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On Friday 3rd May, I attended a talk by Daniel Farrelly, the principal lecturer in psychology at the University of Worcester, on environmental psychology. When faced with a talk focusing on climate change and psychology, I was truly clueless as to what to expect, however over the course of an hour Daniel Farrelly showcased the undeniable connection between the two I hadn’t previously considered in depth. Psychology is integral in climate change if we want to understand why people do or don’t make greener choices and encourage that green behaviour.

Dr Farrelly outlined that the primary source of discourse of environmental action was the element of individual’s cognitive biases, the opinions and views they already hold over a certain topic or situation, which intervenes in them making greener choices. For example, people will often excuse their lack of sustainable choices by stating ‘they are only one person and so their actions are insignificant in comparison to the waste an entire country may produce.’ It is through such biases that we become complicit in our lack of action, and rather than focussing on attitude, it is our behaviour that environmental psychologists aim to change.

Therefore, what most fascinated me was Farrelly’s in-depth knowledge on the use of environmental nudges, a system of subtle changes in our surroundings to promote behavioural change, as he explained many different studies and real-world methods used today. For example, simple material changes such as the application of large, brightly coloured, and even animal-shaped bins to make individuals take notice and encourage further use. Moreover, the application of social comparison and competition – inviting competition amongst neighbours by identifying who recycles the most, encouraging them to recycle more to ‘beat’ those around them. Additionally, the use of personal language, as shown through a study on climate change advertisements, where funding was more readily provided to the advertisement which directly referenced the readers family in comparison to those that were more general, showing how behaviour is easily changed when a situation feels personal and evokes sympathy.

Daniel Farrelly’s talk was truly insightful, both from its examination of nudges utilised in the world around us to promote environmental change, and how we as individuals can bring about change even on a smaller scale, as well as showing the expanse of paths and applications for psychology in the wider world, even in areas you might not at first anticipate.                                           

Kitty (SFC1)