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J Bioecon (2017) 19:2951DOI 10.1007/s10818-016-9231-x
http://crossmark.crossref.org/dialog/?doi=10.1007/s10818-016-9231-x&domain=pdf
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Web End = Adaptation processes in the context of climate change: a social and environmental psychology perspective
Graham L. Bradley1,2 Joseph P. Reser1,2
Published online: 27 July 2016 Springer Science+Business Media New York 2016
Abstract An informed multidisciplinary understanding of the ways in which people experience, appraise, adapt, and respond to global climate change is a prerequisite to effectively managing the transition to a sustainable economy. In this paper, we argue that climate science has to date failed to fully appreciate the contribution that social and environmental psychology can make to such an understanding. We draw on ndings from two large national Australian surveys to demonstrate how this perspective can contribute to knowledge, understanding, and policy formulation. Central to this perspective are processes of psychological adaptation, that is, processes through which individuals orient towards, make sense of, and ultimately come to terms with, the threat and reality of climate change. Such adaptive processes are shown to mediate relationships between environmental experiences and behavior, and hence provide the foundation for environmentally-friendly lifestyles. Rather than assuming that external sanctions and incentives are sufcient to engender sustainable lifestyle changes, a social and environmental psychology approach recognises and explores the complexities of the transactions that occur between individuals internal and external environments, emphasizes the importance of intrinsic motivation and self-determination, and suggests the need for initiatives that promote behaviors that are both environmentally and psychologically signicant.
Keywords Climate change Psychological adaptation Sustainability Social
psychology Environmental psychology Survey research
B Graham L. Bradley
1 School of Applied Psychology, Grifth University, Gold Coast Campus, Southport, QLD 4222,
Australia2 Menzies Health Institute Queensland, Grifth University, Southport, QLD, Australia
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30 G. L. Bradley, J. P. Reser
1 Introduction
The behavior of individual citizens lies at the heart of current unsustainably high levels of consumption. Behavior and lifestyle change are necessary for the transition to a more sustainable economy. In this paper, we present a social and environmental psychology perspective on behavior that places emphasis on the transactions that occur between individuals and their environments, particularly in relation to the threat and reality of global climate change. These transactions involve overt behavior aimed at mitigating climate change risk and/or adapting to it,...