Environmental Psychology : An Introduction

by Steg, Linda; van den Berg, Agnes E.; de Groot, Judith I. M.

• ISBN13: 9780470976388
• ISBN10: 0470976381
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2012-04-30
• Publisher: Wiley

Summary

Environmental Psychology: An Introduction offers a research-based introduction to the psychological relationship between humans and their built and natural environments and discusses how sustainable environments can be created to the benefit of both people and nature Explores the environment's effects on human wellbeing and behaviour, factors influencing environmental behaviour and ways of encouraging pro-environmental action Provides a state-of-the-art overview of recent developments in environmental psychology, with an emphasis on sustainability as a unifying principle for theory, research and interventions While focusing primarily on Europe and North America, also discusses environmental psychology in non-Western and developing countries Responds to a growing interest in the contribution of environmental psychologists to understanding and solving environmental problems and promoting the effects of environmental conditions on health and wellbeing

Author Biography

Linda Steg is professor of Environmental Psychology at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. She has written extensively on factors influencing environmental behaviour, effects and acceptability of environmental policies, and the impact of environmental conditions on quality of life. She is the current president of the Environmental Psychology Division at the International Association of Applied Psychology.

Agnes E. Van den Berg is an environmental psychologist, specialising in research on people's responses to natural environments. She has published in both the academic and popular press on topics such as landscape preferences, health benefits of nature, children and nature and evidence-based design of healing environments. She has worked at Wageningen University and Research Centre in the Netherlands in a variety of roles for 15 years and has recently been appointed as a special professor of landscape perception at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands.

Judith I. M. de Groot is a senior lecturer in Applied Psychology at Bournemouth University, UK. She received her PhD at the University of Groningen, the Netherlands. Her research interests include explaining and changing pro-environmental behaviours, with a focus on how values and norms affect pro-environmental behaviour.

Table of Contents

Environmental psychology: History, scope and methods	p. 1
Environmental Influences On Human Behaviour And Well-Being	p. 13
Environmental risk perception	p. 15
Environmental stress	p. 27
Scenic beauty: Visual landscape assessment and human landscape perception	p. 37
Health benefits of nature	p. 47
Restorative environments	p. 57
Ambivalence towards nature and natural landscapes	p. 67
Human dimensions of wildlife	p. 77
Appraisals of built environments and approaches to building design that promote well-being and healthy behaviour	p. 87
Urban environmental quality	p. 97
Environment and quality of life	p. 107
How cues in the environment affect normative behaviour	p. 119
Factors Influencing Environmental Behaviour	p. 129
Measuring environmental behaviour	p. 131
Values and pro-environmental behaviour	p. 141
Social norms and pro-environmental behaviour	p. 153
Affective and symbolic aspects of environmental behaviour	p. 165
Social dilemmas: Motivational, individual and structural aspects influencing cooperation	p. 175
Models to explain environmental behaviour	p. 185
Yesterday's habits preventing change for tomorrow? The influence of automaticity on environmental behaviour	p. 197
Environmental psychology in Latin America	p. 211
Encouraging Pro-Environmental Behaviour	p. 221
Informational strategies to promote pro-environmental behaviour: Changing knowledge, awareness and attitudes	p. 223
Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour with rewards and penalties	p. 233
Persuasive technology to promote pro-environmental behaviour	p. 243
Acceptability of environmental policies	p. 255
Processes of change	p. 267
Simulating social environmental systems	p. 281
Environmental issues in developing countries	p. 293
Conclusion: Summary, trends and future perspectives in environmental psychology	p. 303
References	p. 315
Glossary	p. 355
Index	p. 371
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