A research team led by Arizona State University (ASU) senior sustainability scientist Ann Kinzig argues for an novel approach to climate change alleviation: target public values and behavior.
Kinzig, chief research strategist for ASU’s Global Institute of Sustainability and a professor at ASU’s School of Life Sciences, urges policymakers to alter laws and regulations, such as recycling mandates and energy restrictions, based on social values and the associated behaviors.
In a recent article in the journal Bioscience, the team shares findings that pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., recycling and water conservation) can influence pro-environmental values, and that the interaction also works in reverse.
“Often we believe that we behave in a certain way because we hold particular values and that is certainly true,” Kinzig says. “But our values may also shift based on our behaviors. We may initially engage in recycling, for instance, because of an economic incentive, but the repeated act of recycling may create a value for recycling.”