Psychological interventions for socio-ecological transformation:

on the potentials, pitfalls, trials, and errors of three individual behaviors

In response to the increasing dynamics of ecological and socio-economic crises affecting the global community, environmental psychologists have started questioning their initial focus on individual consumption behavior and shifting toward collective action, including citizenship and activism. This shift is accompanied with a debate about the contribution of (environmental) psychology to the socio-ecological transformations needed to tackle the multiple crisis. In this light, I refer to three behavioral options for individuals: first, pro-environmental consumption behaviors and the ecological footprint paradigm; second, the approval of pro-environmental policies (EPA) as an instance of citizenship behavior; and third, advocacy and activist behaviors that can be subsumed under the ecological handprint. Being relatively new to psychological research and intervention, the ecological handprint refers to the potential of individuals to initiate collective action, thereby fostering socio-ecological change.

This colloquium starts with introducing the ecological footprint, ecological handprint, and EPA concepts and discussing their transformative potential. This is followed by an outline of recent developments in the consumption (footprint) area and evidence regarding the validity of EPA. However, the main focus of my talk will be on two types of intervention: (online) media communication and psychosocial interventions (i.e., group workshops) in the field. I present existing literature on interventions to promote ecological consumption and EPA and discuss the contribution of action-psychology constructs, including knowledge, cognitive and affective appraisal, norms, and efficacy beliefs, among others. Given that intervention research for the ecological handprint is still at its beginnings, I finally provide an outlook to upcoming projects in this specific field.