Descrizione del progetto
Variazioni del comportamento pro-ambientale nelle diverse culture
Il comportamento individuale è determinante per una risposta efficace ai cambiamenti climatici. Ma il comportamento umano è generalmente abitudinario, legato a contesti stabili e resistente al cambiamento. I cosiddetti «momenti di cambiamento» sono espressioni individuali che avvengono quando una singola situazione si modifica in un lasso di tempo breve per effetto di variazioni biografiche ed esogene. Le relazioni tra i momenti di cambiamento e l’impatto ambientale è complesso e dipende da fattori personali, culturali e comportamentali. Il progetto MOCHA, finanziato dall’UE, esaminerà e seguirà i momenti di modifica del comportamento in favore dell’ambiente nelle diverse culture e nei percorsi di vita, e analizzerà l’impatto esercitato da azioni comportamentali volte a realizzare momenti di cambiamento. Il progetto condurrà un’ambiziosa ricerca interculturale per mezzo di analisi di megadati, indagini longitudinali qualitative e interviste ripetute.
Obiettivo
Responding to climate change requires profound changes to individual behaviour. However, much of our behaviour is habitual, which is resistant to change. Habits are cued by stable contexts (i.e. same time, place and/or social group), so when these change, habits are disrupted, providing an opportunity to intervene to foster pro-environmental behaviour. ‘Moments of change’ are when individual life circumstances shift within a short time frame, and include biographical and exogenous changes (e.g. becoming a parent, travel disruption). The relationship between moments of change and environmental impact is complex, with heterogeneity between individuals, cultures and behaviours. The aim of this proposal is to examine how ambitious lifestyle change might be achieved through understanding and harnessing ‘moments of change’ in life circumstances. This project integrates insights from several fields (developmental and environmental psychology, sociology, science & technology studies) to bring a much-needed focus on the temporal and socio-technical dimensions of pro-environmental behaviour (change). There are two objectives for the research: (a) To explore and track moments of pro-environmental behaviour change across cultures and life-course; and (b) To examine the efficacy of behavioural interventions targeted to moments of change. Three work packages address these objectives through an ambitious programme of cross-cultural research using secondary and big data analyses, longitudinal qualitative interviews and panel surveys to explore moments of change, and experimental studies to test behaviour change interventions targeted at moments of change (e.g. starting university, retiring, relocating). This project promises a step-change in understanding the dynamics of pro-environmental change across the life course and cultures, and the development of robust habit-disrupting interventions to foster lifestyle change.
Campo scientifico
Programma(i)
Argomento(i)
Meccanismo di finanziamento
ERC-COG - Consolidator GrantIstituzione ospitante
BA2 7AY Bath
Regno Unito