“Every individual matters.

Every individual has a role to play.

Every individual makes a difference.”

– Jane Goodall

We may not be the most powerful, richest or intelligent person. However, we can simply be an everyday advocate of climate change action and slowly make the world a better place. With that, I have listed down a few strategies that may work and encourage a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle. To better understand the strategies I came up with, it would be best if you read the post on “Psychological Causes” before reading this post.

 

Overcoming status quo bias 

Preference for the status quo tends to be associated with “rational decision making” in the presence of transition costs. However, having a bias for the status quo may not always be the best decision. In order to overcome this bias, we must first be aware of its presence.

Next, we should re-frame and change the way we look at the issue (Solin, 2017). Let’s think back about the issue on travelling by public transport instead of private transport. So instead of “what can I gain can by travelling by public transport?”, we can frame it as “what could be lost by staying with the present decision of travelling by private transport?”.

Lastly, the personal relevance of the cons when travelling by private transport should be emphasized. For example, travelling by private transport worsens climate change, which then causes a rise in sea levels. This lowers the property value of those staying near the coastal area, making it difficult for them to sell and earn a profit in the future. Personally relevant contexts gain significantly more attention and impact on individuals’ emotion processing. Thus, it is more likely to give rise to in-depth and intentional processing of the issue (Bayer, Ruthmann, & Schacht, 2017). This strategy could potentially be used by individuals who are everyday advocates of climate change action. It could potentially make their message more persuasive and effective.

 

Overcoming social norms

As seen in the study by Reno, Cialdini and Kallgren, the more prominent the descriptive norm, the more likely individuals are to exhibit that behaviour. As such framing descriptive norms in a positive perspective would encourage pro-environmental behaviours. Instead of framing the descriptive norm as “there are times whereby people would not practice energy-saving habits”, individuals should frame it to become “there are times whereby people would practice energy-saving habits”. The descriptive norm can be made even more prominent by emphasising the kinds of energy-saving habits individuals cultivate, such as switching off the lights when not in use and by emphasising the positive change that resulted. For better understanding, I made a sample poster as shown below.

Descriptive norm “Fight against climate change!” by Alethea Koh

This strategy can be applied to inconspicuous behaviours as well. As long as a few individuals are willing to make a difference and behave in an environmentally-friendly way the more it becomes “normal” and gets internalised by others as a norm. One good example in Singapore would be a gradual shift from plastic to metal straw usage.

 

Operant conditioning

Operant conditioning is “the phenomenon whereby behaviours we freely choose to perform become more or less frequent, depending on whether they are followed by a reward or a punishment”(Aronson et al., 2013). Positive reinforcement is a form of operant conditioning. For positive reinforcement, the behaviour is followed by a reward, thus increasing the likelihood of the behaviour. This could be a potential strategy to increase the likelihood of individuals practising simple energy-saving habits. For example, individuals who are parents can praise their child whenever they conserve energy – switching off the fans and lights whenever they leave the room. Through social reinforcers like praise, smiles or actions that express approval, people are more likely to repeat that behaviour and conserve energy.

Also, the best way to ensure long-term effectiveness would be to schedule a variable ratio reinforcement. Variable ratio reinforcement refers to reinforcement after a random number of occurrences of behaviour (Zimbardo, Johnson, & McCann, 2012). Parents should praise their children only part of the time when they engage in energy-saving behaviour. Although the behaviour is acquired more slowly, it is more resistant to extinction and persists for a longer period, even when reinforcement stops. By conserving more energy, fewer fossil fuels are required and thus lesser greenhouse gas emissions. This helps fight against the threat of rising sea levels in Singapore.