Revisiting the Psychology of Denial Concerning Low-Carbon Behaviors: From Moral Disengagement to Generating Social Change

This paper reassesses the scope for shifting high-carbon personal behaviors in the light of prevailing insufficient political and regulatory action. Our previous research has shown that citizens regard such behavioral shifts as extremely daunting and create a number of psychological denial mechanisms that draw attention to the inaction of others, including governments. Further theoretical insights and relevant new findings have been attained from a more recent survey of more than 1000 German residents. This reveals that direct denial of anthropogenic climate change is replaced by a denial of responsibility for individual climate action. Ways of moral disengagement play a more dominant role, such as the diffusion and displacement of responsibility, although a majority is aware of—and very much concerned about—the climate crisis. More attention needs to be given for further reinterpretation of the role of moral disengagement to single out adequate strategies for different individuals and groups of people, such as making role models more visible to encourage social learning that could accelerate further necessary moral and behavioral transformations

socio-cultural considerations for conservation policies in Madagascar

Madagascar is well-known for its natural uniqueness but at the same time faces a tremendous habitat loss because of anthropogenic threats. As global initiative governments are encouraged to nominate protected areas in order to either stop or reduce biodiversity loss. While decisions on conservation activities are mainly based on epistemic grounds, the role of local people and their socio-cultural context in its complexity remains to be left out. Although conservation organizations demonstrate their willingness to cooperate with local people, cultural discrepancies are still too vast and yet inhibit a well-balanced and constructive collaboration. In a social science study using participatory rural appraisal and semi-structured interviews in two biosphere reserves in the north of Madagascar we collected qualitative data from local people, local authorities and biosphere reserve management. The aim is (1) to contrast local value perceptions with western epistemic based understanding of forest resources and (2) to elaborate on local social institutions (organization) in the two Malagasy biosphere reserves. Results show on the one hand that by far not only provisioning services are conveyed as could have been expected, but also values that can be assigned to one of the three other categories: regulating, cultural or supporting services. On the other hand local people support a grouping in thematic associations, which foster their recognition and potential social movements towards collectively defined goals in the conservation debate. These facts encourage dialogue between apparently differing positions on forest ecosystems that provide services to both the local and the global community.Draft versio

Feasible Options for Behavior Change Toward More Effective Ocean Literacy: A Systematic Review

Effective ocean literacy requires appropriate individual behavior, but achieving this—based on behavior change—is extremely difficult. Social-psychological research shows that even generating knowledge and awareness toward protecting the environment—including the oceans—very rarely produces behavior change. The correlation between knowledge and behavior change is demonstrably surprisingly low. Based upon a systematic interdisciplinary literature review, this article evaluates the factors constituting behavior that are important for ocean literacy. Furthermore, it includes an analysis of options for individual behavior change. The literature review covers research and theories from behavioral sciences such as social, environmental, and emotional psychology, as well as from other social sciences. Specifically, research on pro-environmental behavior is evaluated and applied to the specific case of ocean-related behaviors and ocean literacy. As a result, the model of pro-environmental behavior by Kollmuss and Agyeman has successfully been transferred to increase the effectiveness of ocean literacy because it considers internal (e.g., emotions and values) and external factors (e.g., politico-economic and socio-cultural), which are crucial to achieve behavior change. Further results show that the theoretical analysis of different influence factors of ocean related behavior help to identify options to enhance ocean literacy, partially not yet broadly applied in this field, such as reputation-based incentives, social marketing, and successfully diffusing social change, which is illustrated within two examples of success stories. Nevertheless, improvements remain challenging due to barriers identified on the individual level (e.g., cognitive dissonance and moral disengagement) and adverse political and economic power relations in light of rapidly increasing environmental problems in our oceans

Workshop zur Managementeffektivität eines UNESCO-Biosphärenreservates als Instrument für ein sozioökonomisches Monitoring: Methodenbeschreibung und Fragebögen

Das Instrument „Workshop zur Managementeffektivität eines UNESCO-Biosphärenreservates“ als ein Instrument für sozioökonomisches Monitoring dient zur Einschätzung der Managementleistungen durch eine Biosphärenreservatsverwaltung, die sogenannte Evaluierung der Managementeffektivität. Der zugehörige Fragebogen wurde im Rahmen des Projektes „Gesellschaftliche Prozesse in vier deutschen UNESCO-Biosphärenreservaten“ (Förderung: DBU, Laufzeit: 2009-2012) entwickelt. Er basiert auf dem international angewendeten Management Effectiveness Tracking Tool zur Evaluierung von Schutzgebieten und wurde umfangreich mit Fragen ergänzt, die die besonderen Charakteristika von Biosphärenreservaten berücksichtigen. Dabei werden sowohl Gefährdungen für das Biosphärenreservat von außen als auch die Planung und Ausstattung des Managements, sowie die Maßnahmen, deren Ergebnisse und Wirkungen beurteilt. In einem eintägigen Workshop reflektieren die Mitarbeiter intern, inwiefern die Ziele des Biosphärenreservates umgesetzt werden konnten und diskutieren mögliche Ursachen für die eingetretenen Entwicklungen. Die quantitative Auswertung der überwiegend geschlossenen Fragen wird durch Argumentationsstränge und offene Fragen ergänzt und so besser nachvollziehbar

Dietary change and land use change: assessing preventable climate and biodiversity damage due to meat consumption in Germany

Land use change (LUC) is responsible for a large share of the emissions of anthropogenic greenhouse gases (GHGs) and is a major driver of global biodiversity loss. Although much of the global LUC-related CO2 emissions and biodiversity loss occur in tropical countries, the actual drivers of this LUC can be located in the global North, particularly through the import of large quantities of agricultural commodities. The aim of this study is to quantify and monetize the LUC-related impacts of the consumption of animal-based food products in Germany and subsequently explore the potential benefits of transitioning to diets with lower dependence on animal-based products. We calculate the LUC-related impacts of consumption of animal-based products in Germany through a modeling approach that combines models for land balance, emissions, and physical trade. We determine the LUC-related CO2 emissions of this consumption, as well as the deforested area and associated impacts on biodiversity loss. Following the true cost accounting approach (TCA), the LUC-related impacts are monetized to estimate the external costs of the German consumption of animal-based products. Our results show that the consumption of these products is responsible for the deforestation of 16.4 kha annually in the period between 2013 and 2016. Out of the six analyzed animal-based product groups, the largest shares of deforestation are associated with milk (35%) and pork (33%) consumption. However, beef meat consumption has the highest relative LUC-related CO2 emissions at 0.75 tCO2 per ton. The LUC-related externalities of the German meat-based product consumption incur annually societal costs of EUR 1.1 billion (plus EUR 0.5 billion for biodiversity loss). The results also show that the animal-based products imported in Germany have only slightly higher LUC-related CO2 emissions than those produced within Germany. Overall, there is a great urgency for policy measures and shifts in consumer behavior to ensure that the consumption of animal-based products in Germany does not have unacceptably high negative sustainability impacts

Ocean literacies: the promise of regional approaches integrating ocean histories and psychologies

The current concept of ocean literacy reflects a prerequisite for achieving ocean sustainability. Existing ocean literacy reflects a fundamentally western view of oceans that works in tension with ocean literacy goals. Although ocean literacy practitioners and researchers are, laudably, starting to incorporate Indigenous knowledges and perspectives from BIPOC communities, attention to historical change continues to be left out of ocean literacy, to the detriment of ocean literacy goals. This article points out that, given the reality that human-ocean relationships have changed over time, and differed among cultural groups in the past as well as in the present, ocean literacy needs to incorporate ocean history at a foundational level. Because there are historical differences in human relationships with oceans, it stands to reason that regional ocean literacies must be more effective than a universal and timeless ocean literacy framework. Following the logical efficacy of a regional approach to ocean literacy, this article further argues that regional ocean literacies should involve the systematic inclusion of emotional elements. Regional ocean literacies should be constructed through knowledge co-production, involving diverse types of expertise, knowledge and actors to produce context-specific knowledge and pathways towards a sustainable future. To fully exploit the potential of ocean literacy, there is a need for the UN Ocean Decade to work towards regional and place-based approaches that incorporate history as well as culture in an iterative and collaborative process involving diverse types of expertise, knowledge and actors

Opposition to the Designation of Protected Areas in Germany

Opposition to the establishment of nature protection areas in Germany is widespread and growing to the point where any designation is becoming increasingly difficult to implement. This paper seeks to make explicit how and why that opposition has arisen. It draws on two socio-psychological theories, namely the social identity theory and the theory of psychological reactance, to provide an explanation. The analysis shows that many motivations are involved, even for the same individuals. Popular resistance does appear to create group solidarities and to reinforce insular attitudes. These outcomes in socio-psychological behaviour in turn create serious misunderstandings between protagonists and antagonists. The paper concludes by discussing possible ways for reconciling different outlooks, and for reinterpreting prejudices, by introducing more reliable forms of effective partnerships between proponents and possible opponents.

Development and Validation of a Scale to Assess Moral Disengagement in High-Carbon Behavior

The reduction of individual carbon consumption could make an important contribution to the worldwide effort to limit global warming. Based on Bandura’s theory of moral disengagement, we hypothesized that the propensity to morally disengage concerning high-carbon behaviors (e.g., eating meat or traveling by plane) is one important factor that prevents individuals from reducing their carbon footprint. To measure the propensity to morally disengage in high-carbon-related behavior contexts, a questionnaire (MD-HCB) was developed and psychometrically validated in an online study with a German sample (N = 220). Confirmatory factor analyses revealed that the final nine-item scale had a one-dimensional structure, as intended. The internal consistency of the scale was excellent (Cronbach’s α = 0.94) and the scale interpretation had predictive validity for both past low-carbon consumption behavior and the intention to engage in such behavior in the future. Correlational analyses with relevant existing instruments confirmed the construct validity of the interpretations that can be drawn from the MD-HCB, as its resulting score is related to, yet separable from, the general tendency to morally disengage and is meaningfully connected to related constructs. A pre-study with a student sample (N = 89) not only helped to identify limitations in the study design but also showed a weak predictive ability of moral competence concerning high-carbon consumption behavior and intention to change. Based on our findings, future media campaigns designed to increase people’s intention to reduce high-carbon behavior could focus on the modification of common cognitive disengagement strategies

A systematic review to assess the evidence-based effectiveness, content, and success factors of behavior change interventions for enhancing pro-environmental behavior in individuals

To reduce global greenhouse gas emissions in order to limit global warming to 1.5°C, individuals and households play a key role. Behavior change interventions to promote pro-environmental behavior in individuals are needed to reduce emissions globally. This systematic literature review aims to assess the a) evidence-based effectiveness of such interventions and b) the content of very successful interventions without limiting the results to specific emitting sectors or countries. Based on the “PICOS” mnemonic and PRISMA statement, a search strategy was developed, and eligibility criteria were defined. Three databases (Embase, PsycInfo, and Web of Science) were searched to retrieve and review potential literature. As a result, 54 publications from 2010 to 2021 were included in the analysis. The results show that most interventions only have small positive effects or none at all. A total of 15 very successful interventions focused on the sectors of mobility, energy, and waste and incorporated improved (infra-) structures, education, feedback, enablement or made the sustainable option the default. Six evidence-based recommendations for content, timing, and setting are deducted and given for interventions on enhancing pro-environmental behavior (PEB). In summary, although the various interventions and intervention types to promote PEB differ in their effectiveness, very successful interventions have common elements. Future research should focus on high-/low-impact and high-/low-cost behavior to develop interventions that aim at high-impact but low-cost behavior changes, or avoid low-impact but high-cost behavior