Changing Social Norms: Behaviour Change for Climate

Event summary by Emily Passmore

Tackling the climate emergency will require large-scale change, on an institutional and individual level. Changing individual mindsets and social norms is therefore a huge part of the path towards a greener future – but how can this be achieved? Both Elke Weber and Kevin Green have done extensive work on this issue, and OCS was delighted to host a discussion bringing them together to discuss their insights.

Professor Elke Weber is a Professor of Psychology and Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor of Energy and the Environment at Princeton University. Her work focuses on climate behavioural psychology, studying our responses to uncertainty and motivation to act when the consequences of those actions are far in the future.

Kevin Green is Vice-President of the Centre for Behaviour and the Environment at Rare, an organisation applying behavioural psychology to real world issues. Their projects have ranged from working with farming communities on sustainable agricultural practices, to helping communities restore coastal fisheries.

Social norms and individual behaviour
Professor Weber began by introducing the homo sapien decision-making process: while rational decisions are possible, experience is the main factor. Therefore, social norms, habits, and the actions of others have a huge impact on climate behaviour.  

This manifests through a status quo bias. Usually, preserving business as usual protects us from risk; however, for the climate crisis and Covid-19, business as usual is the riskiest response. This risk can be used to scare people into action; the combination of the dreaded and the unknown determines how scared we are of a risky issue.

However, there is a finite pool of worry – scaring people about one thing diminishes their worries about something else. Worries about Covid-19 have crowded out worries about climate change, whilst crowding in worries about the economy, given the potential economic impact of the pandemic.

Changing social norms can also get people to act. We can either strengthen desirable norms or weaken undesirable norms to change public support for a given policy. Covid-19 shows that dread can quickly get people to change their behaviour in drastic ways. The consequences of not acting make the costs of action, for example the economic impacts, a secondary concern. It also illustrates the importance of early action when the consequences of action are delayed – therefore, expert intervention is needed to make sure the current crisis does not completely overshadow climate change. However, on the bright side, the pandemic could engender greater trust in science-driven policy and government intervention.

Translating into action
Mr Green began by refuting the argument that climate change cannot be solved through small actions; a small change in behaviour taken up by many people can have a large cumulative impact. However, this change must be well-designed to capitalise on people’s limited attention and prevent spill-overs where other bad actions can be justified.

One way to do this is by making fighting climate change feel like a problem we can solve – always focusing on the big picture makes it feel distant and untouchable. We should also account for confirmation bias by meeting people where they are, rather than trying to actively change their minds; adopting greener behaviour is not a politically polarised issue, unlike climate change itself.

Empirical research can also allow us to design effective behavioural changes. Firstly, we should encourage people to anticipate their future pride in their actions, not their shame about inaction. We should also point out the future trajectory of green action where possible. Furthermore, people will be more likely to follow the herd than act alone.

Audience questions
Will the Covid-19 response make it easier to change the status quo in the future?

• We’re more open to change in moments of transition – only 9% of people want to return to normal when the pandemic is over. This is a chance for big lifestyle changes, and individual responses will matter in solving the larger collective action problem.
• However, good political leadership is also needed to capitalise on the opportunity.

What is the role of political leadership in encouraging behavioural change?

• The government can set and enforce rules, but to limited effect. Shifting norms is a more effective strategy, but harder to achieve, and dependent on leaders.
• The effectiveness of policies and shifting norms depends on the length of the election cycle, as actions need to be sustained over time.
• There is no one solution to climate change, and actions should build on each other. Enforced policies can level the playing field and help signal intention.
• Governments should intervene when externalities are present – for example, smoking bans are justified due to the effects of second-hand smoke.

What is the role of economic incentives to change behaviour?

• Economic incentives can make relationships transactional: fines for late pick-ups from day-care have been shown to increase late pick-ups.
• Social influence can be more powerful: the biggest predictor of whether a household has solar panels is whether the houses around them have solar panels.
• Economic incentives can crowd out cheaper, more effective incentives.

 
How can we make people care about those most affected by climate change when they are the furthest away, in both time and space?

• Encouraging pride in the past can engender care for the future.
• Stories are more important than statistics. We all share dreams and ambitions, and it is harder to ignore an identifiable victim.
• This might not matter – we will all be affected soon.

 
What are the best metrics to communicate the effects of climate changes?

• The most effective metrics make sense in our personal environment, for example the impacts on growing patterns.
• Relative comparisons can be useful in providing motivation to change by encouraging the gamification of green behaviour.
• Focusing on co-benefits can also help: green behaviour is often cheaper in the long run.

 
What is the link between health and green behaviour?

• There is a strong positive correlation, due to better food production and reduced air pollution for example.
• Covid-19 has illustrated that there are few hard boundaries, so behaviours have a global impact.

 
What are the key tipping points for behavioural change?

• It’s hard to tell. The impact of actions can multiply when those actions are observed, creating a contagion effect.
• Systematic change also comes into play, by getting us stuck in a new state of affairs.
• A shift in willingness is first needed, to remove the barriers between us and a new equilibrium.