Climate change may be real, but it's still not easy being green How do we convince our inner caveman to be greener? We ask some outstanding social scientists.
[A] The road to climate hell is paved with our good intentions.Politicians may tackle polluters whilescientists do battle with carbon emissions.But the most pervasive problem is less obvious: ourown behaviour.We get distracted before we can turn down the heating.We break our promise notto fly after hearing about a neighbour's trip to India.Ultimately, we can't be bothered to changeour attitude.Fortunately for the planet, social science and behavioural economics may be able todo that for us.
[B] Despite mournful polar beats and charts showing carbon emissions soaring, most people find ithard to believe that global warming will affect them personally.Recent polls by the Pew ResearchCentre in Washington, DC, found that 75-80 per cent of participants regarded climate change as animportant issue.But respondents ranked it last on a list of priorities.
[C] This inconsistency largely stems from a feeling of powerlessness."When we can't actually removethe source of our fear, we tend to adapt psychologically by adopting a range of defencemechanisms," says Tom Crompton, change strategist for the environmental organisation WorldWide Fund for Nature.
[D] Part of the fault lies with our inner caveman.Evolution has programmed humans to pay mostattention to issues that will have an immediate impact."We worry most about now because if wedon't survive for the next minute, we're not going to be around in ten years' time," says ProfessorElke Weber of the Centre for Research on Environmental Decisions at Columbia University in NewYork.If the Thames were lapping around Big Ben, Londoners would face up to the problem ofemissions pretty quickly.But in practice, our brain discounts the risks--and benefits--associatedwith issues that lie some way ahead.
[E] Matthew Rushworth, of the Department of Experimental Psychology at the University of Oxford,sees this in his lab every day."One of the ways in which all agents seem to make decisions is thatthey assign a lower weighting to outcomes that are going to be further away in the future," hesays."This is a very sensible way for an animal to make decisions in the wild and would have
been very helpful for humans for thousands of years."
[F] Not any longer.By the time we wake up to the threat posed by climate change, it could well betoo late.And ff we're not going to make rational decisions about the future, others may have tohelp us to do so.
[G] Few political libraries are without a copy of Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealthand Happiness, by Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein.They argue that governments shouldpersuade us into making better decisions--such as saving more in our pension plans--by changingthe default options.Professor Weber believes that environmental policy can make use of similartactics.If, for example, building codes included green construction guidelines, most developerswould be too lazy to challenge them.
[H] Defaults are certainly part of the solution.But social scientists are most concerned about craftingmessages that exploit our group mentality (,~, ~ )."We need to understand what motivatespeople, what it is that allows them to make change," says Professor Neil Adger, of the TyndallCentre for Climate Change Research in Norwich."It is actually about what their peers think ofthem, what their social norms are, what is seen as desirable in society." In other words, ourinner caveman is continually looking over his shoulder to see what the rest of the tribe are up to.
[ I ] The passive attitude we have to climate change as individuals can be altered by counting us in--and measuring us against--our peer group."Social norms are primitive and elemental," says Dr.Robert Cialdini, author of Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion."Birds flock together, fishschool together, cattle herd together...just perceiving norms is enough to cause people to adjusttheir behaviour in the direction of the crowd."
[J] These norms can take us beyond good intentions.Cialdini conducted a study in San Diego inwhich coat hangers bearing messages about saving energy were hung on people's doors.Some ofthe messages mentioned the environment, some financial savings, others social responsibility.Butit was the ones that mentioned the actions of neighbours that drove down power use.
[K] Other studies show that simply providing the facility for people to compare their energy use withthe local average is enough to cause them to modify their behaviour.The Conservatives plan toadopt this strategy by making utility companies print the average local electricity and gas usage onpeople's bills.
[L] Social science can also teach politicians how to avoid our collective capacity for serf-destructivebehaviour.Environmental campaigns that tell us how many people drive SUVs unwittingly (不经意的) imply that this behaviour is widespread and thus permissible.Cialdini recommends somecareful framing of the message."Instead of normalising the undesirable behaviour, the messageneeds to marginalise it, for example, by stating that if even one person buys yet another SUV, itreduces our ability to be energy-independent."
[M] Tapping into how we already see ourselves is crucial.The most successful environmental strategywill marry the green message to our own sense of identity.Take your average trade unionmember, chances are they will be politically motivated and be used to collective action--muchlike Erica Gregory.A retired member of the Public and Commercial Services Union, she is settingup one of 1,i00 action groups with the support of Climate Solidarity, a two-year environmentalcampaign aimed at trade unionists.
[N] Erica is proof that a great-grandmother can help to lead the revolution if you get the psychologyright--in this case, by matching her enthusiasm for the environment with a fondness for organisinggroups."I think it's a terrific idea," she says of the campaign."The union backing it makesmembers think there must be something in it." She is expecting up to 20 people at the firstmeeting she has called, at her local pub in the Cornish village of Polperro.
[O] Nick Perks, project director for Climate Solidarity, believes this sort of activity is where the futureof environmental action lies. "Using existing civil society structures or networks is a more effective way of creating change.., and obviously trade unions are one of the biggest civil societynetworks in the UK," he says. The " Love Food, Hate Waste" campaign entered into acollaboration last year with another such network--the Women's Institute.Londoner Rachel Taylor
joined the campaign with the aim of making new friends.A year on, the meetings have madelasting changes to what she throws away in her kitchen."It's always more of an incentive if you'redoing it with other people," she says."It motivates you more if you know that you've got toprovide feedback to a group."
[P]The power of such simple psychology in fighting climate change is attracting attention across thepolitical establishment.In the US, the House of Representatives Science Committee has approveda bill allocating $10 million a year to studying energy-related behaviour.In the UK, new studiesare in development and social scientists are regularly spotted in British government offices.Withthe help of psychologists, there is fresh hope that we might go green after all.
46.When people find they are powerless to change a situation, they tend to live with it.
47.To be effective, environmental messages should be carefully framed.
48.It is the government's responsibility to persuade people into making environment-friendly decisions.
49.Politicians are beginning to realise the importance of enlisting psychologists' help in fighting climatechange.
50.To find effective solutions to climate change, it is necessary to understand what motivates people to make change.
51.In their evolution, humans have learned to pay attention to the most urgent issues instead of long-term concerns.
52.One study shows that our neighbours' actions are influential in changing our behaviour.
53.Despite clear signs of global warming, it is not easy for most people to believe climate change will affect their own lives.
54.We should take our future into consideration in making decisions concerning climate change before it is too late.
55.Existing social networks can be more effective in creating change in people's behaviour.
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