The facts about climate change have been widely available for decades now, and are well-established through science. Every major scientific organization related to the climate has issued statements explaining that greenhouse gas emissions are the major contributor to climate change, and surveys demonstrate that 97% of climate scientists agree the earth’s temperature is warming due to human activity.
Despite this clear evidence, millions of people are still not taking action to slow the progress of climate change. A review article by psychologists from the Netherlands and the United Kingdom offers some insights into why not, and what really motivates us to take action.
Understanding these motivations is especially key for older adults because evidence shows climate change affects them disproportionately and many older adults have the time and resources to contribute to volunteering. Some research shows that older people on average may be less convinced by the scientific findings and are less concerned about climate change. Understanding how messages can be better communicated to this extremely at-risk group is critically important.
The review found having knowledge about the dangers of climate change is not the driving force that leads people to take action. Instead, social and psychological biases that have evolved over thousands of years are the main driver of environmental volunteerism.
For many people, climate change is intangible and occurring slowly, which makes it a problem that humans are poorly equipped to solve. Human have evolved to value personal benefits over collective outcomes and prefer immediate rather than delayed rewards. They are programmed to maintain positive relationships through social status, and to imitate those around them.
The review authors make the case that people don’t tend to take environmental action because they consciously care about the planet; rather, they are more likely to make choices and engage volunteering to serve social motives. The authors frame climate actions and motivations around five core social motives that can be organized in the acronym BUC(k)ET: Belonging, Understanding, Control, Enhance self, and Trust. Here are examples of each:
Belonging
Humans have intrinsic motivation to maintain positive stable relationships, and they tend to underestimate how much other people influence their behavior. Climate activists can use this phenomenon to motivate people to take action on many levels – from using reusable shopping bags to joining a local environmental organization. For example, inviting a friend to join your local environmental group is a great way to get others more engaged in climate action.
Understanding
There is a gap between what most people believe they know and actual facts. As a result, the evidence shows that presenting facts about climate change isn’t enough to convince people to take action. Rather, it’s more helpful to provide people with opportunities to align their beliefs to the evidence about climate change. How does this look in the real world? One example is simply informing people about the scientific consensus surrounding climate change; data shows this leads to more willingness to take action.
Controlling
People are programmed to feel a sense of control over their environments. But climate change can feel too overwhelming of a problem for people to control, which reduces their motivation. One way to encourage others to take action is to make green actions more convenient that actions that harm the planet. For example, making recycling free in a town that charge for garage pick up incentivizes people to recycle. Extreme weather events can motivate people to take action; for example, you may feel compelled to flood-proof your home after a hurricane in your region.
Self-Enhancing
How people view themselves – their self-identity – is another major driver of their behaviors. For example, people who consider themselves environmentalists are more likely to recycle, invest in green technologies, and avoid air travel. Human also generally want to be viewed as “good people.” Helping people to feel good about taking action to slow the warming of the climate is one important way to encourage others.
Trusting
People gravitate to environments where they trust others and feel trusted themselves. Thinking about climate change, the actions required are complex and distributed. They require cooperation on a local and global scale. Building trust in climate science and in the institutions that can most effectively address climate change is a key factor in motivating people to take action.
The Take-away
What does this all mean? When thinking about climate change, it’s important to think about the social and psychological motives associated with environmental activism. Because climate change is such as massive and complex problem, harnessing psychology to encourage everyone to do their part is an essential component of climate action.