Sustainability - Environment (2 Articles)

Question 1

Article 1

Question 2

What have researches shown on the percentages of anthropogenic climate change deniers shown?

Answer 2

They’ve increases to 1/3 of the population

Question 3

What does denial result from?

Answer 3

• Ignorance
• Deception, Misunderstanding (People are misled by media)
• Conservatism principle

Question 4

What is Environmental Citizenship (E.C.)?

Answer 4

• addressing global environmental problems such as climate change
• providing support to pro-environmental organizations and individuals
• contributing to public pressure for political action

Question 5

What were the findings of the 1st study?

Answer 5

E.C. intentions were greater when deniers believed that action on climate change:
- would make people be more warm, considerate (care for environment, thus for the human race)
- would promote societal development
- would bring about economic benefits

Question 6

What were the findings of the 2nd study?

Answer 6

In both deniers and believers, but especially believers, framing climate change in terms of producing greater warmth and development, especially warmth, is more effective than focusing on the reality and risks of the problem

Question 7

Article 2

Question 8

What is the uniqueness of the problem of environmental climate change?

Answer 8

• Enormous scale: affects many aspects of life
• Cognitive and Social challenges it presents to people
  – difficult to grasp threats that are invisible. There’s nobody to blame bout ourselves, and that triggers many defensive biases

Question 9

How do we establish a moral imperative?

Answer 9

• Frame communication around the values of the audience (Reality, Warmth, Development etc.)
• Highlight the Villains
• Focus in intrinsically valued long-term goals

Question 10

What are some problems with external rewards?

Answer 10

• Desired behavior vanishes when external reward is removed
• undermine intrinsic motivation

Question 11

What does the focus theory of normative conduct state?

Answer 11

Social norms only direct behavior when they’re active and salient.

Question 12

According to this theory, what’s the problem with sustainability norms?

Answer 12

Sustainability norms (descriptive or injunctive) aren’t active or salient

Question 13

What are some ways to promote norms around Sustainability?

Answer 13

• Signal the desirability of sustainable norms (expanding in-groups also helps with this, because we’re more attentive to norms relevant to our own group)
• Avoid pairing desired behaviors with unwanted identities
• Support advocates across social, religious, political boundaries

Question 14

What are some cognitive biases that make climate change seem less important?

Answer 14

• Our intuitive, associative and affective warning system is based in experience and has evolved to respond to visible cues. Thus, climate change doesn’t activate this system
• We think climate change is more likely to happen to other people, at other times, in other places

Question 15

What are some ways to reduce these biases?

Answer 15

• Facilitate more affective and experiential engagement (Make connections between people’s lives and the environment)
• Reduce psychological distance (Think global, act local)
• Frame policy situations in terms of what can be gained from immediate actions (benefits)