Psychology and the science of human-environment interactions.
Psychology has an indispensable role in understanding environmental problems and finding solutions. To fill this role, psychologists must work within an interdisciplinary effort to build a scientific understanding of human-environment interactions. This article enumerates 8 widely held beliefs about these interactions and assesses the strengths and limitations of each belief. It suggests that psychology can contribute more strongly by counteracting disciplinary biases, focusing research where a behavioral analysis identifies major opportunities, making appropriately modest claims, collaborating with other disciplines, and building on psychology's relative strengths among the human sciences.
Stern
P C
PC
U.S. National Research Council, Washington, DC 20418, USA. pstern@nas.edu
D003247:Conservation of Natural Resources / Q000639:trends*; D004787:Environmental Pollution / Q000517:prevention & control*; D005544:Forecasting; D006801:Humans; D011584:Psychology / Q000639:trends*; D012586:Science / Q000639:trends*