Essay Development

COP ESSAY

This essay is investigating the relationship between the psychological side of sustainability and the role of graphic design within this. The subject of sustainability is a hot topic in the media today, it is in the news, discussed regularly in conversation as well as being plastered over social media. The topic itself raises a lot of issues allowing people to disagree in a lot of areas and have strong opinions that may clash with their peers. I feel as though the topic has been discussed so much but on a level that never touches on the psychological impacts of the movement, we have all heard the stats about how many years we have until our impact on the planet is irreversible, but how is this affecting us mentally, and what is the role of graphic design within this? The definition of ‘sustainability’ is: avoidance of the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance, ‘the green movement’ is a term used to describe the social movement surrounding the topic of sustainability, and climate change, a change in global or regional climate patterns; these terms will be used frequently throughout the essay.

The question this essay is investigating is ‘What is the psychological impact of sustainability and the role of graphic design?’ will be discussed. Touching on topics such as Pre-TSD, social influence, and CLT, we can gather an understanding of the deeper impacts of the sustainability movement. Graphic design, can play a vital role in presenting information to a wider audience, and is an integral part of any social movement, the role of graphic design within sustainability is no different. The role of graphic design within sustainability is important to discuss as a large issue within the green movement is consumerism, there is a clear link to the products people purchase and the way they are packaged. Another role of graphic design within the green movement is within campaigns, here the crossover of graphic design, psychology and sustainability becomes evident. Issues such as these will be discussed further throughout the essay. 

How does the public psychologically relate to climate change? This is a topic not many are investigating currently. Psychological distance is being discussed among psychologists, it is the cognitive separation between the self and other instances. Construal Level Theory (Liberman and Trope, 2008) outlines 4 key dimensions of psychological distance, spatial or geographical distance; temporal distance; distance between the perceiver and a social target, and hypothetical distance. Spence, Poortinga and Pidgeon, (2011) conducted a psychological investigation into the relationship between climate change and psychological distance. It was found that participants with a greater concern about climate change showed less psychological distance than those with a lower level of concern. The data found in this experiment shows that people’s relationship with concern impacts that psychological standpoint. Thus, making climate change to individuals' locations and social groups will be integral to promoting action. However, results showing his indicates that whilst personal, local, closer considerations of climate change are important in promoting concern about climate change, when it comes to promoting action, it may also be important to highlight the wider, global impacts of climate change as the perceived impacts of climate change on developing countries were much more important than the participants own environment. This speculation is also supported by Leiserowitz et al (2010) a survey into the attitudes Americans have towards climate change. 

Mental health is a side of sustainability and climate change that doesn’t often get discussed. The scale of climate change and how it is going to impact our planet is huge, unless we reduce emissions rapidly, the world is likely to exceed 2°C of warming. By the end of this century, warming could potentially reach 4°C, possibly more (Met Office, 2020). It is likely that there will be psychological impacts on the mental wellbeing and quality of life of the public (Clayton et al, 2011), and it is likely that these effects on mental health will be distributed unevenly. This uneven distribution of mental health wellbeing could be linked to come countries experiencing extreme weather events more frequently than others. The mental health impacts vary depending on the scale of the event, and how sudden it occurs (Fritze et al, 2008) and ‘Despite cultural variations between countries and individuals, communities show some common patterns of psychosocial responses to disasters’. 

The mental health impacts of sustainability aren’t exclusive to members of the public and those who’ve experienced natural disasters. Scientists are beginning to show signs of Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder (Pre-TSD) the term refers to the ‘mental anguish that results from preparing for the worst, before it actually happens’ (Stuttaford, 2014). The emotional strain environmental scientists are under is immense, there isn’t an easy release for the information they’re carrying. Psychosocial researcher Renee Lertzman (2019) talks about her struggle during her degree on environmental studies. When away on a trip with her peers Lertzman recalls talking about her true feelings towards the world, ‘and no one told me at any point to be more positive or more hopeful. Not once. And surprisingly, I found myself feeling better.’ Lertzman (2019) highlights the psychological barriers of climate change. One, the window of tolerance, when we are given too much stress to handle, we will collapse or respond with anger. Two, the double bind, where we are ‘damned we do, damned if we don’t’, and three attunement where we need to be intune with ourselves and others to make change. ‘Mental health needs to be an integral part of any climate change survival strategy’- Britt Wray 2019.

So how can we use what we know about psychology to encourage people to adopt sustainable habits? There have been numerous studies into social behaviour and sustainability, Demarque et al (2015), Kallbekken & Sælen (2013), (Kormos, Gifford and Brown, 2014). In 2010 Calgary, Alberta, rolled out a program called grasscycling, in which residents would leave grass clippings to naturally decompose on a lawn after mowing, rather than bagging them to be taken to a landfill. An informational campaign had been designed to achieve this, however initial adoption rates were lower than the city had expected (White, Hardisty and Habib, 2020). A study conducted by White and Simpson (2013) highlighted that barriers related to social norms prevented the residents from adopting this behaviour. Nobody was engaging in the behaviour and that it did not seem approved of, causing people to be reluctant to engage. White and Simpson then imposed the use of descriptive norms, such as “Your neighbours are grasscycling—you can too” and injunctive norms such as “Your neighbours want you to grasscycle”. Within two weeks this resulted in almost twice as many residents leaving their grass cuttings on the lawn. This links to one of Cialidini’s 6 Principles of Persuasion, Social Proof, the notion of people doing what they observe others doing, similar to safety in numbers (1993).

Another method of influence the behaviour of the public is through mass media campaigns, there has been a profound amount of research into the effect of mass media campaigns in relation to public health, these demonstrate the successes of beneficial behaviours being adopted by the public. A study into the effectiveness of ‘short-duration screening programmes that offered easy access to screening services, used reminder letters, and specifically included television broadcast components were associated with short-term population-wide increases in attendance for Pap smears. (Mullins, Wakefield and Broun, 2007). However, when there were no organised screening services there was very little increased use of cervical cancer screening (Black, Yamada,  and Mann, 2002).These results clearly demonstrate the effectiveness of mass media campaigning followed by ongoing encouragement emphera. Why are health campaigns successful at changing behaviour even when they’re talking about fearful topics such as cancer, and climate change campaigns less successful? One of the conclusions from Wakefield, Loken and Hornik’s (2010) study into mass media campaigns is that ‘the success of a campaign is increased when the behaviour it’s trying to influence is a one off rather than ongoing’. This combined with the window of tolerance (Lertzman, 2019) makes climate crisis campaigning less successful.

An article by Josef Curiel (2019) expresses the need for a government climate crisis campaign. Curiel highlights government campaigns throughout the second world war in the UK, such as ‘Make do and Mend’, and how we can learn from these campaigns and apply this to the climate crisis. The article also demonstrates the need for a campaign such as this since 84% of 18- to 24-year-olds stated they need to learn more about how they can prevent the climate breakdown (UNEP/UNESCO, 2000). As well as two thirds of teachers in schools believe we should be teaching about the climate crisis in schools (UNEP/UNESCO, 2000). There is a clear need for a campaign surrounding the climate crisis should be put into place within the UK, however it needs to be sensitive in it’s approach. The language used in regards to climate change and sustainability needs to be handled more delicately than it currently is. Campaigns need to apply psychological methodologies to their design to make them more effective, thinking about the implications of a campaign is what designers need to be doing. 

Persuasive design is an area within design that applies these principles directly to the design process. Designers need to understand the emotions that influence behaviour as well as the psychological principles, then act on these while designing to succeed (Del Galdo, 2011). Persuasion links to the psychological argument of behaviourism, the psychology of learning. A key aspect of the behaviourism argument is reinforcement, this is evident in Pavlovian Behaviourism where there is no punishment only a lack of reinforcement (O'Shaughnessy and O'Shaughnessy, 2004). This psychological theory supports what Lertzman (2019) discusses, the idea of supporting positive behaviours not punishing ourselves if we’re not doing everything to save the planet. As well as supporting Mullins, Wakefield and Broun’s (2007) study into mass media campaigns which demonstrated a higher level of engagement when there were follow ups to sustain a desired act. 

Something to consider when making persuasive design is the audience, a study conducted by Hofstede (1996) highlights two differences within society, individualistic (E.g. United Kingdom, United States, France), where ‘everyone is expected to look after himself or herself and his or her immediate family only’. And collectivist (E.g. Japan, Singapore, South Korea) ‘in which people from birth onwards are integrated into strong cohesive in-groups, which throughout people’s lifetime continue to protect them in exchange for unquestioning loyalty’. These different societies will need to be approached differently when using persuasion, it is easier to use persuasion in collectivist societies than individualistic (Kimura and Nakajima, 2011), as social norms become adopted much quicker. Orji, (2016) showed that individualistic and collectivist societies responded differently to 4 out of 6 of Cialdini’s Principles of Persuasion, thus the need for different cultures to be approached differently when it comes to persuasion is prominent. However, ‘In general, regardless of culture, commitment, reciprocity, and liking emerged as the most persuasive strategies that have the highest likelihood of influencing participants from both cultures.' Orji, 2016.

Case study into ecosia?

Examples of XR campaigning?

Conclusion

Bibliography:

Books:

O'Shaughnessy, J. and O'Shaughnessy, N., 2004. Persuasion In Advertising. London: Routledge, p.99.

Cialidini, R., 1993. Influence: The Psychology Of Persuasion. New York: Quill.

Hofstede, G. (1996). Cultures and Organizations: Software for the Mind. New York, NY, USA: McGraw-Hill.

Websites:
Curiel, J., 2019. We’Re Crying Out For A Government Ad Campaign On How To Halt The Climate Crisis | Joshua Curiel. [online] the Guardian. Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/society/2019/sep/18/government-ad-campaign-climate-crisis-brexit-not-deal> [Accessed 12 March 2020].

Del Galdo, E., 2011. Persuasion In Design | UX Magazine. [online] UX Magazine. Available at: <https://uxmag.com/articles/persuasion-in-design> [Accessed 14 March 2020].

Met Office. (2020). Effects of climate change. [online] Available at: https://www.metoffice.gov.uk/weather/climate-change/effects-of-climate-change [Accessed 27 Feb. 2020].

Stuttaford, A. (2014). ‘Pre-Traumatic Stress Disorder’ | National Review. [online] Nationalreview.com. Available at: https://www.nationalreview.com/corner/pre-traumatic-stress-disorder-andrew-stuttaford/ [Accessed 5 Dec. 2019].

White, K., Hardisty, D. and Habib, R. (2020). The Elusive Green Consumer. [online] Harvard Business Review. Available at: https://hbr.org/2019/07/the-elusive-green-consumer [Accessed 13 Nov. 2019].

Journals/Studies:

Black, M., Yamada, J. and Mann, V., 2002. A Systematic Literature Review of the Effectiveness of Communitybased Strategies to Increase Cervical Cancer Screening. Canadian Journal of Public Health,.

Demarque, C., Charalambides, L., Hilton, D. and Waroquier, L. (2015). Nudging sustainable consumption: The use of descriptive norms to promote a minority behavior in a realistic online shopping environment. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 43, pp.166-174.

Fritze, J., Blashki, G., Burke, S. and Wiseman, J. (2008). Hope, despair and transformation: climate change and the promotion of mental health and wellbeing. International Journal of Mental Health Systems.

Kallbekken, S. and Sælen, H. (2013). ‘Nudging’ hotel guests to reduce food waste as a win–win environmental measure. Economics Letters.

Kimura, H. and Nakajima, T., 2011. Designing Persuasive Applications to Motivate Sustainable Behavior in Collectivist Cultures. PsychNology,.

Kormos, C., Gifford, R. and Brown, E. (2014). The Influence of Descriptive Social Norm Information on Sustainable Transportation Behavior. Environment and Behavior

Leiserowitz, A., Maibach, E., Roser-Renouf, C. and Smith, N. (2010). Climate Change in the American Mind: Americans’ Global Warming Beliefs and Attitudes in June 2010.

Liberman, N. and Trope, Y. (2008). The Psychology of Transcending the Here and Now. Science.

Mullins, R., Wakefield, M. and Broun, K., 2007. Encouraging The Right Women To Attend For Cervical Cancer Screening: Results From A Targeted Television Campaign In Victoria, Australia.

Spence, A., Poortinga, W. and Pidgeon, N. (2011). The Psychological Distance of Climate Change. Risk Analysis.

Swim, J., Stern, P., Doherty, T., Clayton, S., Reser, J., Weber, E., Gifford, R. and Howard, G. (2011). Psychology's contributions to understanding and addressing global climate change. American Psychologist.

Wakefield, M., Loken, B. and Hornik, R., (2010). Use of mass media campaigns to change health behaviour. The Lancet,.

White, K. and Simpson, B. (2013). When Do (and Don't) Normative Appeals Influence Sustainable Consumer Behaviors?. Journal of Marketing.

Presentations/Lectures:
Lertzman, R. (2019). How to Turn Climate Anxiety into Action.

Wray, B. (2019). How Climate Change Affects Your Mental Health.