https://healthcommcapacity.org/hc3-research-primers-aid-in-sbcc-program-design/

I will be analysing the reasons behind Singapore’s action that contributes towards climate change using the Theory of Planned Behaviour. Simply put, Behavioural Intention is a function of: Attitude, Subjective Norm and Perceived Behavioural Control (According to this model).

Behavioural Intention

http://slowrobot.com/i/44878
Anti-environmental behaviour as depicted, by persuading others that climate change is not to our benefit

National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) Climate Change survey (2013):

  • Only 63% of respondents felt that they took actions to tackle climate change.
  • 26% of Singapore residents not willing to pay more for green products at all.

HSBC Climate Change Monitor (2010) study:

  • Only 28% of respondents were committed in their action to reduce climate change vs 34% in Asia Pacific region.

Attitudes

I will be including Values in my discussion as well. According to the Value-Belief-Norm theory, Values affect Attitudes, which affect Behaviour.

https://blog.ucsusa.org/andrew-rosenberg/scientific-advice-for-the-new-epa-carbon-emissions-standards-lets-clear-the-air-386
Human attitude contributing further to climate change as depicted

National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) Climate Change survey (2013):

  • Merchant’s (1992) [Value] orientations: Egocentric (concern for ourselves) rather than Ecocentric or Biocentric (concern for nature’s sake).                                                    91% of respondents turn off electrical appliances when they are not in use because of cost savings. Only 54% do so to protect the environment.

HSBC Climate Change Monitor (2010) study:

  • Lack of care for the environment [Attitude]:                                                                            Only 12% of Singaporeans ranked climate change as a top concern, 34% ranked it as important concern.
  • Materialist [Value] leading to Dominant Social Paradigm [Attitude] (focus on Economic Growth]:                                                                                                                          53% of respondents felt that government should spend more on economy than climate change vs 38% globally.
  • Singaporeans ranked stability of the economy as more important than climate change [Attitude].
  • Kellert’s (1996) value types: Negativistic [Value]                                                              Only 16% of respondents were optimistic towards climate change. Hence, there could be active avoidance due to this resulting fear. According to Ho and Chuah (2017), only 50% of Singaporeans were keen to receive information about climate change.

The study also shed insights on our biases in information processing that affects our [Attitude]:

  • Short-term thinking – Temporal Discounting
https://www.cartoonstock.com/directory/s/short_term_thinking.asp
A humorous illustration of short-term thinking

Similar to this cartoon illustration, Singaporeans tend to focus on immediate problems rather than long-term ones. People are generally adapted to respond to such immediate threats rather than slow motion disasters – to cope with daily life. 67% of us felt that the government should spend more on healthcare rather than climate change (vs 56% globally). We fail to think that climate change will bring about future health problems and that prevention is better than cure!

Indeed, save now on healthcare (e.g. via government subsidies), pay more later!

  • Availability heuristic

https://jamesclear.com/common-mental-errors/availability-heuristic

Singaporeans ranked terrorism and pandemics as issues they are more concerned about than climate change. This could be due to their vivid consequences that are frequently reported in the media.

However, there could be a shift to a more pro-environmental worldview in future, starting from the younger generation. According to a study, students had moderately positive pro-environmental attitudes. The aggregate mean environmental attitude score of their student sample was 66% (Tan, Kay, Kim, & Goh, 1998).

A 2015 National Values Assessment survey also showed us that there is possibility of an ecocentric worldview in future. The public seems to be more interested in non-monetary goals e.g. caring for the environment – it was not even in the 2012 results.

http://www.straitstimes.com/singapore/singaporeans-see-virtues-like-compassion-in-themselves-but-view-society-as-materialistic
The list, from a survey done between March and June, is based on the number of responses each item received. Their old position, from the 2012 survey, is in brackets.

Subjective Norm

https://www.inkcinct.com.au/web-pages/cronological/2014-july-dec--cronological.htm
Power of social norms in influencing behaviour

Social norms could play out in a good way, as seen in the comic above, as it could pull someone towards pro-environmental behaviours.

Liao, Ho, and Yang (2016) discovered the power of social norms in influencing behaviour.

  • People who expect others to be influenced by pro-environmental media messages are more likely to have a positive attitude toward pro-environmental behaviour and will in turn, be more prone to engage in pro-environmental behaviours.
  • The presumed media influence on others may also pressure an individual to adopt pro-environmental behaviours in order to meet social expectations.

However, they could play out in the opposite way too. For instance, as observed by Boh (2016), prevalent use of air conditioning has led to more people utilising it regularly. Some business owners may see risks from deviating from such norms e.g. driving away tenants and customers accustomed to such cooler environments.

Perceived Behavioural Control / Self-Efficacy

  • Our perception of whether we have the ability to successfully complete a task.
  • Hence, if we feel that someone else is responsible for climate change instead of us, we might not believe that we have the power to change outcomes.

http://www.thecomicstrips.com/subject/The-Climate+Change-Comic-Strips-by-The+Brilliant+Mind+of+Edison+Lee.php

Are we like the illustration above? Do we feel that climate change is not caused by us and hence, our actions will not help tackle it?

National Climate Change Secretariat (NCCS) regularly conducts surveys about public perception to climate change (e.g. 2014 and 2016). They gathered that:

  • It was found that over a third of Singapore respondents felt that their individual actions will not make a difference to climate change.
  • Only 39% of respondents felt that individuals should tackle climate change. 40% thinks that this responsibility lies with the Government.

In conclusion, our negative behavioural intentions that contribute to climate change is due to:

  • Salient environmental apathy values and attitudes.
  • Strong social norms that are not-so environmentally friendly.
  • Perceived lack of behavioural control in tackling climate change as individuals.