Wonder

Research Outline

Prepared for Joel K. | Delivered October 12, 2019

Conservation Psychology Principles

Goals

To understand how the human mind works in terms of conservation psychology and/or ecopsychology. Specifically, the focus is on how to make people see the truth about the current global environmental situation, to care about it, to believe that something can be done, and then most importantly, to act.

Early Findings

According to Richard Osbaldiston, by applying psychological principles it is possible to influence the behaviors of individuals regarding environmental issues.
He identified 10 (ten) interventions or treatments to promote conservation behaviors. Some interventions include changing circumstances to make a person's behavior more convenient, using reminders or prompts to draw attention towards the appropriate time and location for performing conservation behaviors, and providing justifications for these actions.
Other practices suggested by Osbaldiston include setting goals, providing instructions, providing feedback, and issuing rewards.
In an article published by the Alliance of Leading Environmental Researchers & Thinkers (ALERT), loss aversion is an effective tactic that can help inspire the public to support new nature reserves. 
ALERT also mentions nudging as a strategy that can trigger positive responses towards environmental causes. 
Nudging is still a developing art for nature-based causes, however, policymakers and researchers are beginning to explore it. ALERT believes that this practice "has great potential to encourage better decisions".
In addition to this public search, we scanned our proprietary research database of over 1 million sources and were unable to find any specific research reports that address your goals.