There is no doubt that climate change is a multi-disciplinary task which requires experts from a wide variety of fields. We know that geography, earth and ocean science, economics and political science are all faculties that can contribute valuable insight into the complex process of climate change. What is not so apparent is the important role that psychology plays in this change process. When we think about the environment and climate change, psychology is typically not the first science that comes to mind. This tendency to disregard psychology when considering climate change certainly has potential negative implications. It seems almost absurd to think that changes in our environmental behaviour can occur without insight into the human mind.
This issue has been raised by psychologists here at UVic (e.g., Dr. Robert Gifford - Dr. Gifford's Environmental Psychology Webpage), as well as journalists and other scholars. A dangerous phenomenon that has been discussed is the idea of climate change denial.
Why is it that although we all know that climate change is a very real and serious occurrence, we continue to deny its existence? One psychological explanation is that we tend to suppress and downplay unpleasant cognitions. The prospect of climate change and global warming is distressing, and for most of us is not blatantly obvious in our everyday lives. Therefore, the natural human tendency is to disregard the importance and severity of the issue.
In order to address this, we feel as though the field of psychology needs to become more involved in the climate change debate. Tapping into the psychological knowledge base will provide increased insight into the motivations behind our environmental behaviours, and inevitably lead to actual physical behaviour changes.
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