Ecopsychology Presentation

EnvironmentalPsychology"Environmentalpsychologystudiestheinterac6onsandrela6onsbetweenpeopleandtheirenvironments.”(Oskamp&Schultz,1998,p.206)

Partsofthispresenta6onareadaptedfromJamesNeill,Psychology,UniversityofCanberra,viahisworkinopensourceeduca6on.

Scope

•  environmentalsocialsciences•  architecturalpsychology•  socio‐architecture•  ecologicalpsychology•  ecopsychology•  behaviouralgeography•  environment‐behaviorstudies

•  person‐environmentstudies•  environmentalsociology•  socialecology•  environmentaldesignresearch

Environmentalpsychologyisalsoknownas,orcloselyrelatedto:

EnvironmentandHumanity

•  “Ecologicalissuesofpeople'srela6onshiptotheirenvironment,bothnaturalandhuman‐made,haveassumedcrucialimportancetoourqualityoflife,andeventothesurvivalcapacityofhumanity.”(Oskamp&Schultz,1998)

Isitallaboutcontrol?Density=numberofpeopleperspace

whereas

Crowding=subjec6venega6veexperiencesduetodensity

Wearelesslikelytofeelcrowded(stressed)whenwefeelwehavesomecontrol.Theimagebelowshowsdensity,butnotcrowding.

ControlWetendtobemoreafraidofenvironmentalriskswecannotcontrolthanthosethatwe(perceive)thatwecan.

hZp://www.flickr.com/photos/miusam/

hZp://www.flickr.com

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tos/be

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Whichsitua6onismoredangerous?

HumanresponsetothebuiltenvironmentWeshapetheenvironmentandweareshapedbyit.

TheGruentransferreferstothemomentwhenaconsumerentersashoppingmall,and,surroundedbyaninten6onallyconfusinglayout,losestracktheiroriginalinten6ons.Spa6alawarenessoftheirsurroundingsplayakeyrole,asdoesthesurroundingsoundandmusic.Theeffectofthetransferismarkedbyaslowerwalkingpaceandglazedeyes.hZp://www.flickr.com/photos/treyguinn/

Biophilia •  Wilson,anetymologistproposedthat:humanshaveanins+nc+veaffinitywithlife‐likeprocessesi.e.,nature,duetoourevolu+onaryhistory

•  "innatetendencytofocusonlifeandlifelikeprocesses."

Gaia

•  hZp://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VjLC3GjFMv0

Gaiaandsystemsscience

PerhapsitisinthecontextthatJamesLovelock’sideahecalledtheGaiahypothesiswastakenbymanyataveryspirituallevel.

ThisfilmisaliZlethatwaybutexplainsthemainpointsofthehypothesiswell.

ForamoredetaileddiscussionofLovelockandhisworkpleaselistentotheRadioNa6onalScienceShowinterviewlinkedonmoodle.

DeepEcology

•  thelivingenvironmentasawholehasthesamerighttoliveandflourishashumanity.

•  asksdeeperques6onsconcerning"why"and"how"andthusisconcernedwithphilosophicalques6onsabouttheimpactsofhumanlifeasonepartoftheecosphere

•  aimstoavoidmerelyanthropocentricenvironmentalism

TheGaiahypothesisisfundamentallyintunewiththeDeepEcologyphilosophy.