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Understanding responses to climate change

Authors :
Robert Gifford
Angel Chen
Karine Lacroix
Publication Year :
2018
Publisher :
Elsevier, 2018.

Abstract

Humans emit large quantities of greenhouse gases, driving climate change and putting all species at risk. Psychologists can assist in changing these harmful greenhouse gas-emitting behaviors. However, structural and psychological obstacles exist, hindering behavioral efforts. Examining the question of what limits proenvironmental behavior for individuals that have the capacity to act (i.e., those not facing important structural barriers), Gifford (2011) gathered a list of psychological barriers called the dragons of inaction. The dragons of inaction comprise 30 psychological barriers, organized under 7 categories. Studies measuring the dragons of inaction in the context of mitigative food choices and household energy use are reviewed here. These studies suggest that the dragons of inaction comprise four to six barrier factors. Building from these findings, a recent study is discussed, which proposes a new measurement scale for psychological barriers based on exploratory and confirmatory analyses. This psychometric scale, called the Dragons of Inaction Psychological Barrier (DIPB) instrument, is validated for use across six domains of environmental behavior. Practical applications of the DIPB are presented. Theoretical applications of the DIPB are also presented; specifically, its use in measuring the perception of barriers in a (proposed) theory of behavioral choice (TBC). The TBC improves upon the well-known theory of planned behavior by incorporating psychological barriers, structural barriers, desire, and the distinction between actual and reported behavior. The DIPB and the TBC provide a valuable contribution to climate change mitigation and adaptation efforts.

Details

Database :
OpenAIRE
Accession number :
edsair.doi...........67d27b01457fb6dc655d14a551a1cd1b
Full Text :
https://doi.org/10.1016/b978-0-12-813130-5.00006-0