4 Finding the Long-Lost Path: Developing …
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4.4.2 Actions to Develop the Feeling of Collectivism
It is important to understand two major concepts in psychology that are implicated
in behaviour change—motivation and psychological needs. Motivational force that
drives us to complete some action can either be intrinsic or extrinsic in nature,
or various other possibilities in between. It is believed that intrinsic motivation is
stronger and more effective than extrinsic motivation, as has been explained before.
Furthermore, the concept of psychological needs consists of autonomy (making
meaningful choices about our needs), competence (interacting with the environment to see that we are making some difference) and relatedness (connection with
the people and environment).
During the pandemic, most people were asked to completely change the way they
functioned. From going outside and socialising to minimal interactions and social
distancing—there are very significant changes that people, till date, are trying to
adjust to. These changes threaten all the basic psychological needs our sense of
autonomy by not allowing certain choices, competence by not being able to do much
or be productive and connectedness by not being able to interact with significant
people.
The focus therefore becomes that of enhancing these basic needs and keeping
them in check. We can increase collective feelings of autonomy, competence and
connectedness by doing some very small things such as ordering a take-out from
our local store. It is also important to stay in touch with ourselves. Practices like
mindfulness seem to help gain control over the present moment and over our own
selves, thus enhancing competence and autonomy. Connecting with people using
online tools, video calls, etc., can be helpful, although it will not be an exact substitute
for direct social interactions. We must also keep in mind that this situation was brought
onto us in a very sudden manner, and in order to adjust and effectively change our
behaviour according to it would take some time. Anything that is rooted in motivation
and changes our basic psychological needs would take a long time to adjust to.
Although many people would agree that the environment needs to be saved, a lot of
them would, at the same time, not engage in behaviours aimed towards fulfilling these
attitudes. There are many explanations for such a behaviour, ranging from undervaluing the environment in order to profit financially and economically, thus prioritising one’s own self-interests over the environment [8, 36]. On the other hand, some
studies have shown that people in fact care for the environment and are supportive of
the pro-environment changes [26, 64]. Similar to this, Bourman and Steg [9] showed
that it is not the undervaluing of the environment among people that is causing the
environment concerns to be ignored, rather, people tend to underestimate how much
other people care. This also explains why politicians seem cautious in declaring
pro-environmental actions as policies unless change is very openly demanded by
the pubic, as they underestimate their group members’ values regarding the care for
environment.
103
4.4.2 Actions to Develop the Feeling of Collectivism
It is important to understand two major concepts in psychology that are implicated
in behaviour change—motivation and psychological needs. Motivational force that
drives us to complete some action can either be intrinsic or extrinsic in nature,
or various other possibilities in between. It is believed that intrinsic motivation is
stronger and more effective than extrinsic motivation, as has been explained before.
Furthermore, the concept of psychological needs consists of autonomy (making
meaningful choices about our needs), competence (interacting with the environment to see that we are making some difference) and relatedness (connection with
the people and environment).
During the pandemic, most people were asked to completely change the way they
functioned. From going outside and socialising to minimal interactions and social
distancing—there are very significant changes that people, till date, are trying to
adjust to. These changes threaten all the basic psychological needs our sense of
autonomy by not allowing certain choices, competence by not being able to do much
or be productive and connectedness by not being able to interact with significant
people.
The focus therefore becomes that of enhancing these basic needs and keeping
them in check. We can increase collective feelings of autonomy, competence and
connectedness by doing some very small things such as ordering a take-out from
our local store. It is also important to stay in touch with ourselves. Practices like
mindfulness seem to help gain control over the present moment and over our own
selves, thus enhancing competence and autonomy. Connecting with people using
online tools, video calls, etc., can be helpful, although it will not be an exact substitute
for direct social interactions. We must also keep in mind that this situation was brought
onto us in a very sudden manner, and in order to adjust and effectively change our
behaviour according to it would take some time. Anything that is rooted in motivation
and changes our basic psychological needs would take a long time to adjust to.
Although many people would agree that the environment needs to be saved, a lot of
them would, at the same time, not engage in behaviours aimed towards fulfilling these
attitudes. There are many explanations for such a behaviour, ranging from undervaluing the environment in order to profit financially and economically, thus prioritising one’s own self-interests over the environment [8, 36]. On the other hand, some
studies have shown that people in fact care for the environment and are supportive of
the pro-environment changes [26, 64]. Similar to this, Bourman and Steg [9] showed
that it is not the undervaluing of the environment among people that is causing the
environment concerns to be ignored, rather, people tend to underestimate how much
other people care. This also explains why politicians seem cautious in declaring
pro-environmental actions as policies unless change is very openly demanded by
the pubic, as they underestimate their group members’ values regarding the care for
environment.