4 Finding the Long-Lost Path: Developing …
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4.4.1 Culture and Pro-Environment Behaviour
Individuals may engage in pro-environment behaviour for different reasons—cultural
values being one of them [78]. Culture is a form of mental programming that is
acquired at birth and which continues to influence us throughout our lives [40], the
cultural values being used as guiding principles [78]. The individualism/collectivism
dimension is one of the most common ways used to distinguish cultures. Although
it’s an effective way to conceptualise cultural influences and predict group behaviour,
it is important to keep in mind that while these orientations may exist at the macrolevel, at an individual level, both these dimensions could exist simultaneously—
one becoming more salient than the other based on the situation [79]. Gammoh,
et al. [30] compared India and the United States on this dimension, relating it to
the degree of environmental consciousness and pro-green behaviour. Contrary to
belief, it was found that collectivism in both countries significantly predicted environmental consciousness, irrespective of the individualism/collectivism orientation.
Therefore, while the influence of individualistic principles remained non-significant,
collectivistic beliefs significantly influenced green consciousness. Similarly, the
authors also found that harmony, as compared to mastery, influenced environmental
consciousness.
As the behavioural sciences are now gaining importance through their contributions to promoting sustainable efforts through research, aiding policy decisions and
guiding experts such as conservational biologists in pro-environmental efforts, the
recognition of basic and applied psychology for promoting a more pro-environment
behaviour is a relatively new development [45]. Although very little of the earlier
efforts of environmental psychologists were aimed towards conservation of the environment (see [54, 55]), such a trend seems to be increasing, with major developments
in psychology and related-research, such as that in conservation psychology [58].
One of the major developments in this area reflects the role of culture in the deficit of
environmental consciousness and awareness in the individuals. To be more specific,
the culture of valuing immediate or short-term individual goals and ignoring its
long-term group effects seems to be at the heart of unsustainable behaviour [33]. This
occurs when individuals overuse and degrade a shared resource for their own personal
benefit [45]. Such behaviour can be explained using operational conditioning principles, where short-term rewards seem to be more compelling than long-term or
delayed costs of the behaviour [63]. Similarly, the perceived costs of making change
in behaviour to benefit the shared resources on a long-term basis represent a significant barrier. Therefore, the adverse future consequences of climate change, which are
more abstract, are discounted in the light of immediate concrete and definite rewards
that one receives by engaging in degrading and unsustainable behaviours [74].
When one takes this direction, it seems imperative that the governmental policies,
laws and regulations promote pro-environment behaviour by mobilising prosocial
behaviour and ethos of collectivism and harmony [37], along with encouraging individuals to take action on a personal basis to focus on more long-term benefits on
the environment rather than immediate rewards of their behaviour, which contribute
101
4.4.1 Culture and Pro-Environment Behaviour
Individuals may engage in pro-environment behaviour for different reasons—cultural
values being one of them [78]. Culture is a form of mental programming that is
acquired at birth and which continues to influence us throughout our lives [40], the
cultural values being used as guiding principles [78]. The individualism/collectivism
dimension is one of the most common ways used to distinguish cultures. Although
it’s an effective way to conceptualise cultural influences and predict group behaviour,
it is important to keep in mind that while these orientations may exist at the macrolevel, at an individual level, both these dimensions could exist simultaneously—
one becoming more salient than the other based on the situation [79]. Gammoh,
et al. [30] compared India and the United States on this dimension, relating it to
the degree of environmental consciousness and pro-green behaviour. Contrary to
belief, it was found that collectivism in both countries significantly predicted environmental consciousness, irrespective of the individualism/collectivism orientation.
Therefore, while the influence of individualistic principles remained non-significant,
collectivistic beliefs significantly influenced green consciousness. Similarly, the
authors also found that harmony, as compared to mastery, influenced environmental
consciousness.
As the behavioural sciences are now gaining importance through their contributions to promoting sustainable efforts through research, aiding policy decisions and
guiding experts such as conservational biologists in pro-environmental efforts, the
recognition of basic and applied psychology for promoting a more pro-environment
behaviour is a relatively new development [45]. Although very little of the earlier
efforts of environmental psychologists were aimed towards conservation of the environment (see [54, 55]), such a trend seems to be increasing, with major developments
in psychology and related-research, such as that in conservation psychology [58].
One of the major developments in this area reflects the role of culture in the deficit of
environmental consciousness and awareness in the individuals. To be more specific,
the culture of valuing immediate or short-term individual goals and ignoring its
long-term group effects seems to be at the heart of unsustainable behaviour [33]. This
occurs when individuals overuse and degrade a shared resource for their own personal
benefit [45]. Such behaviour can be explained using operational conditioning principles, where short-term rewards seem to be more compelling than long-term or
delayed costs of the behaviour [63]. Similarly, the perceived costs of making change
in behaviour to benefit the shared resources on a long-term basis represent a significant barrier. Therefore, the adverse future consequences of climate change, which are
more abstract, are discounted in the light of immediate concrete and definite rewards
that one receives by engaging in degrading and unsustainable behaviours [74].
When one takes this direction, it seems imperative that the governmental policies,
laws and regulations promote pro-environment behaviour by mobilising prosocial
behaviour and ethos of collectivism and harmony [37], along with encouraging individuals to take action on a personal basis to focus on more long-term benefits on
the environment rather than immediate rewards of their behaviour, which contribute