Abstract
The actions of individuals are recognised as crucial in reducing energy demand and shifting people towards sustainable energy sources. Much of the work that has occurred within environmental psychology has been built upon a social cognitive paradigm, which attempts to explain the drives, forces and processes that explain and determine individual behaviour. Despite the volume of this work, the promotion of pro-environmental behaviour has not achieved broad transformations in energy conservation behaviours. Recently, researchers working in the field of pro-environmental research have started to draw on narrative in their work as a framework to (re)integrate individuals into their historical, social and cultural settings. However, this work, when applied to energy conservation, remains in its infancy. This paper adds to the growing literature that is increasingly asserting the key role for narrative in the field of pro-environmental psychology research. The paper articulates the foundations of the narrative turn from its development within literary theory to its adoption by the social sciences, with particular reference to psychological theory. This paper provides a review of the ways in which taking a narrative perspective can offer rich insights into complex phenomena, as well as potential ways to reconceptualise ways forward for energy research.
Highlights
IntroductionMany of the models and theories within pro-environmental psychology developed predominantly within the United States at a time when there was a huge increase in the number of studies embedded within social psychology, which was, at the time, dominated by social cognition
The need to curtail carbon-intensive behaviours in order to reduce greenhouse gas emissions and address the complex challenges posed by climate change is well established at international, national and, increasingly, local levels
The essay has argued that owing to the complexity associated with climate change, energy use and sustainability, the use of a normative social cognitive paradigm starts from a position that removes people from their social and cultural context
Summary
Many of the models and theories within pro-environmental psychology developed predominantly within the United States at a time when there was a huge increase in the number of studies embedded within social psychology, which was, at the time, dominated by social cognition Such an approach channels Cartesian thinking, which dominates Western models of psychology and seeks to measure, record and explain [see 11], treating the person as a processor of information. This essay reviews the development of narrative approaches within psychology and applies this to the growing literature base that recognises the key role narrative can play in supporting pro-environmental research and, in understanding the behaviour of people. The essay is focused on delineating the limitations of the empiricist approach to social cognition, which underpins much of pro-environmental psychological theory, and advocating the benefits approaches grounded in narrative can have for understanding complex reasoning and behaviours
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