Social Psychology

and

The Sustainable Future

An Environmental Call to Action

Enabling Sustainable Living

The Social Psychology of

Materialism and Wealth

Overshooting the earth’s carrying capacity

Global warming◦ Climate change◦ Environmental

destruction Destruction of

ecosystems by human exploitation

Exploding population and increasing consumption

New Technologies

Reducing Consumption

THEN

Refrigerators were high in energy consumption

Incandescent Light bulbs

Printed Letters/catalogs

Cars before produced the twentieth pollution

NOW

Refrigerators today consume half the energy

Energy-Saving Flourescentlights

E-mail/E-commerce

Hybrid cars- conserve gasoline by using electric power cell

One component in a sustainable living is improved eco-technologies.

FUTURE (possible technologies)

Diodes that emit light for 20years without bulbs

Ultrasound washing machine – no water used

Reusable and Compostable Plastics

Cars running on fuel cells that combine hydrogen and oxygen and produce water exhaust

Lightweight materials stronger than steel

Roofs and road that also serves as Solar energy collector

Second component of a sustainable future is the control of consumption

Family Planning- population growth decelerated

Public Policies that harness the motivating power of incentives

Robert Frank (1999) proposed “ Tax people not on what they earn, but on what they spend” to reward achievement while promoting more sustainable consumption.

•Increased Materialism

•Wealth and Well-being

•Materialism fails to satisfy

•Social Comparison,belonging and happiness

•Sustainability and Survival

• Does sustainable consumption enable “the good life”?

• Does being well off produce or atleast correlate with psychological well-being?

• Would you be happier if you could exchange a simple lifestyle for one with palatial suroundings, ski vacation in the Alps or maybe executive-class travel?

• Would you be happier if you won a sweepstakes and could choose from: a 40ft yacht, designer wardrobe, luxury car, or house at an expensive village?

• Are rich people happier?

National Wealth and Well-Being, from 1995 World Bank Data and the 2000 World Values Survey.

Subjective well-being

index combines happiness

and life satisfaction

(average of percentage

rating themselves as (a)

“Very happy” or “happy”

minus percentage

“unhappy”

and as (b) 7 or above on

10-point life satisfaction

scale minus percentage

rating themselves at 4 or

below.

Social Comparison: Evaluating one’s abilities and opinions by comparing oneself with others.

– Rising affluence does not make us happier because there is always someone richer.

– As we get wealthier, our comparison group changes.

– Yesterday’s luxuries become tomorrow’s necessities.

Adaptation-Level Phenomenon: The tendency to adapt to a given level of stimulation and thus to notice and react to changes to that level.

A shift to posmaterialist values will gain momentum as peolple, government and corporations take this steps:

- Face the implications of population and comsumption growth for population, climate change and environmental destruction.

- - Realize that materialist values make for less happy lives.

- - Identify and promote the things in life that matter more than economic growth.

Money will not buy long-term happiness, so where does the “good-life” come from?

Explorations of the good life

Close, supportive relationships

Faith communities

Positive thinking habits

Flow

Elvie C. TapicStephannie T. IngatanTerry G. Tercias

Prof. Elsie Bardoquillo