Environmental psychology Lectures
Environmental psychology is an area which examines transactions between individuals and their built
and natural environment. Focus of course:
- Person in environment
- Reciprocal relationship between persons and environments
- Social origin and meaning of many man-environment interactions
- Opportunities to change for the better: greater well-being and improved environmental
quality by behavioral interventions.
Green vs grey schoolyards: greater kid well-being, less bullying, boys better concentration.
Trash cans out of park + eyes work, only one of them not really. Behavioral measures combined with
psychological measures have the biggest effect!
Paris Agreement: to limit global warming.
Mandatory readings:
HC 1:
Wohlwill (1970): the emerging discipline of environmental psychology
- Environmental psychology is a response to concerns about the quality of the environment.
- Environmental psychology is a problem oriented, applied, inclined to cooperate in
multidisciplinary projects.
- Environmental psychology has unique potential to ask new questions.
3 forms of personal physical environment relationship:
1) Environment guides and constrains behavior: barriers, compatibility, fit, environment is
instrumental.
2) Long term exposure to general conditions may exert generalized effects. Urban life as
function of crowding, working day rhythm as function of climate.
3) Behavior is oriented toward environment; environment is focal (different climate in Spain so
their working day rhythm is different.
Motivation by environment stimuli:
1) Affect evoked by stimulus characteristics (complexity, diversity, novelty, category).
2) Environment determines approach and avoidance reactions (moving, migrating, holiday
destinations)
3) Adaptation (man is at once a seeker and neutralizer of stimulation).
Worth to mention:
- Individual differences (e.g. sensation seeking etc.), attitude formation and change regarding
environmental problems, problems that seem environmental but are primarily social,
economic, educational (slums, ghetto’s).
Goldberg (1969): The automobile: a social institution for adolescents
- Designers like to think about the relation between physical form and social behavior.
- These insights are based on intuitions rather than on science.
, - This is usually wrong cause intuition hardly works and the scientific approach is shallow
Adolescents have nowhere to go and they like cars, so they go on cruises.
Social interactions and adolescence:
- Characterized by: 1) peer group influences, 2) sexual activity, 3) rivalry.
- Cars are suitable for competition and have sexual symbolism
Finding: cruising is a self-sustained activity, no need for other facilities. Al activities take place
near car. Cruisers maximize visibility. Men women differences.
Kaplan (1995): Restorative benefits of nature.
Attention restoration theory:
- Directed attention
- Consequences of fatigue
- Restoration
~ Directed attention requires capacity for inhibition of distraction (inhibitory mechanisms).
~ When efforts to sustain directed attention are prolonged the inhibitory mechanism becomes
exhausted.
Results in: poor concentration, easily irritated, inclined to make errors, unwilling to help others.
A need for restoration!
This requires:
- Being away, disconnected from daily activities.
- Fascination: something that really interests you!
- Compatibility: match between what you like to do and the environment provides
- Extend: needs to have an impression of continuity -> it needs to be substantial and not just a
‘small’ environment
General finding -> nature is more restorative than urban environments, more restorative.
Gosling et al. (2002): A room with a cue: personality judgements based on offices and bedrooms.
- You can get a big cue of someone based on their room, framework: Brunswik’s lens model.
Cues (for example):
1) Organized desk
2) Good lighting
3) Cheerful décor
4) Many books
Cue validity and cue utilization important!
Cue types, how to individuals impact their
environments:
- Self-directed identity claims: e.g.
holiday souvenir
, - Other directed identity claims: e.g. professional certificate
- Interior behavioral residue: e.g. piles of papers
- Exterior behavioral residue: e.g. hiking gear
RQ’s:
- Do observers agree on personality ratings based on occupants’ personal environments?
- Which environmental cues are being used, and which are valid?
- Are observer ratings accurate?
3 sources of data collection:
1) Occupants’ real personality: aggregate of occupants and close peers’ ratings on personality
measure (FFM)
2) Characteristics of room: team of coders assessing 43 environmental features (e.g. neatness,
number of books
3) Observer judgments: personality ratings based on examination of occupants’ environments
Cue validity: cues that are good predictors of a certain trait
• Conscientiousness: organized, uncluttered, homogeneous collections of books and CD’s
• Openness to experience: distinctive, stylish, unconventional
Cue utilization: cues that the observer uses, when good cues are used, trait inferences will be more
accurate
Findings:
- Observers displayed considerable levels of consensus
- Observer ratings have a fair degree of accuracy
Hardin (1968): the tragedy of the commons
- Population growth has to be controlled
- Overpopulation has no technical solution
- The morality of an act is a function of the state of the system at the time it is performed:
flowing water purifies itself every 10 miles
- Relying on conscience is self-eliminating
- Mutual coercion that is mutually agreed upon produces responsibility
- Freedom in commons is a tragedy to all
Private short term interests in decision making dominate decision making and behavior, if private
interests don’t match with environment interest, no behavioral change in favor of the environment
will happen -> social dilemma!
Overuse of commons has negative effects for everyone, has to be addressed early else land will be
unable to support activity
Potential payoff dilemma: A is better than B, but if everyone picks B then B is better than A. But
people don’t want to get screwed so they all pick A.
Van der Wal et al. (2018): Temporal myopia in sustainable behavior under uncertainty
Environmental psychology is an area which examines transactions between individuals and their built
and natural environment. Focus of course:
- Person in environment
- Reciprocal relationship between persons and environments
- Social origin and meaning of many man-environment interactions
- Opportunities to change for the better: greater well-being and improved environmental
quality by behavioral interventions.
Green vs grey schoolyards: greater kid well-being, less bullying, boys better concentration.
Trash cans out of park + eyes work, only one of them not really. Behavioral measures combined with
psychological measures have the biggest effect!
Paris Agreement: to limit global warming.
Mandatory readings:
HC 1:
Wohlwill (1970): the emerging discipline of environmental psychology
- Environmental psychology is a response to concerns about the quality of the environment.
- Environmental psychology is a problem oriented, applied, inclined to cooperate in
multidisciplinary projects.
- Environmental psychology has unique potential to ask new questions.
3 forms of personal physical environment relationship:
1) Environment guides and constrains behavior: barriers, compatibility, fit, environment is
instrumental.
2) Long term exposure to general conditions may exert generalized effects. Urban life as
function of crowding, working day rhythm as function of climate.
3) Behavior is oriented toward environment; environment is focal (different climate in Spain so
their working day rhythm is different.
Motivation by environment stimuli:
1) Affect evoked by stimulus characteristics (complexity, diversity, novelty, category).
2) Environment determines approach and avoidance reactions (moving, migrating, holiday
destinations)
3) Adaptation (man is at once a seeker and neutralizer of stimulation).
Worth to mention:
- Individual differences (e.g. sensation seeking etc.), attitude formation and change regarding
environmental problems, problems that seem environmental but are primarily social,
economic, educational (slums, ghetto’s).
Goldberg (1969): The automobile: a social institution for adolescents
- Designers like to think about the relation between physical form and social behavior.
- These insights are based on intuitions rather than on science.
, - This is usually wrong cause intuition hardly works and the scientific approach is shallow
Adolescents have nowhere to go and they like cars, so they go on cruises.
Social interactions and adolescence:
- Characterized by: 1) peer group influences, 2) sexual activity, 3) rivalry.
- Cars are suitable for competition and have sexual symbolism
Finding: cruising is a self-sustained activity, no need for other facilities. Al activities take place
near car. Cruisers maximize visibility. Men women differences.
Kaplan (1995): Restorative benefits of nature.
Attention restoration theory:
- Directed attention
- Consequences of fatigue
- Restoration
~ Directed attention requires capacity for inhibition of distraction (inhibitory mechanisms).
~ When efforts to sustain directed attention are prolonged the inhibitory mechanism becomes
exhausted.
Results in: poor concentration, easily irritated, inclined to make errors, unwilling to help others.
A need for restoration!
This requires:
- Being away, disconnected from daily activities.
- Fascination: something that really interests you!
- Compatibility: match between what you like to do and the environment provides
- Extend: needs to have an impression of continuity -> it needs to be substantial and not just a
‘small’ environment
General finding -> nature is more restorative than urban environments, more restorative.
Gosling et al. (2002): A room with a cue: personality judgements based on offices and bedrooms.
- You can get a big cue of someone based on their room, framework: Brunswik’s lens model.
Cues (for example):
1) Organized desk
2) Good lighting
3) Cheerful décor
4) Many books
Cue validity and cue utilization important!
Cue types, how to individuals impact their
environments:
- Self-directed identity claims: e.g.
holiday souvenir
, - Other directed identity claims: e.g. professional certificate
- Interior behavioral residue: e.g. piles of papers
- Exterior behavioral residue: e.g. hiking gear
RQ’s:
- Do observers agree on personality ratings based on occupants’ personal environments?
- Which environmental cues are being used, and which are valid?
- Are observer ratings accurate?
3 sources of data collection:
1) Occupants’ real personality: aggregate of occupants and close peers’ ratings on personality
measure (FFM)
2) Characteristics of room: team of coders assessing 43 environmental features (e.g. neatness,
number of books
3) Observer judgments: personality ratings based on examination of occupants’ environments
Cue validity: cues that are good predictors of a certain trait
• Conscientiousness: organized, uncluttered, homogeneous collections of books and CD’s
• Openness to experience: distinctive, stylish, unconventional
Cue utilization: cues that the observer uses, when good cues are used, trait inferences will be more
accurate
Findings:
- Observers displayed considerable levels of consensus
- Observer ratings have a fair degree of accuracy
Hardin (1968): the tragedy of the commons
- Population growth has to be controlled
- Overpopulation has no technical solution
- The morality of an act is a function of the state of the system at the time it is performed:
flowing water purifies itself every 10 miles
- Relying on conscience is self-eliminating
- Mutual coercion that is mutually agreed upon produces responsibility
- Freedom in commons is a tragedy to all
Private short term interests in decision making dominate decision making and behavior, if private
interests don’t match with environment interest, no behavioral change in favor of the environment
will happen -> social dilemma!
Overuse of commons has negative effects for everyone, has to be addressed early else land will be
unable to support activity
Potential payoff dilemma: A is better than B, but if everyone picks B then B is better than A. But
people don’t want to get screwed so they all pick A.
Van der Wal et al. (2018): Temporal myopia in sustainable behavior under uncertainty
