The Making of an Environmental Activist: A Developmental Psychological Perspective

Abstract

This chapter reviews the research on environmental exemplars, or activists. General themes that have been identified in the literature include early experiences in nature, the influence of other people and organizations, opportunities for environmental education, environmental self and identity formation, and generativity. With these themes in hand, we construct a developmental model suggesting a possible trajectory toward environmental activism. We also discuss possible implications of these findings with reference to the current state of our planet and what may be done to reverse current trends.

Pro‐Environmental Behavior and Adolescent Moral Development

“…Overall, the present study provides a somewhat sobering view on the development of pro‐environmentalism in youth. In previous research, scholars emphasized the importance of nature experiences in childhood for the development of pro‐environmental attitudes and beliefs (Chawla, ; Matsuba & Pratt, ). Many programs in environmental education focus on children (cf.…”

“…Yet, even if these programs succeed in promoting greater environmental awareness in children, typical age trends in adolescence may render these efforts futile. Matsuba and Pratt () noted that individual opportunities to engage with nature may not be sufficient to promote pro‐environmentalism in adolescence. Instead, nature experiences need to be embedded in the context of peer interaction and need to be socially rewarding.…”

Explicit (but not implicit) environmentalist identity predicts pro-environmental behavior and policy preferences (postprint)

“…Childhood experiences (Study 2). Childhood experiences with animals and plants may foster pro-environmental values and environmentalist identity (Brügger, Kaiser, & Roczen, 2011;Hinds & Sparks, 2008;Matsuba & Pratt, 2013). Participants reported the frequency of childhood experiences with nature in six items: "Before you turned 18, how many times did you go to [aquariums/zoos/natural history museums]?…”

Okoljevarstvena psihologija kot raziskovalno področje

“…Na področju okoljske identitete je še vedno potrebna zlasti razširitev razumevanja koncepta okoljske identitete s proučevanjem njenega razvoja in pomembnih dejavnikov, ki vplivajo na posameznikovo dojemanje naravnega okolja kot pomembnega dela sebstva. Okoljska identiteta naj bi se začela razvijati že v zgodnjem otroštvu preko prej omenjenih pozitivnih izkušenj v naravnem okolju, njen razvoj pa naj bi se nadaljeval v mladostništvu (Matsuba in Pratt, 2013). Raziskovalci so veliko pozornosti namenili razvoju okoljske identitete v okviru teorije pripovedne identitete.…”

“…Raziskovalci so veliko pozornosti namenili razvoju okoljske identitete v okviru teorije pripovedne identitete. Posamezniki naj bi številne pozitivne ali negativne izkušnje z naravnim okoljem vključili v svojo pripovedno okoljsko identiteto, ki je del osebne zgodbe posameznika (Matsuba in Pratt, 2013). V študiji, v kateri so primerjali pripovedno okoljsko identiteto kanadskih okoljevarstvenih aktivistov in neaktivistov, so ugotovili, da so aktivisti dosegali višje rezultate pri pripovedni okoljski identiteti; njihove zgodbe o izkušnjah v naravnem okolju so bile namreč daljše in bolj premišljene, vsebovale so več podrobnosti, posamezniki pa so jim pripisovali večji pomen za svojo povezanost z naravo (Alisat, Norris, Pratt, Matsuba in McAdams, 2014).…”