Human Behavior On The Environment Paper
Human Behavior: Negative and Positive Effects on the Environment
Nicole L Clawson
PSY/460: Environmental Psychology
August 2, 2014
Stephen Brown
Human Behavior: Negative and Positive Effects on the Environment
This paper will explore how human behavior can have a positive and negative impact on the environment. It will explain how environmental cues shape behavior with examples of them. It will evaluate how behavior can be modified to support sustainability and how this can limit a negative impact on the environment. It will describe how social norms influence behavior and beliefs about the environment. Finally it will identify two possible solutions that could successfully change behavior and habits in order to lessen negative environmental impacts.
Environmental cues A negative envirnomental cue that could have an impact on human behavior is …show more content…
empty environment; such as deserted parking structures or run down buildings. This gives a person an uncomfortable feeling because they do not feel safe because it could mean that this area is not often traveled through. A positive environmental cue that could have a good impact on human behavior would be having parks in the neighborhood because it could give a person the sense of community.
Another example of environmental cues affecting human behavior is an individual student who is surrounded by other students usually acts in the norm of their peers such as if a student is around students that are deviant they will acting and the same behavior. Just as kids who come home to empty houses are less likely to do chores and things that their parents want them to compared to kids who come home to their parents are more likely to do all their chores or their homework.
How Behavior can be Modified to Support Sustainability and How this can Limit a Negative Impact on the Environment
Sustainability is defined as “well-balanced human-environment relationships; an optimal balance between environment, social, and economic qualities (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013).” So in order for the human behavior to be modified to support sustainability would be for them to find a balance between everything.
In order to find balance in environment, social, and economic qualities sustainability criteria are needed for all of them. Environmental sustainability criteria include energy consumption rates and carbon dioxide emissions (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013). Some examples of economic sustainability criteria are levels of purchasing power and inflation rates (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013). Finally there is social sustainability that is usually measured by societal levels such as average lifetime and public health (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013), but can also be measured by an individual. Social sustainability on the individual level is being measured by an individual’s quality of life, which means that an individual feels that their important needs and values are being met (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013).
How does Social Norms Influence Behavior and Beliefs about the Environment
Social norms are what is commonly approved of or disapproved of, it is also defined as rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, and that guide, and constrain human behavior without force of laws (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013).
This comes into play even with human behavior and the environment. If it shows within the community that certain things are the norm more of the community will be more willing to do something about it, such as recycle or pick up litter.
This can have a big impact on the environment because if a groups norms are against the environment than they will not work hard to fix the problem. An example of this is picking up litter. If a community has one person in it that always litters and no one says anything about it to them. Than that one person will always do it because that is the norm for this individual. This could also go for a group. If for instance a group gets together and wants to recycle most of the people in the group are going to do it so that they are not the odd one
out.
Conclusion
It is important when looking into the environment that it can have a positive and negative impact on human’s and their behaviors. It is also important to realize that people are in control of their own selves and if they really want to be able to work and feel better that they should take care of the world they are in.
Bibliography
Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A. E., & De Groot, J. I. (2013). Environmental Psychology: An Introduction. Malden, MA: BPS Blackwell.
Nicole L Clawson
PSY/460: Environmental Psychology
August 2, 2014
Stephen Brown
Human Behavior: Negative and Positive Effects on the Environment
This paper will explore how human behavior can have a positive and negative impact on the environment. It will explain how environmental cues shape behavior with examples of them. It will evaluate how behavior can be modified to support sustainability and how this can limit a negative impact on the environment. It will describe how social norms influence behavior and beliefs about the environment. Finally it will identify two possible solutions that could successfully change behavior and habits in order to lessen negative environmental impacts.
Environmental cues A negative envirnomental cue that could have an impact on human behavior is …show more content…
empty environment; such as deserted parking structures or run down buildings. This gives a person an uncomfortable feeling because they do not feel safe because it could mean that this area is not often traveled through. A positive environmental cue that could have a good impact on human behavior would be having parks in the neighborhood because it could give a person the sense of community.
Another example of environmental cues affecting human behavior is an individual student who is surrounded by other students usually acts in the norm of their peers such as if a student is around students that are deviant they will acting and the same behavior. Just as kids who come home to empty houses are less likely to do chores and things that their parents want them to compared to kids who come home to their parents are more likely to do all their chores or their homework.
How Behavior can be Modified to Support Sustainability and How this can Limit a Negative Impact on the Environment
Sustainability is defined as “well-balanced human-environment relationships; an optimal balance between environment, social, and economic qualities (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013).” So in order for the human behavior to be modified to support sustainability would be for them to find a balance between everything.
In order to find balance in environment, social, and economic qualities sustainability criteria are needed for all of them. Environmental sustainability criteria include energy consumption rates and carbon dioxide emissions (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013). Some examples of economic sustainability criteria are levels of purchasing power and inflation rates (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013). Finally there is social sustainability that is usually measured by societal levels such as average lifetime and public health (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013), but can also be measured by an individual. Social sustainability on the individual level is being measured by an individual’s quality of life, which means that an individual feels that their important needs and values are being met (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013).
How does Social Norms Influence Behavior and Beliefs about the Environment
Social norms are what is commonly approved of or disapproved of, it is also defined as rules and standards that are understood by members of a group, and that guide, and constrain human behavior without force of laws (Steg, Van Den Berg, & De Groot, 2013).
This comes into play even with human behavior and the environment. If it shows within the community that certain things are the norm more of the community will be more willing to do something about it, such as recycle or pick up litter.
This can have a big impact on the environment because if a groups norms are against the environment than they will not work hard to fix the problem. An example of this is picking up litter. If a community has one person in it that always litters and no one says anything about it to them. Than that one person will always do it because that is the norm for this individual. This could also go for a group. If for instance a group gets together and wants to recycle most of the people in the group are going to do it so that they are not the odd one
out.
Conclusion
It is important when looking into the environment that it can have a positive and negative impact on human’s and their behaviors. It is also important to realize that people are in control of their own selves and if they really want to be able to work and feel better that they should take care of the world they are in.
Bibliography
Steg, L., Van Den Berg, A. E., & De Groot, J. I. (2013). Environmental Psychology: An Introduction. Malden, MA: BPS Blackwell.