Public concern about environmental issues has grown substantially in the last two decades. As a consequence, the promotion of environmentally conscious behaviours that are integrated in people's lifestyle has become an ongoing and important challenge. Persuasive messages are often perceived as the first step in efforts to motivate people to change a specific behaviour. In this article, the authors propose that (a) tailoring messages according to proposed processes underlying behaviour change (i.e., being aware of a problem, deciding what to do, initiating, and implementing a behaviour); and (b) framing these messages in terms of whether they serve intrinsic goals (i.e., health, well-being) as opposed to extrinsic goals (i.e., make or save money, comfort) could make messages more effective by progressively increasing the level of self-determined motivation of the targeted population.

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The purpose of the present article is to review the contextual conditions that lead teachers to be more controlling rather than autonomy supportive with their students. Research indicates that the more teachers perceive that school administration thwarts their autonomy by imposing pressures on them, the less autonomous they are in their motivation for teaching, the more they become controlling in their teaching, and the more students demonstrate a controlled motivation orientation. At this point an element of reciprocity is introduced: teachers may be affected by the lack of students' motivation and their low performance because this reinforces the administration's perception that something needs to be done. Then teachers may perceive a pressure to behave in a controlling manner to be sure that the administration's standards are achieved.

This quasi-experimental study examined participation rates and sample characteristics of participants recruited with and without the offer of course credit. In Sample 1, where course credit is not usually offered, credit was added in one condition (N =195) and not in the other (N = 175). In Sample 2, where credit is usually offered, it was maintained in one condition (N = 92) and removed in the other (N = 178). Results in both samples revealed that participation rates were higher in the credit conditions; they plunged when customary rewards were taken away. Results also revealed evidence of sample bias. More specifically, the motivational characteristics of participants and nonparticipants differed in all conditions except the new credit condition.

This article emphasises the importance of psychology for the study and mitigation of sustainability issues. Over the past 20 years, a number of special issues on human behaviour and the environment have emerged in the literature, characterising the breadth of environmental problems and their consequences for our quality of life. The articles in this special section focus on psychology's role in interdisciplinary approaches to sustainability, with special attention given to the interdependency of environmental and human health. In this article, the authors summarise the main points of each of these contributions. In addition, they suggest tangible ways in which psychologists can meaningfully contribute to the environmental cause as individuals, practitioners, teachers, researchers, and administrators. Finally, the authors highlight future directions for research and practice in environmental psychology.