The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior Quotes

“In one recent study, people who were given the feedback that their electricity use was above average cut their use, but people who were below average actually increased their use when given information that they were below the neighborhood average (this demonstrates the power of the social norm to influence behavior; people don’t want to be too different, no matter how different is defined). However, this was overcome with a simple “smiley face” drawn on the energy bill. The smiley face indicated social approval for lower energy consumption. People who received the smiley face continued to use less energy.”
― Christie Manning, The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior

“When it comes to issues of ecological stability and sustainability, those who have valiantly tried to get the message out have largely failed at making it personally relevant. The American public does not necessarily see environmental issues as something that they are likely to experience or be affected by. This is particularly true in the case of global climate change: despite a great deal of sound scientific evidence and great media attention, only a small number of Americans (35%) believe that climate change will harm them or their families, whereas 61% believe it will harm future generations and plant and animal species (Leiserowitz, Maibach, and Roser-Renouf, 2009).”
― Christie Manning, The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior

“One predictor of cutting-edge behavior (example: getting solar panels) is contact with someone who does that behavior (Leonard-Barton, 1981). The lesson from this is that direct social contact with someone who already does something sustainable increases the likelihood that other people will pick up that behavior. The influence increases with the nearness of the relationship and when the “early-adopter” is willing to talk to other people about the behavior he or she is doing. Admittedly this can and does sometimes backfire because the “messenger” is too insistent, others are not ready or interested in the behavior, or because even close friends or family members can have very different worldviews. Still, personal contact with someone behaving sustainably is a positive motivator for trying a new sustainable behavior. Thus, efforts should be made to create and support social networks that have an interest in sustainability.”
― Christie Manning, The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior

“Giving negative cues in response to unsustainable behavior can also play a role, but negative cues should be used with more caution. Negative cues are likely to generate a negative response: a direct challenge, a rebellious continuation of the behavior, or reactance: deliberate thwarting of efforts toward a sustainable alternative. Positive Energy, a company in California that is working with electrical utilities to help people cut back on the energy use, tried out the idea of giving high energy users negative social feedback (a frowning emoticon on their energy bills). It resulted in so many irate telephone calls to the utility that the practice was quickly abandoned.”
― Christie Manning, The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior

“Tips from Psychology
1. Make sustainable behavior the social default
When asked directly, people vehemently deny that their actions might be influenced by trendiness or popular opinion. However, we are biologically programmed to care what other people think of us and to try to make our behavior fit in. This is a product of our evolution: early humans who were ostracized from their group faced almost certain death out on their own. Because of this biological programming, all people internalize and act on messages from other people, both explicit and implicit messages, about the kinds of behaviors expected and accepted by society. At the same time, people significantly underestimate the extent to which these social messages influence them.
A recent study of household energy use confirms this: when asked outright, participants told experimenters that “what neighbors are doing” was the least likely factor to influence their behavior. However, the results showed that out of four different types of informational messages (environmental impact, money savings, how-to instructions, and how much neighbors are cutting back), the message about neighbors’ behavior was the only message that resulted in participants measurably reducing their own electricity use (Schultz, et al, 2007).”
― Christie Manning, The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior

“Why we are not always rational decision makers
One of the most important observations from psychological research is that many decisions are made by automatic, unconscious processes on the basis of information that our conscious, rational brains are hardly aware of. There is accumulating psychological and neuroscience evidence that thinking is the product of two separate systems of reasoning: a rule-based system, which is conscious, rational and deliberate, and an associative system, which is unconscious, sensory-driven and impulsive (Sloman, 1996; 2007). In their book Nudge , Thaler and Sunstein, (2008) liken the rule-based system to Star Trek’s Mr. Spock, and the associative system to Homer Simpson.”
― Christie Manning, The Psychology of Sustainable Behavior