Naturally Green
Harnessing Stone Age Psychological Biases to Foster Environmental Behavior
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 12908128 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Mark Van Vugt (0000-0001-8939-7523, University of Oxford, corresponding author), Vladas Griskevicius (University of Minnesota System), P Wesley Schultz (0000-0003-4098-924X, California State University System) |
| Year | 2014 |
| Volume | 8 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 1-32 |
| Publication date | 2014-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Social Issues and Policy Review (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 1751-2395 • E-ISSN: 1751-2409 |
| Publisher | Wiley (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1111/sipr.12000 |
| OpenAlex | W1798651242 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 33 |
| References cited | 102 |
It is widely agreed that humans must reduce their environmental impact. We propose that an improved understanding of our evolved human nature can help to improve programs and policies to address environmental problems. Combining evolutionary and social psychological approaches, we argue that environmental problems are often caused or exacerbated by five evolutionarily adaptive psychological biases: Humans (1) value personal over collective outcomes (self‐interest), (2) prefer immediate over delayed rewards (shortsightedness), (3) value relative over absolute status (status), (4) copy the behaviors of others (social imitation), and (5) ignore problems that we cannot see or feel (sensing). By considering how and why these five “Stone Age” biases continue to influence modern environmental practices, although acknowledging the role of individual and cultural differences, we present novel ways that human nature can be harnessed to develop intervention strategies to lessen resource depletion, restrain wasteful consumption, curb overpopulation, and foster green choices
Adaptive value · Biology · Climate change · Consumption (sociology · Economics · Environmental change · Imitation · Intervention (counseling · Microeconomics · Overconsumption · Overpopulation · Population · Production (economics · Resource (disambiguation · Sociology · Value (mathematics · Behavioral Health and Interventions · Computer Science · Environmental Education and Sustainability · Psychology · Social and Intergroup Psychology · Social Psychology · Ecology
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Association Between Environmental Sensitivity Profiles and Pro‐Environmental Behaviours Among Adolescents
Attributes of Weathercasters Who Engage in Climate Change Education Outreach
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Challenging the Idea That Humans Are Not Designed to Solve Climate Change
Household drinking water consumption
The Positive Effects of Action Regrets
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Rational Choice or Altruism Factor
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Signaling by consumption in a native Amazonian society☆
Evolutionary Social Psychology
Sharing and Collective Action
Governing the Commons
Culture and Subjective Well-Being
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Stabilizing the Earth’s climate is not a losing game
Fears, phobias, and preparedness
The Paranoid Optimist
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The theory of planned behavior
Most people are not Weird
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The logic of social exchange
The Handicap Principle
Evolutionary Ecology and Human Behavior
Not By Genes Alone
Evolution and Social Psychology
The Common Ingroup Identity Model
Adaptations, exaptations, and spandrels
Cooperation for reputation
Current Attitudes and Future Influence on Meat Consumption in the U.K
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The dragons of inaction
The financial consequences of too many men
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Choice behavior in social dilemmas
Development of prosocial, individualistic, and competitive orientations
Environmental contingency in life history strategies
The influence of mortality and socioeconomic status on risk and delayed rewards
A focus theory of normative conduct
Some neo-Darwinian decision rules for altruism
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Normative Social Influence is Underdetected
Leadership, followership, and evolution
Blatant benevolence and conspicuous consumption
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A Discounting Framework for Choice With Delayed and Probabilistic Rewards
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| Unique citing works | 33 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 3 |
| Citation span | 2015 - 2026 (12) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 31 |