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Environmental Psychology - Steg & Van den Berg - Summary
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Femke van RijnSeptember 2021
PSMSB-2
Environmental Psychology
An Introduction
Environmental psychology = the discipline that studies the interplay between individuals and the
built and natural environment
- Interaction between humans and environment
- Interdisciplinary
- Problem-focused approach
- Diverse methods
Environmental Influences on Human Behaviour and Well-Being
Environmental Risk Perception
Environmental risks are characterized by high complexity and uncertainty, with complicated causal
relationships and multiple consequences. They often emerge from the behaviours of many people
instead of a single activity. The consequences are often delayed and geographically distant.
Risk perceptions can prompt or oppose actions to address risks. Heuristics can lead to biased risk
assessments.
- Availability heuristic = people overestimate occurrences of events when it is easy to bring to
mind
- Anchoring-and-adjustment heuristic = people start out from a salient reference point
(anchor) which biases the final estimate
- Unrealistic optimism = people tend to believe they are more likely to experience positive
events and less likely to experience negative events than others
- Framing effects = different descriptions of a problem can alter people’s decisions, for
example a loss is experienced as more devastating than the equivalent gain is gratifying (loss
aversion)
- Affect heuristic = emotions serve as important informational input for risk judgements
- Temporal discounting = outcomes in the far future are perceived less significant than
immediate outcomes
The psychometric paradigm is an approach to study risk perception. Two dimensions have emerged
as a result of factor analyses.
- Dread risk = the extent to which a risk is experienced as dreadful or having severe
consequences
- Unknown risk = the extent to which a risk is experienced as unfamiliar, unobservable or
having delayed effects
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,Risk perception can also be driven by values (like traditional values, egoistic or altruistic values,
biospheric value orientation). Protected/sacred values = people can be highly reluctant to make
trade-offs among different values.
Moral considerations play an important role in risk evaluation. People that hold a deontological
stance pay greater attention to whether harms or benefits derive from acts or omissions.
- Deontological principles = rightness or wrongness lies in the act itself
- Consequentialist principles = rightness or wrongness lies in the outcome
Appraisal theories suggest that different specific emotions have different impacts on perceived risks
(even if they share the same valence). Emotions can also occur as reactions to perceived risks.
Consequence-based emotions can be prospective or retrospective. Ethics-based emotions (focused
on moral rightness) can be directed towards oneself or towards other people.
Climate Change as a Unique Environmental Problem
Climate change is anthropogenic (human-caused). It has ethical implications since the responsibility
for causing climate change lies in industrialized countries which are less affected by it. Climate
change mostly affects animals, nature and vulnerable people (environmental justice issue).
The causal links between individual decisions and impacts on climate are not apparent, because of
difficulties in understanding climate change, perceived risk and how to respond to the problem.
Ocean acidification = decrease of pH value in oceans caused by increased carbon dioxide
Motivated reasoning = biasing assessment of information such that it aligns with one’s goals and
beliefs
Attributional ambiguity = when multiple alternative explanations can be used to describe something,
it may be difficult to know which one is valid
Political groups and companies can purposely created uncertainty about human cause of climate
change.
False balance = presenting two opposing positions in a way that implies that they represent two
equally representative opinions
Psychological distance = the perceived distance between oneself and the impacts of climate change
(temporal, geographic and social distance)
Solution aversion = the tendency to discount problems because of a dislike of the solution rather
than because of an assessment of the problem itself
Perceived threat may not translate into actions because people do not take personal responsibility or
have the resources to address climate change.
Mitigation = slowing down and stopping climate change
Adaptation= adjusting to and preparing for the inevitable impacts (decreasing vulnerability and
increasing resilience)
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, Environmental Stress
Stress = imbalance between environmental demands and human response capabilities
Environmental stressors (like noise, crowding, pollution) can be acute or chronic. Chronic stressors
have many consequences for human health.
The Sympathetic-Adrenal Medullary (SAM) system is a physiological system involved in the fight-or-
flight response. It influences adrenaline, blood pressure, heart rate, etc. When the emergency has
passed, the system turns back to baseline levels (homeostasis).
General adaptation syndrome (GAS) = a three-stage pattern of response to stress
1. Alarm stage
2. Resistance stage
3. Exhaustion stage
According to the transactional model, stress is the product of the interaction between a person and
the environment: the occurrence of the event, people’s cognitive appraisal of the event and the
coping strategies they use to deal with the event.
Allostatic load theory = there is not one ideal state of bodily functioning. The body continuously tries
to achieve allostasis (stability through change) in the changed situation.
Effects of environmental stress:
- Noise (unwanted sound) is characterized by intensity, frequency, periodicity, duration,
predictability and personal control. It produces physiological stress (heart disease, blood
pressure) but also impacts people at a psychological and behavioural level (performance,
motivation). It has aftereffects, as effects are still observed after the stressor is removed.
- Crowding (perceived number of people in the environment exceeds one’s preference) is
influenced by individual differences and situational factors. It makes it difficult to regulate
social interaction, regulates behavioural options and leads to invasions of personal space.
Social withdrawal is a coping mechanism that can hamper protective factors for mental
health (like developing relationships and social support).
- Poor housing quality is associated with higher levels of stress and mental health symptoms
and can influence development and functioning.
- Poor neighbourhood quality can produce chronic stress: quality of services and facilities,
recreational opportunities, traffic, transportation accessibility, maintenance, surveillance,
residential instability, noise, crowding and toxic exposure.
- Traffic congestion is linked to physiological stress, negative affect and impaired task
motivation. It can have spill over effects (like leading to negative social interactions at home
or work).
Cumulative fatigue = the build-up of fatigue from spending energy to cope with environmental
stressors
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