Introductory psychology courses provide a unique opportunity to educate students in ways that can inform how they will address major issues of the day.
Objective
We tested whether an integrative, last-day-of-class activity in which students applied pertinent psychological theories to climate change would empower students to address this issue.
Method
Across multiple introductory psychology courses, pre- and post-course assessments (Study 1) and a comparison to a control classroom condition (Study 2) were used to evaluate changes in students’ climate change efficacy beliefs and intentions to act.
Results
Students who experienced the activity were more likely to (1) believe their actions could make a difference in mitigating climate change and influence others to follow suit, (2) show increased intentions to adopt sustainable behaviors and take political action to address climate change, and (3) see psychology as relevant to solving societal issues like climate change.
Conclusion
Having students connect psychology to solving climate change led students to feel more empowered to address this global challenge.
Teaching implications
This classroom activity could readily be scaled up to thousands of introductory psychology courses around the world every year, connecting psychology to a major issue of our time and potentially mobilizing students to action.
BollingerB.GillinghamK. (2012). Peer effects in the diffusion of solar photovoltaic panels. Marketing Science, 31(6), 900–912. https://doi.org/10.1287/mksc.1120.0727
3.
Bond, R. M., Fariss, C. J., Jones, J. J., Kramer, A. D., Marlow, C., Settle, J. E., & Fowler, J. H. (2012). A 61-million-person experiment in social influence and political mobilization. Nature, 489(7415), 295–298. https://doi.org/10.1038/nature11421
CialdiniR. B. (2003). Crafting normative messages to protect the environment. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(4), 105–109. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01242
6.
CialdiniR. B.TrostM. R. (1998). Social influence: Social norms, conformity and compliance. In GilbertD. T.FiskeS. T.LindzeyG. (Eds.), The handbook of social psychology, vols. 1 and 2 (4th ed., pp. 151–192). McGraw-Hill.
7.
ClaytonS.ManningC. M.SpeiserM.HillA. N. (2021). Mental health and our changing climate: Impacts, inequities, responses. American Psychological Association, and ecoAmerica.
8.
ConstantinoS. M.SchlüterM.WeberE. U.WijermansN. (2021). Cognition and behavior in context: A framework and theories to explain natural resource use decisions in social-ecological systems. Sustainability Science, 16(5), 1651–1671. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11625-021-00989-w
9.
DarleyJ. M.LatanéB. (1968). Bystander intervention in emergencies: Diffusion of responsibility. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8(4), 377–383. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0025589
10.
FarrowK.GrolleauG.IbanezL. (2017). Social norms and pro-environmental behavior: A review of the evidence. Ecological Economics, 140, 1–13. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ecolecon.2017.04.017
11.
FreedmanJ. L.FraserS. C. (1966). Compliance without pressure: The foot-in-the-door technique. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 4(2), 195–202. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0023552
12.
GurungR. A. R.HackathornJ.EnnsC.FrantzS.CacioppoJ. T.LoopT.FreemanJ. E. (2016). Strengthening introductory psychology: A new model for teaching the introductory course. The American Psychologist, 71(2), 112–124. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0040012
13.
GurungR. A.NeufeldG. (Eds.). (2022). Transforming introductory psychology: Expert advice on teacher training, course design, and student success. American Psychological Association.
14.
HackelL. M.WillsJ. A.Van BavelJ. J. (2020). Shifting prosocial intuitions: Neurocognitive evidence for a value-based account of group-based cooperation. Social Cognitive and Affective Neuroscience, 15(4), 371–381. https://doi.org/10.1093/scan/nsaa055
15.
HalpernD. F. (2010). Undergraduate education in psychology: A blueprint for the future of the discipline. American Psychological Association.
JohnsM.SchmaderT.MartensA. (2005). Knowing is half the battle: Teaching stereotype threat as a means of improving women’s math performance. Psychological Science, 16(3), 175–179. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.0956-7976.2005.00799.x
18.
KrosnickJ. A. (1999). Maximizing questionnaire quality. In RobinsonJ. P.ShaverP. R.WrightsmanL. S. (Eds.), Measures of political attitudes (pp. 37–57). Academic Press.
López-RodríguezL.HalperinE.VázquezA.CuadradoI.NavasM.GómezÁ. (2021). Awareness of the psychological bias of naïve realism can increase acceptance of cultural differences. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 48(6), 888–900. https://doi.org/10.1177/01461672211027034
21.
MackA. (2003). Inattentional blindness: Looking without seeing. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 12(5), 180–184. https://doi.org/10.1111/1467-8721.01256
22.
MaertensR.AnseelF.van der LindenS. (2020). Combatting climate change misinformation: Evidence for longevity of inoculation and consensus messaging effects. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 70, 101455. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101455
23.
Markus, H. R., & Conner, A. (2013). Clash!: 8 cultural conflicts that make us who we are. Hudson Street Press.
24.
MarkusH. R.KitayamaS. (1991). Culture and the self: Implications for cognition, emotion, and motivation. Psychological Review, 98(2), 224–253. https://doi.org/10.1037/0033-295X.98.2.224
25.
OstromE. (2000). Collective action and the evolution of social norms. Journal of Economic Perspectives, 14(3), 137–158. https://doi.org/10.1257/jep.14.3.137
26.
ScottB. A.AmelE. L.KogerS. M.ManningC. M. (2021). Psychology for sustainability (5th ed). Routledge.
27.
SparkmanG.GeigerN.WeberE. U. (2022). Americans Experience a false social reality by underestimating popular climate policy support by nearly half. Nature Communications, 13(1), 4779. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-022-32412-y
28.
SparkmanG.HackelL.GrossJ.Randall CrosbyJ.HardB. (2023). Connecting introductory psychology to climate change. https://osf.io/wth43/
29.
SparkmanG.HoweL.WaltonG. (2021). How social norms are often a barrier to addressing climate change but can be part of the solution. Behavioural Public Policy, 5(4), 528–555. https://doi.org/10.1017/bpp.2020.42
30.
SparkmanG.MacdonaldB. N. J.CaldwellK. D.KatemanB.BoeseG. D. (2021). Cut back or give it up? The effectiveness of reduce and eliminate appeals and dynamic norm messaging to curb meat consumption. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 75, 101592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2021.101592
31.
SparkmanG.WaltonG. M. (2017). Dynamic norms promote sustainable behavior, even if it is counternormative. Psychological Science, 28(11), 1663–1674. https://doi.org/10.1177/0956797617719950
32.
SparkmanG.WeitzE.RobinsonT. N.MalhotraN.WaltonG. M. (2020). Developing a scalable dynamic norm menu-based intervention to reduce meat consumption. Sustainability, 12(6), 2453. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12062453
33.
SwimJ. K.SternP. C.DohertyT. J.ClaytonS.ReserJ. P.WeberE. U.GiffordR.HowardG. S. (2011). Psychology’s contributions to understanding and addressing global climate change. American Psychologist, 66(4), 241. https://doi.org/10.1037/a0023220
34.
ThalerR. H.SunsteinC. R. (2008). Nudge: Improving decisions about health, wealth, and happiness. Yale University Press.
35.
ThompsonR. F.SpencerW. A. (1966). Habituation: A model phenomenon for the study of neuronal substrates of behavior. Psychological Review, 73(1), 16–43. https://doi.org/10.1037/h0022681
