Human Centric Environmentalism: Opportunities for the Human Factors Community to Contribute to Global Environmental Solutions

Abstract

Previous psychological research into human induced causes of environmental change has stemmed largely from a behavior modification approach and has shown only modest results. We suggest that the lack of long term success in this area may be due to the lack of attention toward the underlying design dimensions to these problems. In this paper, we attempt to illustrate that by using our understanding of design principles related to human behavior and performance, the human factors community has the unique potential to make significant strides in improving these underlying design dimensions. Along these lines, applicable research areas include cognitive decision making, product design, surface transportation, and environmental design. We argue that, by shaping technologies in a way that is both user friendly and environmentally benign, the science of human factors has the potential to grow in new areas of research – areas that are not only theoretically relevant but also of societal importance.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Ajzen

Icek

(1991). Theory of planned behavior. Organizational behavior and human decision processes, 50, 179–211.

Banerjee

Solomon

B.D.

(2003). Eco-labeling for energy efficiency and sustainability: A meta-evaluation of US programs. Energy policy, 31, 109–123.

Brown

Tim

(2009). Change by design: How design thinking transforms organizations and inspires people. Harper Collins.

Crabb

Peter B.

(1992). Effective control of energy-depleting behavior. American Psychologists, 47 (6), 815–816.

Fineman

(2001). Fashioning the environment. Organization, 8, 17–31.

Frank

Lawrence D.

Engelke

Peter O.

(2001). The built environment and human activity patterns: Exploring the impacts of urban form on public health. Journal of Planning Literature, 16 (2).

Gårder

Leden

Pulkkinen

(1994). Safety implications of bicycle paths at signalized intersections. Accident Analysis and Prevention, 26 (4), 429–439.

Haustein

Hunecke

(2007). Reduced use of environmentally friendly modes of transportation caused by perceived mobility necessity: An extension of the theory of planned behavior. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 37(8), 1856–1883.

Hung

Woo

, “The SMART Meter”, unpublished manuscript, Department of Industrial Engineering, University of Toronto, Toronto, 1995.

10.

Junbluth

Tietje

Scholz

R. W.

(2000). Food purchases: Impacts from the consumer's point of view investigated with a modular LCA. International Journal of Life-cycle Assessment, 5(3), 134–142.

11.

Need Research Topics. (1976, March). Environmental design news human factors society. Retrieved http://www.humanics-es.com/ed-arch.htm .

12.

McKenzie-Mohr

(2000). Fostering sustainable behavior through community-based social marketing. American Psychologist, 55 (5), 531–537.

13.

Nickerson

Raymond S.

(1995). Emerging needs and opportunities for human factors research. Washington, D.C: National Academy Press.

14.

Nickerson

Raymond S.

(2003). Psychology and environmental change. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.

15.

Oskamp

Stuart

(2007). Applying psychology to help save the world: Reflections on a career in psychology. Analyses of Social Issues and Public Policy, 7 (1), 121–136.

16.

Shrivastava

(1995). Environmental technologies and competitive advantage. Strategic Management Journal, 16, 183–200.

17.

Stern

P.C.

(2000). Psychology and the science of human-environment interactions. American Psychologists, 55 (5), 523–530.

18.

United States Environmental Protection Agency. (n.d.) 2009 Inventory of greenhouse gas emissions and sinks. Retrieved http://www.epa.gov/climatechange/emissions/usinventoryreport.html .

19.

Vicente

Kim J.

(1997). Human factors and global problems: A systems approach, Systems Engineering, 1(1), 57–69.