Social and environmental psychologists have known for some time now that knowledge does not change *behavior* and that information-only campaigns rarely are effective. This is because, as opposed to commercial marketing campaigns, usually you are asking the public to give something up, step out of social norms, or do something that does not reap immediate benefits to them. This requires a completely different approach, including removing perceived or structural barriers to sustainable behavior. Ecologists should strongly consider collaborating with psychologists on any outreach program in which a behavior change in the public is the goal.
See this paper in conservation biology: http://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/10.1111/j.1523-1739.2011.01766.x/full and this website: http://www.cbsm.com/pages/guide/fostering-sustainable-behavior/ and this report from the APA: http://www.apa.org/science/about/publications/climate-change.aspx Beth Davis Bowles, Ph.D. Research Specialist Bull Shoals Field Station Missouri State University 901 S. National Springfield, MO 65897 phone (417) 836-3731 fax (417) 836-8886 ________________________________________ From: Ecological Society of America: grants, jobs, news [[email protected]] On Behalf Of David L. McNeely [[email protected]] Sent: Monday, December 05, 2011 9:55 AM To: [email protected] Subject: Re: [ECOLOG-L] What Can I DO?? Re: [ECOLOG-L] Message from Paul Ehrlich ---- Steve Young <[email protected]> wrote: > Lawren et al., > Unfortunately, I think you may be preaching to the choir. I'm not trying > to be pessimistic, but if every ESA member were to follow through and > commit to the 'doing something', instead of just 'talking more', what > would that accomplish? Just going by the numbers, conservatively speaking, > ESA membership is around 10,000 and according to the Census Bureau, the > current population in the US is 312,718,825 ( > http://www.census.gov/population/www/popclockus.html) So, what do we do > about the other 312,708,000? > I'm in the education arena and it is a question that I've been trying to > figure out how to answer for a long time. I know advocacy is one way and > something I work on all the time. Maybe this should be part of the focus > of the 'doing something' approach. > Steve I believe when we help to educate others we are doing something. I'm funny that way, I guess. The difficulty comes when our educational efforts fail, as they seem to be doing on this matter. So, I need help in knowing what to do that will actually work. So far as individual effort, I already try to buy only what I need and to use old stuff. I minimize my fuel use by driving a Toyota Prius, walking for local transportation when I can, not using air conditioning though I live in a very hot climate, wearing warm clothing and keeping the house cool in winter ................ . But I have not been able to persuade many others to engage in the same actions. Reading and understanding the data that come in seems unconvincing to so many. Science is only trusted when it reinforces already held beliefs, even if less than 1% of those claiming to be scientists provide the claims that reinforce. So, what can I do? David McNeely
