The Psychology of Environmental Problems: Psychology for Sustainability - Softcover

Winter, Deborah Du Nann; Koger, Susan M.

Softcover

ISBN 10: 080584631X ISBN 13: 9780805846317

Publisher: Psychology Press, 2003

Synopsis

A revision of Winter's Ecological Psychology (1996), this book applies psychological theory and research to environmental problems.

After outlining current environmental difficulties, the authors demonstrate how 6 major approaches in psychology (social psychological, psychoanalytic, behavioral, physiological, cognitive, and holistic) can be applied to environmental problems.

The authors demonstrate why it is critical to address environmental threats now, and offer ideas on how psychological principles can contribute to building a sustainable culture. Personal examples engage the reader and provide suggestions for changing behavior and political structures.

Reorganized and updated throughout, the second edition features a new chapter on neuropsychological and health issues and a list of key concepts in each chapter. Cartoons and humorous analogies add a light touch to the book's serious message.

Written for psychology and environmental studies students, the book is an excellent teaching tool in courses on environmental, conservation, or ecological issues, found in departments of psychology, sociology, environmental science, and biology. It will also appeal to anyone interested in psychology's potential contributions to mounting ecological difficulties.

About this title

Review

...lucidly and passionately written.
—Dr. Baruch Fischhoff
Carnegie Mellon University

The scholarship of the book is exacting and interesting...their approach to integrating basic psychological processes with environmental issues is innovative...Winter and Koger write extremely well and strike a very nice balance of providing rigorous scientific material in an interesting way....The revised version is superior to the original in many ways and I think it will be received very well by students, the scientific community, and by intelligent lay audiences.
—Dr. Joanne Vining
University of Illinois at Urbana

...psychologically oriented faculty in environmental studies programs would like this book very much. Psychology faculty...should also be impressed...I personally would love to draw on it (and recommend it) in my large introductory social psychology course...I think it does a much better job than the typical environmental psychology text of showing the relevance and personal significance of various traditional areas of general psychology. Moreover, the personal touch and prolific examples of personal applications from the authors help to highlight the usefulness of psychology in a way most textbooks never try to do.
—Herbert L. Leff
University of Vermont

I greatly appreciate the authors' dedication and creative flair in tying the fields together so lucidly... they call for both psychological and lifestyle changes as well as technological and societal structural ones in working toward the goal of a sustainable world that we can pass down to our descendants. They conclude that psychology has a lot to offer in this process--and so does their book!
—Stuart Oskamp
Claremont Graduate University

About this edition

• Publisher: Psychology Press
• Publication date: 2003
• ISBN 10: 080584631X
• ISBN 13: 9780805846317
• Binding: Paperback
• Edition number: 2
• Number of pages: 306