Environmental sustainability is a necessity for all countries worldwide, and it is strongly related to human quality of life. Given that sustainability problems largely result from human-environment interactions, social and behavioral research is developing as a necessary complement to natural-science and technological studies of environmental problems. To demonstrate this, the various authors address key theoretical, methodological and policy-making questions about the behavioral dimensions of environmental sustainability. Successively considered are the appreciation of environmental risk, citizens’ annoyance from environmental noise, the evaluation of urban environmental quality, the restorative significance of nature experiences, fundamental behavioral processes and environmental motivations, and unsustainable-behavior change and the roles of technology therein. The usefulness of multidisciplinary research is emphasized. Finally explicated is psychology’s drive and potential for analyzing and supporting environmental sustainability as a long-term human social and economic interest.

Encouraging Pro-Environmental Behavior: What Works, What Doesn't, and Why examines the main drivers of human behavior related to environmental sustainability and how we can encourage environmental behavior change in humans. The book explores the underlying barriers and enablers of environmental behavior and outlines key theoretical advances from psychology to improve understanding. It then uses theory-based research in the development of behavior change interventions to critically evaluate empirical evidence on the effectiveness of those interventions. This book will help inform and improve the success of behavior change initiatives to mitigate climate change. - Explores what influences behavior: who conserves and why - Includes both theory and practice - Focuses on water and energy use, food choice and travel behavior - Identifies impacts of incentives and interventions

The highly acclaimed manual for changing everyday habits-now in an all-newthird edition! We are consuming resources and polluting our environment at a rate that is outstripping our planet's ability to support us. To create a sustainable future, we must not only change our own actions, we must educate and encourage those around us to change theirs. If one individual recycles his plastic containers, the impact is minimal. But if an entire community recycles, enormous amounts of resources are saved. How then do we go about transforming people's good intentions into action? Fostering Sustainable Behavior explains how the field of community-based social marketing has emerged as an effective tool for encouraging positive social change. This completely revised and updated third edition contains a wealth of new research, behavior change tools, and case studies. Learn how to: target unsustainable behaviors, and identify the barriers to change understand various commitment strategies communicate effective messages enhance motivation and invite participation. The strategies introduced in this ground-breaking manual are an invaluable resource for anyone interested in promoting sustainable behavior, including environmental conservation, recycling and waste reduction, water and energyefficiency and alternative transportation.

Psychology for Sustainability, 4th Edition -- known as Psychology of Environmental Problems: Psychology for Sustainability in its previous edition -- applies psychological theory and research to so-called "environmental" problems, which actually result from human behavior that degrades natural systems. This upbeat, user-friendly edition represents a dramatic reorganization and includes a substantial amount of new content that will be useful to students and faculty in a variety of disciplines—and to people outside of academia, as well. The literature reviewed throughout the text is up-to-date, and reflects the burgeoning efforts of many in the behavioral sciences who are working to create a more sustainable society. The 4th Edition is organized in four sections. The first section provides a foundation by familiarizing readers with the current ecological crisis and its historical origins, and by offering a vision for a sustainable future.The next five chapters present psychological research methods, theory, and findings pertinent to understanding, and changing, unsustainable behavior. The third section addresses the reciprocal relationship between planetary and human wellbeing and the final chapter encourages readers to take what they have learned and apply it to move behavior in a sustainable direction. The book concludes with a variety of theoretically and empirically grounded ideas for how to face this challenging task with positivity, wisdom, and enthusiasm. This textbook may be used as a primary or secondary textbook in a wide range of courses on Ecological Psychology, Environmental Science, Sustainability Sciences, Environmental Education, and Social Marketing. It also provides a valuable resource for professional audiences of policymakers, legislators, and those working on sustainable communities.

This book examines the behavioral dimensions of global and regional environmental problems such as the greenhouse effect, ozone depletion, deforestation, air pollution, and water pollution. The book asks: What does our knowledge of human behavior tell us about the root causes of environmental problems and about strategies for solving them?

Increasingly it is being recognized that consumer behavior may be a key trigger in the march toward sustainable development. Several lines of psychological theory and approaches have been developed relatively independently, each of which may provide major implications and action points on how consumers might be moved toward more sustainable behavior. This book is the first that brings together this variety of perspectives and theoretical angles around the common ambition of sustainable development. The contributors are all leading social scientists in the field of consumer behavior who met the challenge to sketch out their theoretical perspectives, but also to go beyond their normal theorizing and think out of the box in order to show how these theoretical perspectives might be made actionable in terms of key managerial and policy perspectives toward sustainable development. The result is a book that shows a wealth of information and approaches the question of how to encourage sustainable behavior from a myriad of divergent perspectives. This should stimulate scientists and policy-makers alike to find similarities, differences, and synergies between state-of-the-art psychological thinking about how to most effectively stimulate sustainable consumer behavior.

This textbook introduces the reader to the new and emerging field of Conservation Psychology, which explores connections between the study of human behavior and the achievement of conservation goals. People are often cast as villains in the story of environmental degradation, seen primarily as a threat to healthy ecosystems and an obstacle to conservation. But humans are inseparable from natural ecosystems. Understanding how people think about, experience, and interact with nature is crucial for promoting environmental sustainability as well as human well-being. The book first summarizes theory and research on human cognitive, emotional, and behavioral responses to nature and goes on to review research on people's experience of nature in wild, managed, and urban settings. Finally, it examines ways to encourage conservation-oriented behavior at both individual and societal levels. Throughout, the authors integrate a wide body of published literature to demonstrate how and why psychology is relevant to promoting a more sustainable relationship between humans and nature.