On Being Green

Toward a sustainable future

Susan Clayton Ph.D.

Therapy to Help the Environment

People seek therapy to help them change unwanted behavior patterns. Maybe we should be using it to promote sustainability.

Everybody's Talking About It

Norms that affect the way we treat the environment are changing, one conversation at a time.

Psychological Thresholds for Climate Change

Is there a specific level at which we'll all start to pay attention to climate change? Probably not.

How Many Children Do We Want?

Environmentalists face a dilemma with regard to population: They don't want continued growth, but they don't want to restrict individual freedom. We should consider ways to preserve choice but frame the context for those choices.

Natural Capital

Nature provide some benefits -- scary, invisible, or unexpected -- that we're unlikely to search for. But we may well miss them.

Fear, Desire, and a Changing Climate

The world is getting warmer. People are responsible, though no one wants this outcome. We need to have confidence in our ability to affect this trend.

What makes us happy?

Getting involved with environmental activities can be a source of pleasure and help fulfill some of our core needs, such as the desire to have meaning in our lives and the desire to connect with others.

Flowers for Valentine's Day

Could there be anything more romantic than a dozen roses? Perhaps we instinctively recognize the link between environmental and human health.

Who Counts?

President Obama challenges us to expand our moral universe.

Hot as Hell

New evidence about climate change may encourage pessimism. That's not necessarily a bad thing.

New Year's Resolutions

Five tips to help you keep sustainable New Year's resolutions.

Guilty

What does it mean for a corporation to be guilty?

How to Help Families

Helping families requires attention to environmental problems

Invisible Problems

Effects of air pollution on our mental capacities are difficult to recognize

Lessons From Obesity Research

Sometimes we need to change people's attitudes. Sometimes that's not what is needed to change their behavior.

What Does Climate Change Look Like?

The Presence of Absence

Contrary to what you often hear, humans are a surprisingly empathetic and altruistic bunch.

Who Cares About Wildlife?

Friday, May 18th, was Endangered Species Day, reminding us of the huge number of species that face extinction. Some scientists consider the loss of biodiversity to be a bigger environmental threat than climate change. Why should we care?

Mother's Day

There’s a cultural tradition of thinking of nature as female: Mother Earth bears and supports her children; Mother Nature is as unpredictable as a teenager with premenstrual hormone swings; Gaia is the universal mother, mother of all the gods and by extension everything else.

The Buck Stops Here

Two surveys released this week show a striking disjunction. People acknowledge a problem but don’t feel any pressure to confront it.

Leave No Child Inside

Many people celebrated Easter this weekend. In communities across the country, children ran around the grass picking up Easter eggs. For some of them, it may have been a rare opportunity to play outside.

Race and Environmentalism

The Point of Public Lands

Apparently, Mitt Romney told a crowd at a campaign event that he "didn't know what the purpose" of public land was. Well, that's a question that can be informed by behavioral research. Do people think there is a purpose to public land?

Environmental Politics

What Does Psychology Have to Do With the Environment?

Some of you may be wondering how this is relevant to Psychology Today. Here's the basic argument—which will be further explored in future entries.