Selected Publications

Updated: December 14, 2007

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Abstract: Humans not only structure the landscape through their activities, but their perceptions of nature are affected by the spatial and
temporal arrangements (structure) in the landscape. Our understanding of these interactions, however, is limited. We explored
the relationship between landscape structure and peoples’ perceptions of nature in the Chicago, IL, USA, suburbs of Riverside
and Berwyn because they offer contrasting paradigms of an urban landscape. Designed in the 1800s by Frederick Law Olmsted,
Riverside has several unique design elements (curvilinear streets, ample setbacks, parkways of variable width with mowed grass
and naturalistic groupings of trees) that define the structure and composition of this landscape. The urban forestwas the keystone of
Olmsted’s desire to create a harmonious community characterized by “refined sylvan beauty”. In contrast, the adjacent community
of Berwyn has right-angled streets with small lots and narrow setbacks for houses. Differences in landscape structure between the
two communities produced differences in the diversity, size, and composition of woody vegetation. As measured by patch-size
distribution, Riverside had greater diversity in landscape structure than Berwyn, and in turn, Riverside had greater diversity
in the composition and size of the woody vegetation compared to Berwyn. Riverside tended toward a “natural” appearance
with vegetation, while yards in Berwyn tended to be trimmed and edged. Significant differences between the mean ratings of
Riverside and Berwyn respondents were found for six of seven community attribute categories. Riverside participants reported
receiving greater benefit from the visual and nature-related features of the urban forest than did Berwyn respondents. Berwyn
residents ranked social atmosphere for the community and locomotion (wayfinding) highest among the seven community attribute
categories. Despite differences between the two communities, residents valued the green residential environment provided by
vegetation. However, the more diverse urban landscape as measured by built structures, woody vegetation, and lot size and shape
proved to be more satisfying to the residents of these two communities. The design concepts developed and implemented by
Olmsted more than century ago in Riverside are still relevant to city planners striving to develop living environments that are
satisfying to urban and suburban residents.

Abstract: Conservation psychology must concern itself with practitioner and researcher needs but it is important that we also meet the needs of everyday people, their desire to be listened to, to be respected, to make a difference. Within conservation psychologywe must insure that people are not treated merely as the target of interventions nor as merely the subject in experiments. They are in fact participants, with us, in crafting the future. What conservation psychology is adding to their many pursuits is the constraint of sustainability.

Abstract: Private landowners manage many rare species’ habitats, yet research on their responses to species conservation legislation is scarce. To address this need, we examined private landowners' responses to the listing of the Preble's meadow jumping mouse (Zapus hudsonius preblei) as threatened under the U.S. Endangered Species Act (ESA). We mailed a questionnaire designed to measure these responses to a sample of landowners. The adjusted response rate was 46% (n = 379). The questionnaire asked landowners whether they had managed their land to improve the Preble's habitat and to minimize the chance of the Preble's living on it. We also asked whether landowners had or would allow a survey for the Preble's on their property. We hypothesized that landowners would respond to these questions based on their aesthetic preferences, economic concerns, information sources, parcel size, personal values, recreation activities, residence status, social influences, and others. So far, listing the Preble's under the ESA does not appear to have enhanced its survival prospects on private land. In terms of hectares owned, for example, the efforts of landowners who reported that they had sought to help the Preble's (25%) were canceled out by the efforts of those who sought to harm it (26%). Moreover, the majority of respondents had not or would not allow a biological survey (56%), thus preventing the collection of data for conserving the species. All eight hypothesized determinants significantly predicted responses to the listing when considered individually. When considered simultaneously, however, only one economic consideration (dependence on agriculture), recreation activity (consumptive), and social factor (distrusting government), and select information sources (conservation and social) and personal values (valuing nature, valuing local control, and denying landowner responsibility) remained direct determinants. To promote rare species conservation by private landowners, we recommend communicating information through social networks, alleviating landowners’ economic concerns, increasing use of collaborative processes, and institutionalizing assurances that landowners will not be harmed by managing their land to help rare species.

Abstract: Click here.

Abstract:In the agricultural Midwest, riparian corridors are vital for protecting biodiversity and water quality. The cumulative management decisions of hundreds of private landowners can have a tremendous impact on this riparian zone. This study of 268 farmers in a “typical” Midwestern watershed looked at farmer’s motivations for adopting conservation practices, their current management practices along their rivers and drains, as well as their future management plans. The results of the study showed that farmers are intrinsically motivated to practice conservation by such factors as their attachment to their land, rather than by extrinsic motivations, such as receiving economic compensation. Farmers are also likely to engage in conservation practices that make their farm appear well-managed. Furthermore, those farmers with strong intrinsic motivations were likely to adopt conservation practices that protect streams, such as maintaining a woody vegetative buffer or practicing no-till farming. This study shows that protecting riparian resources in agricultural watersheds requires strategies for conservation that respect farmers’ attachment to their land and their desire to practice good stewardship.

Erickson, D., Ryan, R. and R. De Young (2002) Woodlots in the rural landscape: Landowner motivations and management attitudes in a Michigan case study. Landscape and Urban Planning. 58: 101-112.

Abstract: Woodlots provide important environmental benefits in the Midwestern (USA) landscape, where they are undergoing rapid change. An increasingly diverse farm and non-farm population owns these non-industrial private forests (NIPFs). It is essential to understand what motivates NIPF landowners to retain and manage their forests. We describe a study of NIPF owners in an agricultural watershed where forest cover is increasing. What motivations and management practices might be contributing to this increase? The results of a survey of 112 NIPF owners suggest that aesthetic appreciation is the strongest motivator for retaining woodlots, especially by non-farmers. Protecting the environment also seems to be important for both farmers and non-farmers, while economic motivations are significantly less important. Landowners indicated that they are primarily taking a ‘‘hands-off’’ approach to management. This study provides insights for those interested in understanding NIPF landowners’ motivations and for developing effective programs.

De Young, R. (2000) Expanding and evaluating motives for environmentally responsible behavior. In Zelezny, L. and P. W. Schultz [Eds.] Promoting Environmentalism. Journal of Social Issues. 56:509-526.

Abstract: This paper contends that while striving to promote environmentally responsible behavior we have focused our attention too narrowly on just two classes of motives. There is a need to expand the range of motives available to practitioners and to provide a framework within which candidate motives can be evaluated for both their immediate and long-term effectiveness. The paper then examines a strategy for promoting environmentally responsible behavior that has significant potential. This strategy is based on a particular form of intrinsic motivation called intrinsic satisfaction. Nine studies are reviewed which have outlined the structure of intrinsic satisfaction. A key theme discussed is the human inclination for competence. This fundamental human concern is shown to have both a general form and a resource specific version.

De Young, R. (1999) Tragedy of the commons. In D. E. Alexander and R. W. Fairbridge [Eds.] Encyclopedia of Environmental Science. Hingham, MA: Kluwer Academic Publishers.

Full entry: Ecologist Garrett Hardin's "tragedy of the commons" (Hardin, 1968) has proven a useful concept for understanding how we have come to be at the brink of numerous environmental catastrophes. People face a dangerous situation created not by malicious outside forces but by the apparently appropriate and innocent behaviors of many individuals acting alone.

Hardin’s parable involves a pasture "open to all." He asks us to imagine the grazing of animals on a common ground. Individuals are motivated to add to their flocks to increase personal wealth. Yet, every animal added to the total degrades the commons a small amount. Although the degradation for each additional animal is small relative to the gain in wealth for the owner, if all owners follow this pattern the commons will ultimately be destroyed. And, being rational actors, each owner ads to their flock:

Therein is the tragedy. Each man is locked into a system that compels him to increase his herd without limit - in a world that is limited. Ruin is the destination toward which all men rush, each pursuing his own interest in a society that believes in the freedom of the commons. (Hardin, 1968)

Despite its reception as revolutionary, Hardin’s tragedy was not a new concept: its intellectual roots trace back to Aristotle who noted that "what is common to the greatest number has the least care bestowed upon it" (see Ostrom 1990) as well as to Hobbes and his leviathan (see Feeny et al., 1990). More recently William Forster Lloyd identified in 1833 the problems resulting from property owned in common (1977). Yet if all that was at stake here was grazing land in the 1800's this would be an issue for historians alone. Hardin immediately recognized that this concept applies in its broader sense to a great many modern environmental problems (e.g., overgrazing on federal lands, acid precipitation, ocean dumping, atmospheric carbon dioxide discharges, firewood crises in less developed countries, overfishing). Simply stated, we face a serious dilemma - an instance where individual rational behavior (i.e., acting without restraint to maximize personal short-term gain) can cause long-range harm to the environment, others and ultimately oneself.

IS THE TRAGEDY INEVITABLE?

With a clear definition of a CPR tragedy, researchers have focused on explaining the conditions under which it is most likely to arise. It is noteworthy that not all resource management situations lead to a tragedy. Certain fundamental conditions must exist before a tragedy can emerge. The first condition involves the nature of the resource itself. One must distinguish between a public good and a commons, or what has come to be called a common-pool resource (CPR). Public goods have the attribute of being nonconsumptive. One's use of a public crop forecast does not reduce the availability of that forecast to others. In fact, users of a public good care little about who else uses it. Likewise all users benefit from the maintenance of a public resource (e.g., weather forecasting computer, bridge) whether or not they help pay for the maintenance. Ostrom (1990) has contrasted these attributes of public goods to those of a CPR where the resource is subtractable (one's consumption deprives others of use) and able to be overused. Furthermore, the individuals who contribute to the maintenance of a CPR care enormously about who else is using it and how much they are consuming even if these others help maintain the resource.

Yet, not all use of subtractable resources will inevitably lead to catastrophe. The second fundamental condition focuses on access to the resource. A tragedy is more likely to emerge in a situation where restraining access to the resource is costly, impractical or impossible (Feeny et al., 1990). Hardin’s predictions for the inevitable over-exploitation of a commons were based solely on consideration of open access situations. And in fact case studies document that tragedies do occur when an open-access system supplants a pre-existing successful CPR management system. Thus while a tragedy is not inevitable it is a more likely outcome if one is dealing with a CPR that is subtractable, able to be overused, and experiencing unrestrained, open access.

AVERTING THE TRAGEDY

Unfortunately, knowing the conditions that lead to a tragedy does not insure one can easily avoid it. Clearly, the nature of a resource is fixed. While one can limit withdrawal of resource units to a sustainable rate for renewables and a repairable rate for those that physically deteriorate, a subtractable resource cannot be made nonsubtractable. Furthermore, managing access involves the complex task of excluding others from using the resource. Thus averting a tragedy involves restraining both consumption and access.

Restraint by coercion through outside agents

It was argued by Hardin and others that the most straightforward way to achieve restraint is through coercion, generally administered by outside agents. In its most extreme formulation this prescription involves the centralized authoritarian control of a resource (e.g., direct management by a government agency). Another approach involves privatization of the commons which, while less severe, also involves external actors and the force of law to defend the rights of the private enterprises to manage the commons as they see fit. Following this prescription, governments have intervened to impose centralization or privatization on specific CPRs. Unfortunately, neither of these approaches is certain to prevent a tragedy. Privatization does not insure sustainability. There will always remains the temptation to exhaustively harvest a resource and bank the money obtained, particularly if the money grows faster than the resource. Furthermore, it is argued that centralized solutions that employ powerful coercion fail to reckon with the general human phenomenon of reactance against compulsion (De Young and Kaplan, 1988). Forced involvement in compulsory systems without consent motivates people to want the forbidden and creatively resist the demanded. Another concern is the ability of centralized, authoritarian approaches to commit a large percentage of available resources to what is judged to be a vital project. While the urgency of certain CPR crises would seem to demand such a response, it entails considerable risk. There is the danger of making large scale resource allocation errors. In fact, the potential for grave errors may be a major risk of the authoritarian approach.

Self-organized management of CPRs

A considerable amount of interdisciplinary work has been produced examining CPR institutions (see Martin, 1992). The most exciting finding to arise is the capacity of the individuals involved in situations ripe for tragedy to have enough insight to coordinate their efforts and manage a CPR without external intervention. Ostrom (1990) documents examples of self-organizing and self-governing commons systems that have worked well and endured for centuries including grazing and forest institutions in Switzerland and Japan, and irrigation systems in Spain and the Philippines.

The conditions necessary for the development of durable, self-initiated and self-managed CPR institutions are being extracted from the analysis of CPR case studies. No single set of conditions seems essential. Instead, the mix of necessary conditions varies within limits according to the specific attributes of the biological, physical, psychological, political and economic contexts. Ostrom (1990, 1992) has brought clarity to the these findings by organizing the conditions conducive to the long-term survival of a CPR institution into eight themes (see Table 1).

TABLE 1. CONDITIONS EXHIBITED BY DURABLE CPR INSTITUTIONS.

1. Clearly defined boundaries: Individuals or households who have rights to withdraw resource units from the CPR must be clearly defined, as must the boundaries of the CPR itself.

2. Congruence between rules and local condition: Rules restricting time, place, technology, and/or quantity of resource units are related to local conditions. There should be a small set of simple rules related to the access and resource use patterns agreed upon by the appropriators, rules easy to learn, remember, use and transmit. *

3. Collective-choice arrangements: Most individuals affected by the operational rules can participate in modifying these operational rules. There is a need to remain adaptable, to be able to modify the rules with regard to membership, access to and use of the CPR and to remain responsive to rapid exogenous changes. *

4. Monitoring: Monitors, who actively audit CPR conditions and appropriator behaviors, are accountable to the appropriators or are the appropriators. The enforcement of the rules is shared by all appropriators sometimes assisted by "official" observers and enforcers. *

5. Graduated sanctions: Appropriators who violate operational rules are likely to be assessed graduated sanctions (depending on the seriousness and context of the offense) by other appropriators, by officials accountable to these appropriators, or by both.

6. Conflict-resolution mechanisms: Appropriators and their officials have rapid access to low-cost local arenas to resolve conflicts among appropriators or between appropriators and officials. There is also the need to adapt the rules to changing conditions and apply different rules to different problems and scales of problems. *

7. Minimal recognition of rights to organize: The rights of appropriators to devise their own institutions are not challenged by external governmental authorities. Appropriators must be able to legally sustain their ownership of the CPR. * Furthermore, their organization must be perceived as legitimate by the larger set of organizations in which it is nested. *

8. Nested enterprises: For CPRs that are part of a larger system, the appropriation, provision, monitoring, enforcement, conflict resolution, and governance activities are organized in multiple layers of nested enterprises.

Source: After Ostrom, 1990; * See Ostrom, 1992

One final issue involves finding ways to encourage the formation of self-organized CPR institutions. The costs of exploring and initializing CPR management options are high. Without a supportive procedure, crafting and exploring alternatives will prove too risky for small groups of individuals. One approach to creating CPR institutions is called "adaptive muddling" (De Young and Kaplan, 1988). This is a form of muddling through that emphasizes not small steps but small experiments. It offers a way of simultaneously exploring several possible solutions thus avoiding the sluggishness that plagues one-solution-at-a-time approaches. People are empowered to apply local or personal knowledge to a situation. Different people applying different knowledge to the same situation creates a variety of potential solutions. It is just such enhanced and diverse creativity that is needed. Furthermore, as conceived, adaptive muddling contains a stability component that not only reduces the costs of failure for individuals but also makes highly improbable any unchecked and disorienting change and the widespread implementation of untested solutions.

However one crafts workable CPR management institutions, the urgency of the task is clear. For while the tragedy of the commons is not an inevitable outcome, it is a conceivable risk whenever resources are being consumed.

References:

De Young, R., and Kaplan, S., 1988, On averting the tragedy of the commons, Environmental Management. v. 12, 273-283.

Feeny, D. et al., 1990, The tragedy of the commons -- 22 years later, Human Ecology. v. 18, 1-19.

Hardin, G., 1968, The tragedy of the commons, Science. v. 162, 1243-48.

Lloyd, W. F., 1977, On the checks to population, In G. Hardin and J. Baden [Eds.] Managing the Commons. San Francisco: Freeman.

Martin, F., 1992, Common Pool Resources and Collective Action: A Bibliography. Volume 2., Workshop in Political Theory and Policy Analysis. Bloomington: Indiana University.

Ostrom, E., 1992, The rudiments of a theory of the origins, survival, and performance of common-property institutions, In D. W. Bromley [Ed.] Making the Commons Work: Theory, Practice and Policy. San Francisco: ICS Press.

Ostrom, E., 1990, Governing the Commons: The Evolution of Institutions for Collective Action. New York: Cambridge University Press.

Full entry: Environmental psychology examines the interrelationship between environments and human behavior. The field defines the term environment very broadly including all that is natural on the planet as well as social settings, built environments, learning environments and informational environments. When solving problems involving human-environment interactions, whether global or local, one must have a model of human nature that predicts the environmental conditions under which humans will behave in a decent and creative manner. With such a model one can design, manage, protect and/or restore environments that enhance reasonable behavior, predict what the likely outcome will be when these conditions are not met, and diagnose problem situations. The field develops such a model of human nature while retaining a broad and inherently multidisciplinary focus. It explores such dissimilar issues as common property resource management, wayfinding in complex settings, the effect of environmental stress on human performance, the characteristics of restorative environments, human information processing, and the promotion of durable conservation behavior. The field of environmental psychology recognizes the need to be problem-oriented, using, as needed, the theories and methods of related disciplines (e.g., psychology, sociology, anthropology, biology, ecology). The field founded the Environmental Design Research Association (EDRA), publishes in numerous journals including Environment and Behavior and the Journal of Environmental Psychology, and was reviewed several times in the Annual Review of Psychology. A handbook of the field was published in 1987 (Stokols and Altman 1987).

There are several recurrent elements in the research literature that help to define this relatively new field (see Garling and Golledge 1993, Kaplan and Kaplan 1982):

Attention – Understanding human behavior starts with understanding how people notice the environment. This includes at least two kinds of stimuli: those that involuntarily, even distractingly, command human notice, as well as those places, things or ideas to which humans must voluntarily, and with some effort (and resulting fatigue), direct their awareness. Restoring and enhancing people’s capacity to voluntarily direct their attention is a major factor in maintaining human effectiveness.

Perception and cognitive maps – How people image the natural and built environment has been an interest of this field from its beginning. Information is stored in the brain as spatial networks called cognitive maps. These structures link one’s recall of experiences with perception of present events, ideas and emotions. It is through these neural networks that humans know and think about the environment, plan and carry out their plans. Interestingly, what humans know about an environment is both more than external reality in that they perceive with prior knowledge and expectations, and less than external reality in that they record only a portion of the entire visual frame yet recall it as complete and continuous.

Preferred environments – People tend to seek out places where they feel competent and confident, places where they can make sense of the environment while also being engaged with it. Research has expanded the notion of preference to include coherence (a sense that things in the environment hang together) and legibility (the inference that one can explore an environment without becoming lost) as contributors to environmental comprehension. Being involved and wanting to explore an environment requires that it have complexity (containing enough variety to make it worth learning about) and mystery (the prospect of gaining more information about an environment). Preserving, restoring and creating a preferred environment is thought to increase sense of well being and behavioral effectiveness in humans.

Environmental stress and coping – Along with the common environmental stressors (e.g., noise, climatic extremes) some define stress as the failure of preference, including in the definition such cognitive stressors as prolonged uncertainty, lack of predictability and stimulus overload. Research has identified numerous behavioral and cognitive outcomes including physical illness, diminished altruism, helplessness and attentional fatigue. Coping with stress involves a number of options. Humans can change their physical or social settings to create more supportive environments (e.g., smaller scaled settings, territories) where they can manage the flow of information or stress inducing stimuli. People can also endure the stressful period, incurring mental costs that they deal with later, in restorative settings (e.g., natural areas, privacy, solitude). They can also seek to interpret or make sense of a situation as a way to defuse its stressful effects, often sharing these interpretations as a part of their culture.

Participation – The field is committed to enhancing citizen involvement in environmental design, management and restoration efforts. It is concerned not only with promoting citizen comprehension of environmental issues but with insuring their early and genuine participation in the design, modification and management of environments.

Conservation behavior – The field has also played a major role in bringing psychological knowledge to bear upon the issue of developing an ecologically sustainable society. It explores environmental attitudes, perceptions and values as well as devise intervention techniques for promoting environmentally appropriate behavior.

References:

Garling, T. and R. Golledge [Eds.] (1993). Behavior and Environment: Psychological and Geographical Approaches. Amsterdam: North Holland.

Kaplan, S. and R. Kaplan (1982). Cognition and Environment. NY: Praeger.

Stokols, D. and I. Altman [Eds.] (1987). Handbook of Environmental Psychology. New York: Wiley.

Abstract: This paper examines similarities and differences between organic and conventional farmers. We explore the factors that underlie farmers' conservation attitudes and behaviors, including demographic and farm characteristics, awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture, economic orientation toward farming, and self-reported conservation practices. A series of intensive personal interviews was conducted with 25 farmers in Washtenaw County, Michigan, USA, using both qualitative and quantitative survey methods. The findings indicate that both groups of farmers share a concern for the economic risks associated with farming, although the organic farmers reported a significantly greater concern for long-term sustainability and a greater willingness to incur present risk to gain future benefits. Organic farmers expressed a greater awareness of and concern for environmental problems associated with agriculture. Organic farmers also scored significantly higher on a multifaceted measure of conservation practices, although both groups had a fairly high adoption rate. Implications of these findings are discussed, relative to economic risks of farming, implications for new farmers, effectiveness of conservation education and government programs, and impact of farm size and crop diversity.

Introduction: This paper compiles the results of ten studies (four previously unpublished) emerging from a decade of analytic research on the role of intrinsic motivation in conservation behavior. This research has described the structure of a particular form of this motivation called intrinsic satisfaction. Two highly stable categories of intrinsic satisfaction, named frugality and participation, have repeatedly emerged and demonstrated significant associations with conservation behavior. The strength of these findings is demonstrated by the varied nature of the studies: data were collected using different survey instruments, in different countries, focusing on different conservation behaviors. But most fascinating was the emergence of a third category of intrinsic satisfaction, competence motivation. This form of motivation, argued to be fundamental to successful human functioning, was examined in detail. It was found that competence can be disaggregated into several components that can be combined in various ways to promote conservation behavior. While much of the paper presents a theoretical argument, there are equally important practical findings. The paper reports on the successful manipulation of intrinsic satisfaction using a simple low-cost educational intervention and concludes by suggesting specific ways to use this form of motivation to promote reduced consumption behavior.

Abstract: Efforts to promote environmentally appropriate behavior rely on motivation originating from three sources: other people, the environment, and one’s self. This paper examines a particular form of the latter source, intrinsic satisfactions. Nine studies are presented that investigate the multi-dimensional structure of intrinsic satisfactions and their relationship to reduced consumption behavior. Two categories of intrinsic satisfaction, labeled frugality and participation, are particularly well suited to encouraging such behavior. A third category, competence motivation, is explored in some detail and its dimensional structure is interpreted in terms of three dominant themes in the research literature. Connections between intrinsic satisfactions and such concepts as locus of control and altruism are explored and implications for practitioners are discussed.

Kearney, A. R. and R. De Young (1995-1996) Changing commuter travel behavior: Employer-initiated strategies. Journal of Environmental System. 24:373-393.

Abstract: Commuter travel has certain features that make it potentially more responsive to interventions than other types of travel. However, from the perspective of the employer attempting to implement a trip reduction program, it is often difficult to determine what type of intervention (or combination of interventions) would be most effective. This article reviews the literature on strategies for changing commuter behavior, with a focus on techniques that an employer might use (i.e., rather than a focus on physical or regulatory barriers to non-conserving behavior). Behavior change strategies are organized into three categories: informational approaches, positive motivational approaches, and coercive approaches. In general, research in commuter behavior change has focused on the application of external, tangible motivation (e.g., financial incentives or disincentives) to the exclusion of self-initiated, less tangible factors (e.g., commitment and self-monitoring techniques). The implications of this bias are discussed along with suggestions for future research.

Sullivan, S., E. McCann, R. De Young and D. Erickson (1996) Farmers’ conflicting attitudes about farming: Paradoxes in agriculture and culture. Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 9:123-143.

Abstract: Farmers have been characterized as people whose ties to the land have given them a deep awareness of natural cycles, appreciation for natural beauty and sense of responsibility as stewards. At the same time, their relationship to the land has been characterized as more utilitarian than that of others who are less directly dependent on its bounty. This paper explores this tension by comparing the attitudes and beliefs of a group of conventional farmers to those of a group of organic farmers. It was found that while both groups reject the idea that a farmer’s role is to conquer nature, organic farmers were significantly more supportive of the notion that humans should live in harmony with nature. Organic farmers also reported a greater awareness of and appreciation for nature in their relationship with the land. Both groups view independence as a main benefit of farming and a lack of financial reward as its main drawback. Overall, conventional farmers report more stress in their lives although they also view themselves in a caretaker role for the land more than do the organic farmers. In contrast, organic farmers report more satisfaction with their lives, a greater concern for living ethically, and a stronger perception of community. Finally, both groups are willing to have their rights limited (organic farmers somewhat more so) but they do not trust the government to do so.

Abstract: This paper discusses a form of information transfer referred to as story. It is suggested that stories serve as a singularly effective replacement for direct experience, a useful but sometimes difficult environmental education technique. The effectiveness of stories is argued to derive from their ability to engage the attention of the reader. The paper concludes with a list of elements that can be used to create cognitively engaging stories.

Abstract: The use of interesting text, particularly stories, has been shown to be an effective way of transferring information. This is due, in part, to the compatibility of narrative forms of information with human information processing biases. This study tested the impact of a story based intervention on employees knowledge and attitudes about, and stated willingness to adopt, carpooling. The story-based intervention was compared to a factsheet-based intervention and to a control. A total of 645 employees at five sites participated in the study. Results indicate that individuals who received information, whether in story or factual format, felt more comfortable with their carpool knowledge and felt that they had adequate knowledge to guide them in discussions and problem solving regarding carpooling. Furthermore, regardless of the type of intervention, the more interesting text was associated with greater perceived knowledge, greater confidence and comfort with knowledge, and increased willingness to try carpooling. The interventions had no significant impact on attitudes. Implications and suggestions for future research are offered.

Abstract: This study explores relationships among office recycling behavior and its antecedents. A survey instrument was administered to 1788 office workers in 32 different organizations in the Taipei Metropolitan Area of Taiwan. The instrument measured the household and office recycling behavior of individuals, their commitment to and motives for recycling, and the convenience of carrying out recycling in their office setting. Prior experience was shown to be an excellent predictor of office-based conservation behavior. However, its predictive power was behaviorally specific. To be effective, prior experience must be of the same specificity as the office behavior being predicted. Thus, prior experience with general household recycling was effective at predicting general office recycling behavior but was unable to predict more specific recycling behavior focused on a particular material. Likewise, prior experience with a particular material, in this instance paper, predicted office conservation behavior with respect to that material alone. Organizational and individual commitment were found to be modest predictors of office-based conservation behavior. While economic motivation was not found to be a particularly effective predictor of such behavior. Furthermore economic motivation was strongly but negatively linked to both an individual commitment to recycle and intrinsic satisfaction derived from frugal behavior. This suggests that economic motivation is neither a necessary nor especially useful means of promoting office-based recycling behavior. Implications for office-based recycling programs are discussed.

Abstract: This study explored the promotion of recycling in multi-family dwellings. An experimental design investigated four behavior change techniques: biweekly postcards giving specific feedback to each dwelling unit as to quantity and contamination of the recyclables, newsletters giving general information on recycling and the amount recycled by the city as a whole, written pledges committing households to recycle for a specified period, and volunteer coordinators who distributed information and answered questions from residents. The effectiveness of these techniques was compared against that of a control group. The findings suggest that volunteer coordinators are not an effective intervention technique in multi-family dwellings, and that feedback and commitment techniques are useful mainly for managing contamination in medium sized complexes. The data also suggest that the size of a multi-family dwelling complex significantly affects the amount of recyclables collected and the level of contamination. Smaller complexes with less than ten units recycled up to three times the amount on a per unit basis as complexes with more units. Smaller units also had fewer problems with contamination in their recyclables. Several explanations are offered for the poor participation and performance in larger complexes.

Introduction: This paper, a synthesis of research on conservation behavior, presents a framework for categorizing behavior change techniques. This framework categorizes techniques as being informational, positive motivational, and coercive motivational in nature. This paper emphasizing the role people have in the initiation of their own behavior change. The framework shows that most of the conservation behavior research over the last two decades has focused on a very narrow set of behavior change techniques and has too rarely considered the role individuals play in their own behavior change, and thus identifies specific research needs. The paper is also useful to practitioners by developing measures of the behavioral effectiveness of any proposed intervention. The usefulness of these measures is demonstrated by applying them to the common behavior change techniques of prompting, material incentives, social pressure and material disincentives, and commitment.

Abstract: A sustainable planet is not possible without patterns of conserving behavior. The resource-costly lifestyles that are characteristic of the current scene present an historic challenge. Never before have so many behaviors needed to change in so short a time. More challenging is that they must stay changed. For many reasons the techniques commonly used to promote conservation behavior are more reliable at modulating short-term behavior than at achieving durable change. The perceived urgency of environmental problems tends to make immediate behavior change the major focus. But of equal importance is the stability of behavior once changed. Thus, one goal of conservation behavior research is to discover techniques that change individual behavior while minimizing or eliminating the need for repeated intervention. This paper categorizes behavior change techniques first by their informational or motivational nature and second by the source of the change: derived from others or gained by direct personal involvement. Evaluating selected techniques using five proposed dimensions suggests why durable behavior change has been so hard to achieve. Research implications are discussed.

Abstract: In this study, past research in environmental education was reviewed to identify eight variables as strong predictors of conservation behavior change: action skills, knowledge of action strategies, knowledge of the issue, attitudes, locus of control, personal responsibility, sensitivity and social norms. Fourteen solid waste curricula from different states were reviewed using these eight variables as indicators of effectively promoting environmentally responsible behavior. The resulting scores demonstrate that solid waste curricula focus mainly on knowledge and include to a lesser extent attitude change and action strategies. Most of the solid waste curricula ignored action skills, locus of control, personal responsibility, sensitivity and social norms. Reasons for these omissions are suggested and recommendations are made to improve the contribution education can make toward mitigating the solid waste crisis and promoting waste reducing behaviors.

Abstract: In a study of the conservation behavior of 115 grocery shoppers in Chelsea, Michigan, an information and prompting strategy was used to test various rationales for adopting source reduction behavior. The experimental intervention consisted of mailing an educational pamphlet to participants. The experimental design included four treatment groups: a control and three others. These three other treatment groups each received a pamphlet giving environmental, economic, or a combination of environmental and economic rationales to source reduce. From data collected in pre- and post-intervention survey instruments, it was shown that both environmental and economic rationales for practicing source reduction led to significant increases in reported source reduction behavior. Additionally, the type of conservation behavior promoted (e.g., toxics use reduction) and the location in which it is practiced (i.e., at home, while shopping) were found to have an impact on the success of the interventions. Participants were more likely to adopt home-based source reduction of non-toxics over either store-based activities or activities involving toxics use reduction.

Abstract: This paper reports on the relationship between measures of farmers' conservation attitudes and motivations on the one hand, and their self-reported and observed management of windbreaks and woodlots on the other. The study was conducted on historic farms where tenureship is, on average, over four generations. A survey instrument assessed farmer's attitudes about farming, the benefits of using trees on farms, the aesthetics of the rural landscape, motivation and their self-reported conservation practices. An analysis of landscape patterns on respondents' farms was conducted by analysis of aerial photography. Findings suggest that a conventional, externally motivated approach to farming results in reduced utilization of farm woodlots and windbreaks. In contrast, an approach based upon aesthetic and intrinsic forces is predictive of increased use and maintenance of woodlots and windbreaks. It is suggested that the promotion of conservation practices on farms may benefit from subtle, non-economic interventions as well as from financial and regulatory approaches.

Abstract: It has been argued that an environmentally compatible lifestyle is a necessary if somewhat onerous component of a sustainable society. This perception might lead one to demand compensation for adopting such a lifestyle. An alternative perspective suggests such a lifestyle contains its own compensation. This study explores whether a conservation-oriented lifestyle may be intrinsically satisfying. Data from respondents to a mail-back questionnaire were explored using factor analysis and analysis of variance. Several categories of items emerged, focusing on ecology, technology, self-reliance and acceptance-of-wastefulness. The respondents most preferred an ecologically focused lifestyle. This paper also explores the relationships between these desired patterns and reported conservation behavior and intrinsic satisfactions.

Abstract: Public university buildings are fascinating if somewhat complicated behavior settings. Designed and managed for a broad range of users, these buildings present a challenge to those trying to promote energy conservation. This is even more so when the goal is not a technology-based approach but conservation through direct involvement. This paper discusses one type of participation, the use of energy monitors. Volunteer staff members were given responsibility for monitoring lighting energy usage in the public and shared spaces near their offices. They were encouraged to promote energy conservation by shutting off unneeded lights and by informally discussing their activities with other building users. This relatively simple and direct approach proved effective in reducing energy waste.

Introduction: This paper reflects a basic interest in applying psychological research to pressing environmental issues, here the recurrent problems of the tragedy of the commons. Tragedy of the commons is the name given to the failure of a group of individuals to sustainably manage a resource held in common. The solutions proposed have often involve using authoritarian or coercive measures. This paper argues that such solutions are unworkable given what is known about human behavior. In an effort to develop a solution that works with human nature, we developed a modified version of the "muddling through" concept first discussed by Lindblom in 1959. Traditional muddling involved small, incremental steps and rarely is able to make the, sometimes radical, changes needed to solve environmental problems. In contrast, the adaptive muddling concept focuses on small experiments in an effort to help people develop familiarity with possibly radical alternatives. While necessarily small in scale these experiments are not small in outcome. Adaptive muddling easily creates the sense of choice, adventure and mission that is vital to unleashing human creativity. But beyond having psychological advantages, adaptive muddling also has policy making and problem solving advantages. It allows for the relatively rapid, simultaneous exploration of many alternatives all supported by grass roots efforts. It is argued that adaptive muddling allows for a diversity of creative solutions to emerge.

Abstract: One of the enduring facts of the human condition is that the earth's resources are finite and its environment fragile. It is also evident that human behavior is rarely based on an appreciation of these facts. While the outlook may be bleak so are some of the proposed solutions. Reasonable people have suggested that to survive, an environmentally enlightened authoritarian government must be adopted. This paper suggests that such a solution is unworkable, in part because it fails to consider critical aspects of human nature. A framework is proposed for developing solutions compatible with human capabilities.

Abstract: This paper reports on a pilot study which explored how recyclers and non-recyclers differ. Two hundred households were first identified by direct observation over a series of months as being either recyclers or non-recyclers. These households were then contacted and ninety-one respondents agreed to answer a series of verbal questions and complete a short written questionnaire. While a preliminary study, these data are useful in suggesting that recyclers and non-recyclers are similar in their pro-recycling attitudes, extrinsic motivation and the degree to which they viewed recycling as a trivial activity. They differed significantly, however, in the degree to which they required additional information about recycling. Non-recycling respondents indicated a lack of information on how to carry out the activity. The study is also of interest due to the isolation of attitudinal and behavioral aspects of recycling. Since some form of relationship between these two constructs is so pervasive in the literature, the results are conceptually intriguing. Perhaps more important, however, are the practical implications for enabling non-recyclers to change their behavior independent of their attitudes.

Abstract: This article focuses on satisfactions derived from the recycling of household solid waste materials. Data from 107 respondents to a mail-back questionnaire were subjected to dimensional analysis and analysis of variance. The results indicate that people derive a series of separate and distinct satisfactions from both recycling and reusing materials. The satisfactions were quite specific involving, for example, frugality and participation. These findings suggest that our understanding of why people bother to conserve resources may be improved by investigating the personal satisfactions derived from conservation activities.

Abstract: Despite over a decade of intense research we know surprisingly little about what encourages people to adopt and maintain an ecologically compatible lifestyle. The purpose of this research was to understand the types of motives people have to conserve natural resources during their daily activities. Data from 263 respondents to a mail-back questionnaire were subjected to dimensional analysis and analysis of variance. Three sets of scales were examined in detail: behaviors, satisfactions and motivations. The results indicate that people have a variety of motives for conserving resources and derive a series of distinct satisfactions from both recycling and reusing materials. The findings support the notion of a strong relationship between intrinsic motivation and everyday conservation behavior. These findings suggest our understanding of why people conserve resources may be improved by investigating intrinsic motivation and the personal satisfactions derived from conservation activities.

Abstract: This paper deals with the concerns, the predicted rewards and the satisfactions that people who do conserve derive from their conserving behaviors. In order to investigate the factors that play a role in maintaining energy-conserving behavior, interviews were conducted which focused on the satisfactions that are derived from people's everyday pursuits. The thirty participants were individuals who were known to be concerned about energy conservation issues, and special emphasis was placed on those satisfactions associated with their daily energy conservation activities. Eleven distinct types of satisfactions were found in the data with only one being economic in nature. The range of satisfactions found suggests that many potentially fruitful avenues exist for encouraging the adoption of energy conservation practices among a much broader population.