In the Dickerson et al. Discussion 2 – Week 11 COLLAPSE Applied Social Psychology and the Work Environment Employee satisfaction is the product of many factors, some directly related to the work situation and some related to the individual’s personal qualities or characteristics. References . Dickerson, C.A., Thibodeau, R., Aronson, E., & Miller, D. (1992). For instance the study conducted by Dickerson et al. All of these environmental issues, plus many more, are taking a toll on the planet in which we inhabit. Retrieve from: http://www.nrdc.org/globalwarming/fcons.asp, Pennsylvania State University World Campus. Applied Social Psychology: Theory and research methods. There are many more things that need to be considered and changed in order to protect and improve our environment, and as you pointed out hopefully social psychology and science will help toward this. (2006). Ethical Issues In Psychology Environmental Psychology At ... PPT. Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. (2005). As mentioned above it is well established that many natural resources are finite and limited and when people act based on their self interest it might lead to a process known as tragedy of the commons (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). Environmental psychology is an interdisciplinary field that focuses on the interplay between individuals and their surroundings. I agree with you that the majority, if not all, environmental issues our earth faces today are due to human activities. This question is what led to the establishment of environmental psychology as its own subfield of psychology. United States Environmental Protection Agency. Other relevant issues include fostering environmentally friendly and healthy behaviour, the encouragement of protest behaviour, and preventing and combating hooliganism or other undesirable mass behaviour. • The United Nation Environmental program website ( http://www.unep.org/ ) which includes interesting information about environment issues around the world and much information about ongoing programs. The sea level is rising due to the melting of the Polar ice cap and thermal expansion (Natural resources defense council [NRCC], 2008). The sea level is rising due to the melting of the Polar ice cap and thermal expansion (Natural resources defense council [NRCC], 2008). • EU Environment ( http://ec.europa.eu/environment/index_en.htm) which lists environmental issues and regulations taking place in the European Union. Applied Social Psychology. (2005). Furthermore another form of social dilemma which conflicts with the adoption of environmental responsible behavior is the public goods problem. One crucial thing for an individual to recognize and realize is the impact of their decisions on our environment. A perfect example of applied social psychology! Applied psychology is the use of psychological methods and findings of scientific psychology to solve practical problems of human and animal behavior and experience. Study (1992), Dickerson used cognitive dissonance in order to change water conservation behaviors. Levels of Analysis The Need for a Broad . (Eds.). Therefore analyzing and understanding what factors affect an individual's decision making is a crucial aspect before designing and implementing interventions to promote environmentally responsible behavior. Global worming fast facts. However it is first important to examine why people behave the way they do regarding the environment, and why don't people try to act more responsible towards the environment. Climate and environmental psychologists study ways to promote pro-environment behaviors in each of us from household recycling to large scale public policy. This adds up to almost a ton of trash per person, per year (U.S EPA, 2011). Other social psychologists work for government offices, non-profit organizations, hospitals, social service offices, and private corporations. Therefore interventions such as appeals from authority and education companies could be beneficial in changing consumption behaviors. Subscribe to receive notifications of follow up comments via email. The best solution to improve and resolve this situation is sustainability and the adoption of environmentally responsible behavior. Factory farms harm American farmland through their consumption of massive quantities of feed crops as the average cow eats roughly 30 pounds of food each day (Rasby, 2006). An individual must make a decision and choose between self-interest and the interest of the community and environment. In conclusion all these behavioral change programs could successfully promote pro-environmental behaviors. This will have a twofold benefit as it will help the environment and will enhance healthy behaviors and decrease diseases related to overeating. Therefore instead of sacrificing some small conveniences people chose to behave in a way that negatively impacts everyone. Hopefully in the future social psychologists and scientists will come up with ways in order to help minimize and stop environmental problems. 841-854. Applied social psychology: Understanding and addressing social and practical problems. There are many more facts available which demonstrate that human actions have cause serious problems to our environment. Dickerson, a social psychologist, and his colleagues performed an experience on water conservation. Global warming is the rising of temperature in the Earth's atmosphere and oceans. “Yes, environmental psychology mainly looks at spatial layouts, crowding, nature, etc.—it's applied social psychology. When the limited resources are overused they will be difficult or impossible to be replaced which will lead to serious problems for all of us. Most, if not all, of the environmental issues we face today are caused by human activities. Summary for Social Environment and Behaviour - Applied Psychology. Population growth is a serious issue that is negatively affecting our environment and interventions on controlling the population growth are needed. The book is innovating and challenging, containing up-to-date research overviews combined with promising interventions from leading scholars. People's self-interest and desire for personal gain may influence their choices and behaviors as they may consider the rewards of their actions noteworthy, no matter what consequences these actions have on everyone. The individual perceives that his behavior does not cause any immediate negative outcomes and fails to realize the long term consequences. Resolving Social A group of social psychologists was tasked with determining which room layouts were most beneficial for hospital patients and which could result in adverse effects. Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall/Pearson. Global warming, pollution, resource depletion and several other serious environmental issues are alarming and interventions are essential. Applied Social Psychology as a Science. (2007). Social traps involve a short-term pleasure or gain that over time leads to negative consequences such as loss or pain (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005, p.310). Additionally biologists have long recognized that our ecosystem has limited carrying capacities and many resources are finite and limited (Pennsylvania State University World Campus, 2011). Using cognitive dissonance to encourage water conservation. For instance one could choose to over-consume energy and not bother to recycle as it is more convenient. One needs to decide and weigh the cost and benefits for helping and contributing their time, money and effort for the public good. If you don't see any confirmation within 30 seconds, please reload your page. Laxmi However this is not true and is an example of how common social dilemmas exist in our lives. Therefore analyzing and understanding what factors affect an individual's decision making is a crucial aspect before designing and implementing interventions to promote environmentally responsible behavior. If applied social psychology can increase resource conservation through use of cognitive dissonance theory (Festinger, 1957) such as in the Dickerson example, maybe it can also encourage people and organizations to cut back on harmful activity for the environment such as polluting. In order to tackle today's environment problems, I believe you have to start small and dream big. It seems that the issue is not that there is not enough food but who gets the food. & Akert, R.M. Therefore to combat these behaviors interventions derived from the social psychology theory and other related fields are important and promising in enhancing pro-environmental behaviors. It is crucial to implement timely interventions that will benefit this cause. Social Psychology (7th ed.). Aronson, E., Wilson, T.D. Taught exclusively in English by world-renowned scholars in social … Pollution is an environmental that is affecting the world around us. BSocSc in Environmental Policy; BSocSc in Psychology; BSocSc in Public Policy and Politics; BSocSc in Social Work* Hong Kong Baptist University. For example trying to use less energy at home, using your car less, collecting and recycling. Oil depletion refers to the production of oil at a faster rate than it can be replenished. [But] very little work deals with actual environmental … (2011). These interventions could be universal and target the entire population of an area or selected intervention and target specific groups of people within a population such as students of different schools, company employees and residents of a neighborhood. For instance one could say that recycling their plastic bottles and aluminum cans would actually not make any difference. (2011). If that is the case, then the human population is double the capacity. For example an intervention that targets the increase of recycling should first focus on changing people's beliefs about recycling such as recycling in more expensive or to recycle materials consumes more energy than burning them. With respect to this, environmental psychology, studying people-environment relations or transactions, aims on one side to establish itself as an applied psychological discipline; and on the other, it aims to understand psychological processes “in the real world” acquiring internal relevance for psychology in general. Many of us would like to think we live in a perfect world with a perfect environment. Cognitive dissonance states that people try to maintain consistency and steadiness in cognitions and behaviors in order to avoid discomfort caused by dissonance (Schneider, Gruman & Coutts, 2005). (2004, May). The Role of Personal Values Historical Context of Applied . experimental methods to understand social issues and to offer real-world solutions for a variety of social problems World agriculture 2030: Global food production will exceed population growth. This will be difficult because of the money being made by many of the industries that are most responsible for pollution. Environment and Social Psychology. P. Sychology. There are many environmental issues that scientists are dealing with every minute, hour, day, and year. More recently, much research is directed at explaining behaviour that affects the quality of the environment, for example, through energy use, … Statistical facts are also able to demonstrate this, and regarding recycling it has been estimated that Americans use 2,500,000 plastic bottles every hour and unfortunately most of them are thrown away (U.S. EPA, 2011). I'll use the example of air pollution. Environmentally conscious designs that contribute positively to the community are essential in contributing to sustainable social change. U.S. residences, businesses, and institutions produced more than 251 million tons of municipal solid waste, which is approximately 4.6 pounds of waste per person per day, and only approximately 32.5 percent is currently recycled (U.S. Environmental Protection Agency[U.S. EPA], 2011;NRDC, 2008). Additionally there is the case where one reduces the negative impact of their behavior with the excuse that their actions do not have any great overall impact on the environment. Applied Social Psychology and The Environment There are 3 ways that social psychology principles can be applied to solving the environment No spot for putting it The beautiful, ornate frame Changing social norms A social norm is a social rule or expectation. environmental psychology is applied in the broad sense that its efforts are stimulated by the recognition of problems in interactions between individuals and their built and natural settings. References: Targeting to change short-term self-interest behaviors is crucial as well as challenging. Scientists are 90% certain that global warming is caused mostly by human activities that increase concentrations of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere, such as the burning of fossil fuels (Global warming, 2011). Like the efforts of other psychologists, the work of those who study environmental issues may be grouped into two complementary branches: experimental and applied. Your example of the Dickerson study does a good job illustrating how attitudes might be changed to combat Hardin's (1968) "tragedy of the commons" where humans act in their own immediate interest and exploit available (but limited) resources. Some scientists and experts estimate that the Earth's carrying capacity is only three billion while others argue the carrying capacity is only a few hundred million. On average, each one of us produces 4.4 pounds of solid waste each day. The effects of global warming can be seen from the fact that the average temperatures have climbed 1.4 degrees Fahrenheit (0.8 degree Celsius) around the world since 1880, much of this in recent decades, according to NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies (National Geographic, 2007). (Eds.). For example people in developed countries are facing serious health issues due to overconsumption of calories and people in developing countries are facing malnutrition and under nutrition. Environmental issues are derived primarily as a result of human activities and statistical information supports this. (2011, August). Considering the case of recycling one may think in one of these ways and therefore decide not to recycle. National Risk Management Research Library, Cincinnati, OH: Author. The world food problem is a serious issue but not the subject of this blog. This type of decision making displays how relevant the concept of the social trap is in our everyday life. Today all of us are aware and hear about environmental issues and concerns such as climate change, global warming, pollution, resource depletion, environmental degradation and many others. I placed more concentration in this blog on my own country but this does not mean that other countries do not have to be taken into consideration. Today, there are more than six billion people living in the world. In social psychology, many psychologists have already proposed solutions in order to help the environment around us. All of these environmental issues, plus many more, are taking a toll on the planet in which we inhabit. An important point when it comes to environmental issues is that it is not a local problem but is a problem that affects all countries on earth. The target could be the reduction in energy use and an increase in recycling. When this subfield of psychology began almost 40 years ago, environmental psychology was mostly concerned with offices, homes and urban areas, exploring how people worked and interacted within these environments. This also plays a role in social design, which is discussed in Applied Social Psychology, when buildings are not constructed to be sustainable, they negatively impact those who live in the neighborhood (Schneider, Gruman, & Coutts, 2013). 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