Emily reflects on Psychology of Environmental Stewardship

00:02 Hi, I'm Emily and I give consent for this to be recorded. So today I'm going to be talking about the Psychology of Environmental Stewardship, a course at the University of Michigan. So, reflecting back on the course, one of the most meaningful topics that I learned about was how our lives need to drastically change. We cannot live the way that we are now, and there's going to be.

00:22 A dramatic shift in our normal behaviors and lifestyles as the climate crisis rages on. This is inevitable as we continue to.

00:30 Use a lot of energy and contribute.

00:34 To the climate crisis through our consumption based lifestyles.

00:40 So some behavior changes that we might see in the future are less air travel, less individual transportation, and more plant based diets.

00:48 Another big concept that I grasped from.

00:51 This course was how we need to.

00:52 Start making at least little lifestyle changes now. And because with the inevitable future that comes ahead of us, there needs to.

01:01 Start being lifestyle changes right now so that we can one have a better well being, but also we can prepare for what lies ahead of us. So some other lifestyle changes that we can start doing right now include planting a garden, also reducing individual mileage and eating less meat. And finally, I grasped that change can.

01:26 Come at a small level, although it might be most effective in terms of climate change at the federal or international.

01:32 Level, there can also be change that.

01:34 Comes at a smaller level, including individual and local levels.

01:38 So at the individual level it might look like small behavior changes like I mentioned earlier. And at the local level they can.

01:45 Come from things such as the A20.

01:47 Plan that Ann Arbor has enacted and.

01:50 Is currently working on achieving and coming.

01:53 Together as a community to build resilience.

01:56 And include more lifestyle changes.

02:02 So some behavior change strategies that work well include the team based model. So the team based model is based off of community effort and support and.

02:11 Feedback from the people around you.

02:13 It invokes a sense of community spirit and civic responsibility. And some ways that you can evaluate.

02:20 It is through durability and how it.

02:23 Can last longer because you're using support.

02:25 And feedback from those people around you.

02:28 And the community around you, and also meaningfulness since you're working with your community.

02:32 And building those relationships with people you might not otherwise engage with as much.

02:39 Another behavior change strategy that works very.

02:41 Well is the reasonable person model, or also known as the C model, which.

02:46 Goes starts off with supportive environments and uses informational needs and fosters reasonableness. So the informational needs can come through model building being effective and meaningful action. And this model focuses on more positive emotional states and relies on feedback. So the premise of it is basically.

03:05 That people are making their own informed and reasonable decisions based on their information that they're given and what they know about the situation.

03:17 So with that, some evaluation metrics can include mental vitality, which is how people.

03:26 Are making their own decisions based on.

03:29 The information that they know, and emotional.

03:31 State, since people have a supportive environment that continues to support their well being and their emotional needs through support from other people.

03:41 On the other hand, some behavior change strategies that might not always work well include extrinsic motivation. So while this can work, sometimes it tends to have a lower durability because.

03:52 It'S usually more of a short term effect.

03:55 But what intrinsic extrinsic motivation can do is it can weaken intrinsic motivation.

04:01 So it might desensitize other intrinsic motives that someone has to work on a behavior change.

04:09 It can also lead to unforeseen consequences. And finally, one thing that might not work as well is fear appeals. So the idea of this is to.

04:21 Instill fear, to nudge a certain behavior change. It's not necessarily to make someone scared of something, but more to get them to to do a certain behavior, such as maybe at the dentist saying if.

04:32 You don't brush your teeth, then you're.

04:33 Going to get gum disease.

04:35 So this might have some unintended consequences, including desensitization, lower trust, and increased worry. And the reason for this is because.

04:46 People might not truly understand what the fear appeal is trying to do and it could end up doing more harm than good.

04:53 So this also can be more of a one time behavior thing where it kind of only works once and not.

04:59 For a prolonged time, leading to lower durability and lower emotional state, since it can lead to lower trust and make someone more worried than they really need to be.

05:09 So a few salient concepts that I.

05:11 Took away from this that I would like to help into your Great Lakes area region and like to implement more into this field is one that we.

05:23 Need to be wary of, information overload. So too much information can really make.

05:27 A person overwhelmed and directed voluntary attention can be difficult to maintain. So if someone's really not understanding what.

05:36 They the information they're given, Even though.

05:38 Information is important to help someone understand an issue and know how to tackle.

05:42 The issue, it can. Too much of information can lead to someone being tired, overwhelmed, and not really retaining any of the information at all.

05:51 Which is doing more harm than good.

05:54 So evaluation wise, this plays on mental vitality, which is looking at how much attention someone has and meaningfulness, since they're.

06:03 Not really getting any useful knowledge and it's not very meaningful to them.

06:08 Another salient concept is about envisioning, which.

06:11 Is looking at how you believe the world should look like, using shared dreams.

06:17 And it's a good way to kind of just take a step back and.

06:19 Figure out what we need to do.

06:20 To reach our goals and how to reach our goals.

06:23 So it's a good way for even as a group or as an individual.

06:27 Just to take a pause.

06:29 Because looking at all of the future.

06:31 Goals can be overwhelming sometimes. So taking a pause to understand what.

06:37 Do we want to reach or what goals do we want to see.

06:41 And some evaluation metrics for that include emotional state, because you're figuring things out.

06:46 About the future and you're going to.

06:48 See how you want things to work.

06:49 How things might make you feel, feel, and how you want things to end up.

06:53 And perspection, as that's using envisioning to.

06:56 Reach your goals and get to where you want to be in the future.

07:00 And finally, another salient concept that I.

07:02 Took away was how you make good.

07:07 Commitments and specific features of those.

07:10 So commitments are when people decide to.

07:13 Do something for a prolonged period of.

07:14 Time, most likely about a behavior change.

07:17 So one very good feature is to.

07:20 Make sure that it's voluntary and people.

07:22 Know that it's voluntary and not coerced.

07:24 Because otherwise people maybe feel that it's being pushed upon them and it's really making them like someone's forcing them to do it, which may make them not want to do it even more.

07:35 So you want to make sure that.

07:37 People know that it's voluntary. And also when it's individual and written is when they're most effective.

07:45 It's also really effective when it's in.

07:47 The public sphere so that maybe more people are aware of it and it's not just like a private matter. And also if you give feedback along the way and remind a person of their commitment so that they don't just.

07:59 Kind of forget about it or put.

08:00 On the back burner.

08:02 And also another good feature is having.

08:04 A link to self concept.

08:06 So this is along the lines of.

08:08 Self efficacy and how people will be more like who they want to be when they're doing the behavior. So if they have this idea of someone that they want to be or a trait that they want to have and that behavior change helps them become.

08:24 That person, then this link to self.

08:27 Concept will make them more likely to want to commit to their written individual commitment and make them like, more likely.

08:35 To act on it. And also having gentle interventions with internal motives.

08:40 So using the minimal justification effect and not pushing too hard on the intervention.

08:49 So some evaluation metrics for that include.

08:52 Reliability because this can be used in repeated exposure and it works multiple times and also it can affect many people. So it's pretty reliable, especially when you follow the features that I mentioned above and also looking at particularism, so making it more tailored towards individuals. Like I said earlier about the self concept, you want more people to have it more personalized so it's more towards someone, geared towards someone so that they are more likely to act on it and it's more specific to them and something that they want to change about themselves or about their habits.

09:31 So those are a few salient concepts that I took away. But there are also some major ways.

09:37 That I found that this course differed from other conventional behavior change approaches, with.

09:42 One of those being the focus on.

09:44 Motivations of people through the lens of the environment. So this class really focused on climate change, the impending climate crisis and why we needed to do these behaviors in.

09:56 Terms of what it would do for.

09:57 The environment as this is an inevitable change that is going to come with the associated climate crisis. So it's not really something that we.

10:06 Can avoid at this point and we.

10:07 Know that it's coming, so how can we be most prepared to prepare for whatever is coming? And like I said at the very beginning, the major life changes that we are going to have to have in the future.

10:21 So this course really talked about how it's not really a should change kind.

10:25 Of deal, but more like we need to change, but as we need to change as the planet continues to warm and we need to change the way we live.

10:34 How can we do this in a.

10:35 Way that is supportive for people, lets people kind of make their own decisions and sticks with people and doesn't make people feel like they have a lower well being or lower mental health? It's really trying to do more good than harm.

10:53 So trying to improve people's lives.

10:56 And there's a really large emphasis on how to adapt to what is unmanageable.

10:59 And this is something that is stated.

11:01 In Ann Arbor's A2Zero plan as well as part of their motto, adapting to what is unmanageable and managing what is unadaptable. So especially that first part, adapting what is unmanageable. Like I said, the inevitable climate change, climate crisis that will force our lives to change. Looking at how we can really soften the blow and make things as easy and simple as possible for us in.

11:28 Another major way that this course kind.

11:31 Of had a different approach from other behavior change approaches is looking at the emphasis on well being.

11:37 So at the very beginning of the.

11:39 Course, we already mentioned how this can increase community and individual well being. So although the climate crisis might not get severely worsened or we might not see the detrimental effects into a few years, maybe decades into the future, we want to start making these changes now and acting now. And that's because even though these all these behavior changes can help the environment, they can also help our own well being and the community as well.

12:09 So they kind of have like a kill two birds and one stone kind.

12:12 Of deal where they help the environment and the people within it.

12:16 So even with grim times ahead, psychological.

12:18 Well being can increase when you do these behavior change.

12:22 Actions that will make your life a.

12:24 Little easier, make you feel better and increase your well being.

12:27 And there's a larger focus on relationships and less on individualism. So coming together as a community, as.

12:33 The city of Ann Arbor did in the a2.0 plan, and that's something that is the main takeaway from this course and what you should do in your Great Lakes community. As you try to implement more behavior change approaches from the neighborhood or individual level.

12:51 You want to try and come together.

12:52 As a community, do what you can to have supportive environments and people who.

12:56 Support each other, are there for each other, and get feedback from one another.

12:59 Because it will increase well being and it will be better for the community and individuals as well as the environment.

13:08 So that is all I have, and thank you so much for listening.