Conservation Psychology
Understanding and Promoting Human Care for Nature
2. Edition September 2015
344 Pages, Softcover
Wiley & Sons Ltd
People are inseparable from natural ecosystems, and understanding how people think about, experience, and interact with nature is crucial for promoting environmental sustainability as well as human well-being.
This is the new edition of what is now the leading textbook in conservation psychology, the field that explores connections between the study of human behavior and the achievement of conservation goals. Completely
updated, this book summarizes theory and research on ways in which humans experience nature; it explores people's conceptions of nature and environmental problems, their relationship with nature, and their moral lenses on nature; and examines ways to encourage conservation-oriented behavior at both individual and societal levels. Throughout, the authors integrate a wide body of research demonstrating the role of psychology in promoting a more sustainable relationship between humans and nature.
New sections cover human perceptions of environmental problems, new examples of community-based conservation, and a "positive psychology" perspective that emphasizes the relevance of nature to human resilience. Additional references are to be found throughout this edition along with some new examples and a reorganisation of chapters in response to reader feedback.
This fascinating volume is used for teaching classes to senior undergraduate and graduate students of Conservation Psychology, Environmental Psychology and Conservation Science in departments of Psychology, Geography, Environmental Science, and Ecology and Evolution. It is equally suitable as a starting point for other researchers and practitioners - psychologists, conservation biologists, environmental scientists, and policy-makers - needing to know more about how psychological research can inform their conservation work.
1. Introducing the Field of Conservation Psychology
Conservation
Psychology
Human care for nature
The roots of conservation psychology
The utility of conservation psychology
The practice of conservation psychology
The organization of the book
Part I: Human experiences of nature
2. Domestic nature: Cohabiting with animals and plants
Animals in the home
Plants in the domestic sphere
3. Managed nature: Zoos, aquariums, and public parks
Zoos and aquariums
Urban parks and green spaces
4. Wild nature: Encounters with wilderness
Defining wild nature
Wilderness use and wilderness values
Solitude
Natural forces and features
Remoteness and challenge
Wild nature and spiritual experience
Wilderness-based growth and therapeutic programs
Part II: Thinking about nature
5. Attitudes, values, and perceptions
Core understandings of nature
Values
Attitudes
Perceptions
Evolutionary perspectives
6. Perceptions of environmental problems
Risk perception
Information-processing biases
Language and discourse
Understanding environmental problems
Attributions of responsibility
Linking perceptions to behavior
7. Moral psychology and the environment
Background in ethical concepts
Social Intuitionism and Moral Foundations Theory
Virtue ethics
The Deontic tradition
Consequentialism
Psychological dynamics of moral functioning
Pragmatic ethics
8. Environment and identity
The concept of identity
Identity development
Environmental identity
Place identity
Animals and identity
Environmental social identity
Identity and behavior
Part III: Encouraging a sustainable relationship between humans and nature
9. Promoting sustainable behavior
Identifying target behaviors
Influences on behavior
Models for changing behavior
Collective behavior
Conclusion
10. Community psychology, and international biodiversity conservation
International Biodiversity Conservation
Common Pool Resources and Models of Governance
Psychology, Culture, and Local Knowledge
Creating ecological knowledge old and new: Traditional and modern citizen science
Accounting for Conservation's Costs and Benefits
Conservation and All-Too-Human Psychology
Illegal trade in threatened and endangered species
11. Environmental education
Environmental education
Examples of environmental education
Psychological foundations of environmental education
Lessons for effective practice
Conclusion
12. The positive psychology of conservation
Nature as a positive environment
Negative emotions in response to environmental challenges
Positive emotions in relation to environmental behaviors
Eudaimonism and meaning
Materialistic values versus Self-Determination Theory
Optimism and pessimism
Toward strengths-based approaches
Glossary
Index
--Anna Kuzemko, Bulletin of the Eurasian Dry Grassland Group, January 2017
Psychology and Chair of Environmental Studies at the College of
Wooster in Ohio, USA. She has served as president of the Society
for Environmental, Population, and
Conservation Psychology and is president-elect of the Society for
the Psychological Study of Social Issues. Her research focuses on
understanding and promoting concern about environmental
issues. In particular, Clayton is interested in the ways in
which a relationship with nature is promoted through social
interactions, and has studied these interactions in zoo settings
around the world.
Gene Myers is a Professor at Huxley College of the
Environment at Western Washington University, where he offers
courses in conservation psychology, environmental history and
ethics, and teaches and advises in undergraduate and graduate
programs in environmental education. He is a past president of the
Society for Human Ecology. His research interests include the
psychological foundations of children's relation to animals;
the
ontogenetic development of environmental care and responsibility;
the integration of positive psychology into conservation and
sustainability practice; and the teaching of environmental ethics
and the preparation of future environmental educators.