Promoting Environmentalism

Journal of Social Issues, Fall, 2000 by Lynnette C. Zelezny, P. Wesley Schultz

Lynnette C. Zelezny [*]

This issue of the Journal of Social Issues focuses on the psychology, sociology, and public policy of global environmental issues. The goals of the issue are (1) to describe the current state of the environment and environmentalism, (2) to present new theories and research on environmental attitudes and behaviors, and (3) to explore obstacles and ethical considerations in promoting proenvironmental action. The following brief introduction places this issue within a context of preceding JSI issues, provides a framework for the articles, and highlights several recurring themes that occur throughout the issue.

As we begin the 21st century, humanity faces a number of pressing social issues. Looking back at recent issues of JSI reveals many of the issues on which psychologists have worked: sexual harassment, national and international group conflict, tobacco policy, health issues, youth violence, and prejudice and racism, to name just a few. Of all the social issues that face us in this millennium, the most daunting are environmental problems. In the last 100 years, humans have abused the planet on an unprecedented scale. The air, water, and land of the planet are becoming overused and polluted to the point where a large-scale environmental crisis is a real possibility. As Oskamp stated in a 1995 JSI article: "In this epoch of history, there is one danger that stands out as the most urgent and serious threat to the future of humanity--the threat of ecological disaster" (Oskamp, 1995, p. 217). Indeed, it is difficult (if not impossible) to find any part of the natural environment on this planet that has not been affe cted by human activity. If life on this planet is to continue as we know it, humans must learn to balance growth and technological development with the resources and capacity of the planet.

That environmental problems are "social issues" is indisputable: They are caused by human behavior. What has been disputed is the role that psychology can play in addressing environmental issues. Environmental problems are large scale --they are created by the aggregate of human behavior--and solving these problems will require large-scale changes in behavior. Because of the level of change required to address environmental problems, what could psychology have to say about environmental problems? Indeed, this mismatch between psychology's level of analysis and the macro-level changes required to solve environmental problems has led some scholars to argue that psychology is "mute" about environmental problems (Kidner, 1994).

Psychology is not mute on this issue, however. Indeed, the changes that are required to solve our environmental crisis involve changes in individual behavior. Any policy, program, or intervention must produce change among individuals. An understanding of individual-level attitudes, motives, beliefs, intentions, or values will help to inform the development of such programs and also to explain why a particular program is, or is not, producing the desired changes. The interdisciplinary nature of environmental problems is clearly reflected in previous JSI issues that have focused on environment-related issues.

Preceding JSI Issues Devoted to Environmental Issues

Several previous issues of the Journal have contained articles addressing environmental problems. The first extended discussion of environmental problems was in a 1966 issue edited by Kates and Wohlwill titled "Man's Response to the Physical Environment." In the lead article (which was actually the 1966 SPSSI Presidential Address), Jerome Frank describes the direct effects of "man's reckless conquest of the environment" on human life and health. In this article, Frank argues that

galloping technology has created or aggravated problems of unemployment, urbanization, racial and international tensions, war, overpopulation, and many others that have been the constant concern members SPSSI.... That this state of affairs is a pressing social issue seems self-evident, so it is appropriate to ask why it has aroused so little interest among social psychologists. The basic trouble may be that, in contrast to our other concerns such as war, poverty, or racial discrimination, this one has no focus and no villians. Ironically, the ills caused by technology are by-products of benevolent efforts to promote the general welfare. It is bard to get indignant over this, and indignation seems to be the initial goad to becoming concerned about a social issue. (pp. 1, 10)

Despite Frank's all-too-current lamentation, the articles in the 1966 issue did not focus on environmental problems. Almost without exception, the articles in the 1966 issue examined the ways in which the physical environment (both built and natural) affects human behavior. A similar focus can be found in a JSI issue edited by Cvetkovich and Earle (1992).

Although a few articles on environmental issues can be found earlier (i.e., Dunlap & Van Liere, 1977; Evans & Jacobs, 1981; Heberlein, 1972, 1977), the first issue of this journal devoted exclusively to environmental problems was Seligman and Becker's (1981) volume on "Energy Conservation." This issue was followed eight years later by an issue titled "Managing the Environment" by Seligman and Syme. Unlike preceding issues, these two volumes focused on the ways in which human behavior was affecting the natural environment and on strategies for changing human behavior.