Entry requirements
Only open to Master’s students Psychology and students from Environmental Sciences (Leiden University), Architecture and Industrial Design Engineering (Delft University of Technology).
Description
Many of the pressing issues that confront society involve social behaviour in relation to the environment. This is the domain of Environmental Psychology: the study of the ways in which people influence the environment and are, in turn, influenced by the environment, often without being aware of its profound impact.
Each meeting will be devoted to a specific issue within environmental psychology. For example:
City Life. The world’s population is increasingly living in cities, and ever larger cities. This makes it really important to look at the psychological characteristics of city life. We will discuss the way people evaluate the presence of large crowds, and situations of high density, how they react to these situations and how environmental alterations may improve well-being.
Nature: We will not only look at the built environment and the technology that surrounds 21th-century man, but also at nature. People generally like nature, but why, and to what extent? What effects can be expected from exposure to natural environments?
Community Concerns: Housing and neighborhood characteristics may strongly influence well-being and health. What are the relevant environmental characteristics, physical and social, and how do these interact?
Pro-Environmental Behaviour. Environmental problems are, ultimately, problems of human behaviour. Individual behaviour with environmental consequences will be analyzed from a social-psychological perspective. Specific attention will be given to the difference between individual and collective interests (social dilemmas), which plays a role in a range of environmental issues, ranging from the number of parking places in a neighbourhood to the greenhouse effect. What psychological mechanisms drive environmentally relevant behaviour and how can interventions be designed to change behaviour in a pro-environmental sense?
The Greening of Corporations: organizations have a major impact on environmental quality. Sustainability has become a familiar concept for organizations as environmental decision making and environmental policy are now regular aspects of organizational policy. A green corporate image is something that organizations now strive for and cherish. Psychological processes at an organizational level are different from those at the individual or household level. What do we know about these processes, and how can they be influenced?
For each meeting students will read a set of papers in advance, to be discussed during the session.
Course objectives
Upon completion of the course, students will:
obtain specialized knowledge of psychological theories relevant for behaviour in social-environmental settings; and
be able, at basic level, to use findings and insights in environmental, social or organizational psychology to analyze problematic environmental behaviour and develop strategies for change.
Timetable
For the timetables of your lectures, work groups and exams, please select your study programme in:
Psychology timetables
Registration
Course
Students need to enroll for lectures and work group sessions.
Master’s course registration
Exchange/Study abroad
For admission requirements contact your exchange coordinator
Examination
Students are not automatically enrolled for an examination. They can register via uSis from 100 to 10 calendar days before the date. Students who are not registered will not be permitted to take the examination.
Registering for exams
Mode of instruction
7 2-hour lectures, including presentations of research and policy issues by guest lecturers
Assessment method
Final written exam with open-ended questions.
The Faculty of Social and Behavioural Sciences has instituted that instructors use a software programme for the systematic detection of plagiarism in students’ written work. In case of fraud disciplinary actions will be taken. Please see the information concerning fraud.
Reading list
Literature will be made available via Blackboard. Exemplary literature includes:
Lederbogen, F. et al. (2011). City living and urban upbringing affect neural social stress processing in humans. Nature, 474, 498-501.
Moser, G., & Corroyer, D. (2001). Politeness in the urban environment: Is city life still synonymous with civility? Environment and Behavior, 33, 611-625.
Keizer, K., Lindenberg, S, & Steg, L. (2008). The spreading of disorder. Science, 322, 1681-1685.
Koole, S. L., & Van den Berg, A. E. (2005). Lost in the wilderness: Terror management, action orientation, and nature evaluation. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 88, 1014-1028.
Evans, G. W., & Kim, P. (2007). Childhood poverty and health. Cumulative risk exposure and stress dysregulation. Psychological Science, 18, 953-957.
Hardin, G. (1968). The Tragedy of the Commons. Science, 162, 1243-1248.
Staats, H., Harland, P., & Wilke, H.. A. M. (2004). Effecting durable change. A team approach to improve environmental behavior in the household. Environment and Behavior, 36, 341-367.
Thögersen, J., & Ölander, F. (2006). The dynamic interaction of personal norms and environment-friendly buying behavior: a panel study. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 36, 1758-1780.
Goldstein, N. J., Griskevicius, V., & Cialdini, R. B. (2007). Invoking social norms. A social psychology perspective on improving hotel‘s linen-reuse programs. Cornell Hotel and Restaurant Administration Quarterly, 48, 145-150.
Parry, S. (2012). Going green: The evolution of micro-business environmental practices. Business Ethics: A European Review, 21, 220-237.
Contact information
Dr. Henk Staats
staats@fsw.leidenuniv.nl