Embed Size (px)
DESCRIPTION
Citation preview
Promoting lower-carbon
lifestyles Dr Rachel Howell
Outline of thesis and seminar
1. Lights, camera… action?
2. Investigating the long-term impacts of climate
change communications
3. How might films encourage individual
behaviour change?
4. It’s not (just) “the environment, stupid!”
5. Living with a carbon allowance: the
experiences of Carbon Rationing Action
Groups
6. Overall summary and conclusions
Why bother with individuals?
Percentage of UK emissions by source
Other
emissions
15%
Household
indirect
emissions
50%
Domestic and
international
travel
15%
Household
energy
20%
Office of National Statistics 2004
1. Lights, camera… action?
2055
Background: literature Affect plays an important part in determining people’s
responses to environmental issues
Emotions, not just knowledge, should be targeted by
environmental education campaigns
Visual media offer many advantages for communicating
motivating messages
Many studies suggest that fear-based appeals change
attitudes and behavioural intentions
But…
People need a sense of agency
Protection Motivation Theory: people change behaviour in
response to fear appeals only when they believe specific
behaviours will reduce the threat
People don’t like feeling helpless, therefore climate
change fear appeals can trigger denial, apathy,
repression, anger, counter-productive defensive measures
Cognitive dissonance: people may change their attitudes
to match their actions if they feel uncomfortable about the
gap between the two
What about behaviour in the ‘real world’? Lab-based
studies of fear appeals are flawed
Survey: the impact of the film
241 respondents at 21
screenings
Follow-up questionnaire
completed by 162 of these respondents 10-14
weeks later
Further follow-up one year later (15 months after
viewing the film);104 respondents
‘Before’ and ‘after’ questionnaires in the foyer at
the Edinburgh Filmhouse (March 2009)
Increased concern and motivation to act…
83% said they were ‘a bit’ or ‘a lot’ more
concerned immediately after seeing the film
Significant increase in agreement with
statements “I feel motivated to do something
about climate change”, “I can do something
to prevent climate change getting worse” and
“It’s worth lobbying politicians about climate
change”
But this effect had worn off by the time of the
follow-up surveys
Does this translate into action?
Awareness raising and lobbying
politicians
Home energy use
Travel
Food
For each action
asked about, the
percentage of
respondents who
said they were
doing it because
of seeing the film
was small,
decreasing as the
behaviours got
more costly
Glass half empty
For each action,
1%-29% said they
were doing it
because of seeing
the film, e.g.
12% driving less
18% buying more
local produce
22% decided to
stop/reduce holiday
flying long-term
For each action
asked about, the
percentage of
respondents who
said they were
doing it because
of seeing the film
was small,
decreasing as the
behaviours got
more costly
Glass half empty Glass half full
Respondents were not the ‘general
public’
Very high levels of concern and
motivation to act even before seeing
the film
Over 1/3 said they were actively
involved in a group campaigning
wholly/partly about climate change
The film likely presented information
they were already familiar with and
accepted
2. Investigating the long-term impacts
of climate change communications
0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80 90 100
I am actively involved in a group that campaigns
partly/w holly about climate change/global
w arming
I’ve donated money in the last year to a group
that campaigns partly/w holly about climate
change/global w arming
I feel motivated to try to do something about
climate change/global w arming
I am very concerned about climate change/global
w arming
Interest in/concern about climate change/global
w arming w as my MAIN reason for coming to see
the f ilm
One reason I came to see the f ilm is because I’m
interested in/concerned about climate
change/global w arming
Percentage of valid responses
Q1 sample
(n=230-241)
Q3 sample
(n=155-162)
Q4 sample
(n=99-104)
Figure 1: Percentage of respondents in each sample who agreed on the first questionnaire with these statements
Behavioural changes
Participants generally persisted with changes they’d
made as a result of seeing the film
A few ‘late starters’?
Behavioural intentions do not
necessarily lead to action
Respondents’ causal attributions of their behaviour
are unreliable (in retrospect they attributed action to
the impact of the film that earlier they had said they
were already taking)
Implications for research
Recruitment and retention of participants
who are not ‘the converted’
Behavioural intentions cannot be
assumed to be proxies for actual
behaviour
Requesting causal self-attributions adds
another layer of complexity to problems
with self-report measures
Collection of data can influence
respondents’ action
Isolating the impacts of one ‘intervention’
over time
3. How might films encourage
individual behaviour change?
‘Stages of change’ model of
behaviour change
aka the transtheoretical model (TTM) – health psychology
Processes of change used/modelled by
climate change films
Pre-contemplation
Contemplation
Preparation
Action
Maintenance
Consciousness raising
Dramatic relief
Environmental re-evaluation
Self re-evaluation
Self-liberation
Helping relationships
Contingency
management
Counter-conditioning
Stimulus control
Role of films in promoting change
Climate change films employ/depict several processes of
change that TTM suggests should encourage
attitudinal/behaviour change
Consciousness-raising and dramatic relief are the
processes most frequently associated with the films –
most suitable for audience at early stages of change
Consciousness-raising and self-re-evaluation best done
by characters the audience can relate to
Self-liberation could be emphasised more – pivotal
process between thinking about change and beginning it
Filmmakers keen to promote action could portray the
variety of processes that help to support and maintain
behavioural change
4. It’s not (just) “the environment,
stupid!”
Values, discourses, and routes to
engagement of people adopting lower
carbon lifestyles
Purposive sampling – 16 interviewees
9 women, 7 men
Age range: early 20s – 80s
14 white, including 1 Hungarian and 1 South
African; 1 Indian; 1 English Chinese
All middle class, university educated, though
some on low incomes
4 renters; 12 owner-occupiers
Varied household composition
Average interview: 1 hour 41 minutes
Social justice
"I think the gut thing that moves me is people."
Community
"I think this has to do with being linked into the community."
Frugality
"There's no desperation for new trainers."
Talking about climate change
"I think that you don’t even have to care about climate change to want a low carbon lifestyle."
'A lower carbon lifestyle'
"For me it’s more local living, stronger communities, more time for each other."
Triangulation: values survey
Questionnaire
based on
Schwartz Values
Survey
Top-rated value:
social justice
Meanalt > Meanbio
(de Groot & Steg 2007, 2008)
Implications? 'Altruistic' values might be as useful as 'biospheric' ones
CC campaigns could make more links with ‘altruistic’
organisations e.g. refugee/women’s/religious groups
Frugality: need for a fundamental shift away from a
materialistic/consumerist culture?
Climate change communications need to encourage
people to imagine a holistic positive vision for a
lower-carbon future, not just give a 'to do' list
5. Living with a carbon allowance:
experiences of CRAGs
Small grassroots groups of
concerned individuals
Calculate carbon footprint
and set themselves a
'carbon ration' each year
Some groups have a
financial penalty for over-
emitters
Rationale for study: implications for a personal carbon
trading (PCT) policy?
Table 1: Features of particular interest in the CRAGs included in this study
CRAG Interviews Details of interest
Hereford 3 Into third year; rural CRAG; equal-per-capita target; no penalty
Oxford 3 2 years completed; equal-per-capita target; financial penalty but
no trading
Hackney and
Islington
2 Into second year; equal-per-capita target; operates rudimentary
carbon trading
Glasgow 3 Into second year; equal-per-capita target; operates rudimentary
carbon trading
Leeds 2 Completed one year; individual targets and penalties; no trading;
denotes itself a Carbon Reduction Action Group
York 2 Completed one year; equal-per-capita target; no penalty; denotes
itself a Carbon Reduction Action Group
WSP PACT 3 Part way through first year; workplace-based CRAG; penalty and
reward
Fownhope 3 Part way through first year; rural CRAG; percentage reduction
rather than equal-per-capita target; no penalty
Peckham 1 New CRAG still starting up; no penalty
Edinburgha 1 A ‘failed’ CRAG
a Since this research was carried out, a new CRAG was started in Edinburgh.
Key findings from CRAGs
Motivated individuals can make significant reductions in
their direct GHG emissions
Improved carbon literacy:
- greater awareness of energy use and related emissions
- C footprint statements help people understand the
relative impacts of different aspects of their lifestyle
Equal-per-capita allowances not necessarily seen as
‘fair’
Being part of a group is helpful for many reasons,
especially moral support, increased sense of agency,
and information sharing
CRAGs can’t tell us much about PCT policy
Overall summary/conclusions
Need to engage more of the population in action
Make common cause with organisations concerned
about social justice and human rights
Emphasise non-environmental benefits of lower-carbon
lifestyles (but don’t stress financial benefits)
Recruit different audiences to see climate change films –
promote in schools?
But primary role for climate change communications is to
encourage and reinforce public concern so politicians act
Need for serious top-down legislation that will impact on
everyday practices and behaviours
Papers Howell, R.A., 2011. Lights, camera… action? Altered attitudes and
behaviour in response to the climate change film The Age of Stupid. Global
Environmental Change 21, 177–187.
Howell, R.A., 2012. Investigating the Long-Term Impacts of Climate Change
Communications on Individuals’ Attitudes and Behavior. Environment and
Behavior, doi: 10.1177/0013916512452428.
Howell, R.A. How might climate change films encourage individual
behavioural change? An analysis using the transtheoretical model. To be
published in a special issue of the International Journal of Sustainable
Development on ‘Sustainability Tales, Fictions and Other Stories from the
Movie Industry’.
Howell, R.A., 2013. It’s not (just) “the environment, stupid!” Values,
motivations, and routes to engagement of people adopting lower-carbon
lifestyles. Global Environmental Change, 23, 281–290.
Howell, R.A., 2012. Living with a carbon allowance: the experiences of
Carbon Rationing Action Groups and implications for policy. Energy Policy
41, 250–258.
Processes of change
Consciousness raising e.g. education,
feedback
Processes of change
Consciousness raising
Dramatic relief being moved
emotionally
Processes of change
Consciousness raising
Dramatic relief
Environmental re-evaluation thoughts and feelings
about how behaviour affects one's environment
Processes of change
Consciousness raising
Dramatic relief
Environmental re-
evaluation
Self re-evaluation thoughts
and feelings about self-image with
and without particular behaviour
Processes of change
Consciousness raising
Dramatic relief
Environmental re-evaluation
Self re-evaluation
Self-liberation belief that one can change and commitment to do so
Processes of change
Helping relationships offering support for
change
Processes of change
Helping relationships
Contingency management consequences
for behaviour - sticks and carrots
Processes of change
Helping relationships
Contingency management
Counter-conditioning learning substitute
behaviours
Processes of change
Helping relationships
Contingency management
Counter-conditioning
Stimulus control remove cues for problem habits; add prompts for good ones
Processes of change
Helping relationships
Contingency management
Counter-conditioning
Stimulus control
Social liberation increased opportunities/ alternatives
