INTRODUCTION It seems as that now more than ever the focus has been on being environmentally conscience. Cars are more efficient than before and, many businesses promote and practice recycling and other environmentally friendly things. However, not everyone is sold on the lifestyle changes that sometimes have to take place in order to be more environmentally conscience. For example, even though electronic cars are available, not as many people buy them because the initial cost is more expensive than cars that run on gas. Even though recycling service is just as available as trash service, not everyone takes advantage of it. If people know the negative effects their behavior has on the environment, why isn’t everyone doing more to be proactive and conscience about their impact on the environment? Psychologist have developed many theories to explain why behaviors do not change and how behaviors can be influenced and changed. This paper seeks to examine human behaviors and how they can be changed to create better views of being environmentally conscience.
ENVIRONMENTAL CUES Environmental “cues are elements in the environment that convey important information or trigger an affective reaction (Book).” In other words, cues are an action or occurrence that can affect and change human behavior. For example, in America street signs that are red typically indicate an action needs to stop or caution needs to be taken. When the traffic light is red, that is a cue for all traffic to stop in a certain direction. Environmental cues are an important part of human behavior. Cues make determining behavior easier. When sitting at a red light everyone knows that it is not their turn to drive. If the cue it not followed or ignored there can be negative impacts, like car accidents. Because cues have a significant impact on human behavior, when considering options to improve the environment, it is important to consider what cues can influence positive behaviors. For instance, to encourage individuals to recycle there are usually recycle bins next to trash bins. By having the recycle bin in that location, it gives the cue to the individual that instead of throwing their water bottle away, it should be recycled.
SOCIAL NORMS Another strong influence on environmental behaviors are social norms. Social norms are defined as actions or behaviors that are commonly approved or disapproved (Book). “Social scientists have explored the links between social relationships and behavior and there is now substantial and growing evidence that social ties influence beliefs, values, preferences, and choices (Influence of Social Relationships).” In American society, it is a social norm to go to the restroom to pass gas and it is disapproved to pass gas while eating with other individuals especially in public. Social norms impact behavior in the environment because it influences how one will behave. In order to change behaviors, social norms need to be changed. Currently if an individual throws a soda can in the trash it is socially accepted. Most people will think that that person is avoiding littering and creating a positive impact on the environment. However, if the social norm were to change and it was disapproved to throw a can in the regular trash and not a recycle bin that individual’s behavior may be different or receive a different reaction. “Because humans are social animals, human behavior is strongly influenced by behavior of other humans (Silence of the Library)”. Therefore changing behaviors will have a positive total impact on everyone.
SOLUTIONS
For societal norms to change, one has to know how to change. There is a theory called the Goal framing theory that suggests that behavior can be influenced by focusing on three goals. “Goal framing theory is an integrated framework for understanding factors influencing behavior, with an emphasis on the relative strength of hedonic, gain and normative goals (Book).” The hedonic goals focus on maintaining or improving the way one feels at the current moment. The normative goal is the goal that seeks to conform to societal goals and norms. Lastly, the gain goal focuses on improving or maintaining one’s resources (Book). To change social norms, these goals need to be considered. Different goals motivate different people in different ways. Therefore, there should initially be incentives that are based on these goals to begin the social norm change. For example, there is already an incentive to buying electric cars. If an individual purchases an electric car they will receive a tax incentive. However, it could take several months to receive the benefit. The tax incentive may intrigue someone who has a gain goal, but for someone that has a hedonic goal, it may not be sufficient. Another important thing to consider is that most individuals have to go out of their way to recycle and do other environmentally conscience things. If it was easier to be green, it may influence people to be more conscience. There are several solutions to improve behaviors and lessen negative environmental impact are: first, make recycling cost effective or profitable; next, make being environmentally conscience easily accessible; then, the federal and state governments need to create laws that encourage “going green”; and finally, social networks should be used further initiatives. Currently, individuals are able to turn in recyclables for cash, but amounts can be increased to influence more individuals to recycle. Secondly, green products need to more accessible to everyone. This means that wherever there are trash receptacle, there should be recycle bins. Third, the government should require everyone to have more green standards. For instance, there are legal standards that every car has to meet, and the government could require all cars to be electric or run on alternate fuel options. Lastly, social media has the ability to reach millions of viewers in seconds across the world. Green initiatives can be broadcast more frequently on social media to spread awareness. CONCLUSION
For the most part, most individuals understand the negative impacts certain behaviors have on the environment. However, when the ramifications are not easily seen or felt, individuals may not be able to see the benefits of their actions. In order to change the mindset of individuals, societal ideals have to be changed, but his is not a simple an easy task. It may take time to create new ideals, but with the research that has been done in environmental psychology, societal norms can be changed. Once societal norms are changed to support environmentally friendly causes, there will be positive changes for the environment.