The Perils of Explaining Climate Inaction in Terms of Psychological Barriers. (19th November 2019)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Schmitt, Michael T.; Neufeld, Scott D.; Mackay, Caroline M. L.; Dys‐Steenbergen, Odilia
• Editors: Ruby, Matthew B.; Walker, Iain; Watkins, Hanne
• Is Part Of: Journal of social issues. Volume 76:Number 1(2020)
• Page Start: 123
• Page End: 135
• Publication Date: 2019-11-19
• Subjects: Social problems -- Periodicals; Social psychology -- Periodicals; United States -- Social conditions -- 1945- -- Periodicals; Sociology; Psychology, Social; Problèmes sociaux -- Périodiques; Psychologie sociale -- Périodiques; États-Unis -- Conditions sociales -- 1945- -- Périodiques; Sociale psychologie; Electronic journals; 305
• DOI: 10.1111/josi.12360
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 0022-4537

Abstract

Abstract: As awareness of climate change and its consequences increases, many have asked, "Why aren't people taking action?" Some psychologists have provided an answer that we describe as a "psychological barriers explanation" (PBE). The PBE suggests that human nature is limited in ways that create psychological barriers to taking action on climate change. Taking a critical social psychology approach (e.g., Adams, 2014), we offer a critique of the PBE, arguing that locating the causes of inaction at the psychological level promotes a misrepresentation of human nature as static and disconnected from context. Barriers to environmental action certainly exist, and most if not all involve psychological processes. However, locating the barrier itself at the psychological level ignores the complex interplay between psychological tendencies, social relations, and social structures. We consider the ways in which psychological responses to climate change are contingent upon social‐structural context, with particular attention to the ways unequal distributions of power have allowed elites to block climate action, in part by using their power to influence societal beliefs and norms. In conclusion, we suggest that psychologists interested in climate (in)action expand their scope beyond individual consumer behaviors to include psychological questions that challenge existing power relations and raise the possibility of transformative social change.