The critical challenge of climate change for psychology: Preventing rebound and promoting more individual irrationality

European Psychologist

Volumn 19, Issue 2, 2014, Pages 96-106

  Otto, Siegmar ^a   Kaiser, Florian G ^a   Arnold, Oliver ^a  

^a OTTO VON GUERICKE UNIVERSITY   (Germany)

Author keywords

Conservation (ecological behavior); Efficiency of technology; Environmental attitudes; Environmental policy; Rebound effect

Indexed keywords

EID: 84899491425     PISSN: 10169040     EISSN: 1878531X     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000182     Document Type: Article

References (58)

1. Abrahamse, W., Steg, L., Vlek, C, & Rothengatter, T. (2005). A review of intervention studies aimed at household energy conservation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 25, 273-291.
2. Ajzen, I., & Fishbein, M. (2005). The influence of attitudes on behavior. In D. Albarracín, B. T. Johnson, & M. P. Zanna (Eds.), The handbook of attitudes (pp. 173-221). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
3. Alfredsson, E. C. (2004). "Green" consumption - no solution for climate change. Energy, 29, 513-524.
4. Bischof, N. (1985). Das Rätsel Odipus: Die biologischen Wurzeln des Urkonfliktes von Intimität und Autonomie [The enigma of Oedipus: The biological roots of the intimacy-autonomy dilemma]. Munich, Germany: Piper.
5. Bolderdijk, J. W., Knockaert, J., Steg, E. M., & Verhoef, E. T. (2011). Effects of pay-as-you-drive vehicle insurance on young drivers' speed choice: Results of a Dutch field experiment. Accident Analysis & Prevention, 43, 1181-1186.
6. Briigger, A., Kaiser, F. G., & Roczen, N. (2011). One for all? Connectedness to nature, inclusion of nature, environmental identity, and implicit association with nature. European Psychologist, 16, 324-333. doi: 10.1027/1016-9040/a000032
7. Clayton, S. (2003). Environmental identity: A conceptual and an operational definition. In S. Clayton & S. Opotow (Eds.), Identity and the natural environment: The psychological significance of nature (pp. 45-65). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
8. Commission of the European Communities. (2008). Energy efficiency: Delivering the 20% target. Brussels, Belgium: Author.
9. Dawkins, R. (1976). The selfish gene. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
10. De Young, R. (2000). Expanding and evaluating motives for environmentally responsible behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 509-526.
11. Dickerson, C A., Thibodeau, R., Aronson, E., & Miller, D. (1992). Using cognitive dissonance to encourage water conservation. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 22, 841-854.
12. Fishbein, M., & Ajzen, I. (1975). Belief, attitude, intention, and behavior: An introduction to theory and research. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
13. Fouquet, R., & Pearson, P. J. G. (2006). Seven centuries of energy services: The price and use of light in the United Kingdom (1300-2000). Energy Journal, 27, 139-177.
14. Fujii, S., & Ohta, H. (2010, July). Does purchasing an "ecocar" increase the vehicle distance travelled? Paper presented at the 27th International Congress of Applied Psychology, Melbourne, Australia.
15. Gardner, G. T., & Stern, P. C. (2008). The short list: The most effective actions U. S. households can take to curb climate change. Environment: Science and Policy for Sustainable Development, 50(5), 12-25.
16. Geller, E. S. (2002). The challenge of increasing proenvironment behavior. In R. B. Bechtel & A. Churchman (Eds.), Handbook of environmental psychology (pp. 525-540). New York, NY: Wiley.
17. Gifford, R. (2011). The dragons of inaction: Psychological barriers that limit climate change mitigation and adaptation. American Psychologist, 66, 290-302.
18. Gigerenzer, G., & Selten, R. (Eds.). (2002). Bounded rationality: The adaptive toolbox. Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
19. Griskevicius, V., Tybur, J. M., & Van Den Bergh, B. (2010). Going green to be seen: Status, reputation, and conspicuous conservation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 98, 392-404.
20. Hardin, G (1968). The tragedy of the commons. Science, 162, 1243-1248.
21. Hartig, T., Kaiser, F. G., & Bowler, P. A. (2001). Psychological restoration in nature as a positive motivation for ecological behavior. Environment and Behavior, 33, 590-607.
22. Herring, H., & Roy, R. (2007). Technological innovation, energy efficient design and the rebound effect. Technovation, 27, 194-203.
23. Hertwich, E. G. (2005). Consumption and the rebound effect: An industrial ecology perspective. Journal of Industrial Ecology, 9(1-2), 85-98.
24. Hinds, J., & Sparks, P. (2008). Engaging with the natural environment: The role of affective connection and identity. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 28, 109-120.
25. Hsee, C. K., Hastie, R., & Chen, J. (2008). Hedonomics: Bridging decision research with happiness research. Perspectives on Psychological Research, 3, 224-243.
26. IEA - International Energy Agency. (2011). World energy outlook 2011. Paris: OECD.
27. Jackson, T. (2002). Evolutionary psychology in ecological economics: Consilience, consumption and contentment. Ecological Economics, 41, 289-303.
28. Joule, R.-V., Girandola, F., & Bernard, F. (2007). How can people be induced to willingly change their behavior? The path from persuasive communication to binding communication. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 1, 493-505.
29. Kaiser, F. G., Briigger, A., Hartig, T., Bogner, F. X., & Gutscher, H. (2013). Appreciation of nature and appreciation of environmental protection: Stable attitudes, but which comes first? Manuscript submitted for publication.
30. Kaiser, F. G., & Byrka, K. (2011). Environmentalism as a trait: Gauging people's prosocial personality in terms of environmental engagement. International Journal of Psychology, 46, 71-79.
31. Kaiser, F. G., Byrka, K, & Hartig, T. (2010). Reviving Campbell's paradigm for attitude research. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 14, 351-367.
32. Kaiser, F. G., Hartig, T., Briigger, A., & Duvier, C. (2013). Environmental protection and nature as distinct attitudinal objects: An application of the Campbell paradigm. Environment and Behavior, 45, 369-398.
33. Kaiser, F. G., & Wilson, M. (2004). Goal-directed conservation behavior: The specific composition of a general performance. Personality and Individual Differences, 36, 1531-1544.
34. Kellert, S. R. (2002). Experiencing nature: Affective, cognitive, and evaluative development in children. In P. H. Kahn Jr. & S. R. Kellert (Eds.), Children and nature: Psychological, sociocultural, and evolutionary investigations (pp. 117-151). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
35. Kenrick, D. T., & Griskevicius, V. (2013). The rational animal: How evolution made us smarter than we think. New York, NY: Basic Books.
36. Kenrick, D. T., Griskevicius, V., Sundie, J. M., Li, N. P., Li, Y. J., & Neuberg, S. L. (2009). Deep rationality: The evolutionary economics of decision making. Social Cognition, 27, 764-785.
37. Kolbert, E. (2008, July 7). The island in the wind. The New Yorker, P. 68. Retrieved from http://www.newyorker.com/reporting/2008/07/07/080707fa-fact- kolbert
38. Kollock, P. (1998). Social dilemmas: The anatomy of cooperation. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 183.
39. Koomey, J. G., Berard, S., Sanchez, M., & Wong, H. (2011). Implications of historical trends in the electrical efficiency of computing. Annals of the History of Computing, IEEE, 33(3), 46-54.
40. Lehman, P. K, & Geller, E. S. (2004). Behavior analysis and environmental protection: Accomplishments and potential for more. Behavior and Social Issues, 13, 13-32.
41. Mayer, F. S., & Frantz, C. M. (2004). The connectedness to nature scale: A measure of individuals' feeling in community with nature. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 24, 503-515.
42. McKenzie-Mohr, D. (2000). Promoting sustainable behavior: An introduction to community-based social marketing. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 543-554.
43. Midden, C. J. H., Kaiser, F. G., & McCalley, L. T. (2007). Technology's four roles in understanding individuals' conservation of natural resources. Journal of Social Issues, 63, 155-174.
44. Nisbet, E. K., Zelenski, J. M., & Murphy, S. A. (2009). The nature relatedness scale. Linking individuals' connection with nature to environmental concern and behavior. Environment and Behavior, 41, 715-740.
45. Oskamp, S. (2000). A sustainable future for humanity? How can psychology help? American Psychologist, 55, 496-508.
46. Roczen, N., Duvier, C., Bogner, F. X., & Kaiser, F. G. (2012). The search for potential origins of a favorable attitude toward nature. Psyecology, 3, 341-352.
47. Roczen, N., Kaiser, F. G., Bogner, F. X., & Wilson, M. (in press). A competence model for environmental education. Environment and Behavior.
48. Santarius, T. (2012). Der Rebound-Effekt. Uber die unerwiinschten Folgen der erwiinschten Energieeffizienz. [The rebound effect. About undesirable consequences of desired energy efficiency] (Research Report). Wuppertal, Germany: Wuppertal Institute.
49. Schultz, P. W. (1999). Changing behavior with normative feedback interventions: A field experiment on curbside recycling. Basic and Applied Social Psychology, 21, 25-36.
50. Schultz, P. W., Khazian, A. M., & Zaleski, A. C. (2008). Using normative social influence to promote conservation among hotel guests. Social Influence, 3, 4-23.
51. Sorrell, S., & Dimitropoulos, J. (2008). The rebound effect: Microeconomic definitions, limitations and extensions. Ecological Economics, 65, 636-649.
52. Sorrell, S., Dimitropoulos, J., & Sommerville, M. (2009). Empirical estimates of the direct rebound effect: A review. Energy Policy, 37, 1356-1371.
53. Steg, L., & Vlek, C. (2009). Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: An integrative review and research agenda. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 309-317.
54. Stern, P. C. (2000a). Psychology and the science of human-environment interactions. American Psychologist, 55, 523-530.
55. Stern, P. C. (2000b). Toward a coherent theory of environmentally significant behavior. Journal of Social Issues, 56, 407-424.
56. Thøgersen, J., & Møller, B. (2008). Breaking car use habits: The effectiveness of a free one-month travelcard. Transportation, 35, 329-345.
57. Tsao, J. Y., & Waide, P. (2010, March). The world's appetite for light: Empirical data and trends spanning three centuries and six continents. LEUKOS, 6, 259-281.
58. Vereecken, W., Van Heddeghem, W., Colle, D., Pickavet, M., & Demeester, P. (2010, March). Overall ICT footprint and green communication technologies. Paper presented at the 4th International Symposium on Communications, Control and Signal Processing, Limassol, Cyprus.