User:Sandy~enwikiversity/Week 13 Environmental

What is Environmental Psychology?
anthropology architecture urban planning politics, and sociology
 * The study of the interaction between people and their environment
 * Applied psychology
 * Affects of the environment on human psychology
 * How humans affect the environment
 * Our interface with the world
 * Our impacts on the environment effect our future well-being and our capacity to survive
 * It is related to

There are two types of investigation to be focused on:
 * The relationship between the artificial environment and people
 * The relationship between the natural environment and people

Environmental Psychology is also known as, or closely related to:
 * environmental social sciences
 * architectural psychology
 * Socio-architecture
 * ecological psychology
 * ecopsychology
 * behavioural geography
 * environment behaviour studies
 * person- environment studies
 * environmental sociology
 * social ecology
 * environmental design research

Negative Environmental influences

 * human spatial behaviour
 * environmental stressors
 * environmental risks
 * environmental design
 * complex relations – physical, mental and emotional adjustments to it

Human Spatial Behaviour: Density and Crowding
Density – ratio of the number of people to space

Crowding – this is subjective, it’s up to you whether you feel crowded or not. You can feel crowded out in the desert but with someone ‘in your face’ crowding you. Crowding itself is stressful because it gives us a feeling of being out of control. Having a sense of control prevents us from feeling crowded. Control over your physical space for example engaging in a book or reading a news paper on a train puts up a wall.

Environmental Stressors Environmental conditions that interfere with us functioning include:
 * crowding
 * daily stress and life events
 * noise – the most common stressor
 * temperature, and
 * Environmental disasters

Environmental Risks

We are not objective with what we see as a threat, for example we overemphasise the risk of a shark attack and underemphasise the risk of road accidents. We don’t look at the percentages of the risk occurring.

Environmental Design
We shape our buildings and environment - our buildings and environment shape us


 * Assessing and planning – predicting human behaviour for artificial design. Everything that is artificial that we create is designed.
 * Architectural psychology – psychologists who can design things to influence human behavious
 * Permaculture – represents concepts for maximising coherence between the environment anf human nature
 * Wayfinding – the study of how people find their way

Natural Environment To animals Nature scenes Adventure therapy Exercising outdoors It lowers our blood pressure and exposure Sunlight alters our mood and sense of well-being
 * We have a preference for natural over built environments. We have a need to engage with our natural environment. The most common human activity is gardening.
 * We have a positive physical and psychological reaction to nature:
 * Mental imagery and sound of our natural environment affects us psychologically.
 * Our infinity with nature is in-ground in our genotype.
 * We value windows very highly and rooms with natural light.
 * We are attracted to homes with views of nature
 * We have photos and art work of nature in our homes, at work and as computer screen savers
 * We are likely to choose a painting of nature over an abstract painting
 * 90% of all children’s stories have animals as the main character
 * Hospital patients with a window in their room or a picture of recover quicker
 * Patients that are exposed to animals tend recover better

Nature Deficit Disorder (Richard Louv) – suggests children are spending less time outdoors which is resulting in behavioural problems like ADHD

Deborah Winter is quoted as saying “...environmental problems are caused primarily by human behaviours, feelings and attitudes. We can’t solve these problems without psychology’s help and we really need psychologist to go work on them.”

Environmental Paradigms
The fundamental issue is we are stuck in ego and anthropocentric; we need to be ecocentric and work with the environment respecting the environment as an equal. Morally humans are no more important than any other part of the environment.
 * Egocentric – self focused
 * Anthropocentric – the common good for everybody. Maximum benefit for human beings.
 * Ecocentric – Equal with nature and the rest of the species

Best Solution?
These changes are only possible if the efforts of psychological strategy and public policy (on energy use, pollution, solid waste, environmental justice, natural resource management and population) are combined. Attitude and Behaviour
 * Slow growth – to slow down the rapid rate of development. This is inevitable for environment protection
 * Faster transition to sustainability – If the best technology available was implemented we’d be fifteen times more efficient
 * Technology model – switching to smart technology means we don’t have to do much to compromise

Attitude wise we know what’s required but we don’t match this with our behaviour. A combination of reward and punishment would preserve pro-environment attitudes although people tend to respond to punishment such as fines for littering. Use of persuasion and social influence will increased desired environmental behaviour.

Environmental Impact
I = P x A x T A function of population x consumption x effect of technologies
 * I – Impact on the environment
 * P - Population
 * A – Affluence (consumption per person)
 * T – Technologies (the environmental effect of technologies that support the level of affluence

Permaculture – permanent culture Permaculture is about the design of systems using natural principles in order to minimise human effort and maximise returns in a sustainable way. Environment and community design.

Psychology and the future
More psychologists working for environmental management agencies, planning authorities and government bodies providing advice on:
 * The measurement and assessment of community attitudes and values
 * The effectiveness of the various communication and behaviour change strategies
 * The planning and design of sustainable human settings as well as natural environment based services