles or relationships toward
others, and roles and relationships define responsibilities.
Also, we need to recognize that although the prototypical
“experience” of nature is solitary, the connection to nature Susan Clayton is Professor of Social Psychology at The College
is part of who we are as social beings. Individual experiences of Wooster and is coauthor of Conservation Psychology:
with nature are highly structured by public policies that Understanding and Promoting Human Care for Nature (2009)
enable or restrict such experiences—are there parks nearby,
or not? What are the local programs I can get involved in?
Do I feel a strong sense of community identity, in which
case I’m more likely to care about preserving the local
community? Social influences structure our interpretation
of nature. The Grand Canyon was originally considered a
horribly desolate wilderness, but now we all “know” that
it is beautiful. Empty lots in a community can similarly be
considered either oases or wasted space.

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