First this. If there had been above this piece that it was also about climate and sustainability, then you might not have read this. Many people are tired of climate news. ‘Message Fatigue’ calls researchers that. My own experience: When I write about sustainability, the reading figures make a dive.
Even more important perhaps – and this piece is about – we know quite a lot about sustainable possibilities, but it often finds it difficult to take action. How is that? And what can you do about that?
Two well -known German psychologists asked – Gabriele Junction and Peter Gollwitzer – too. They wrote there an extensive article over Motivation Science.
Too much choice has a undermining
First the problem. According to Oettingen and Gollwitzer, many people feel paralyzed when it comes to their own climate behavior. We want to do something, but we don’t take action.
An important reason is ‘Choice overload’. You can do a lot of different things to help the climate. It is precisely this abundance that has a undermining effect.
Previous research, from Talbot Andrews and colleaguesshow that people who receive 20 sustainable behavioral options take less action than those who get 1, 5 or 10 options.
If we have to deal with too many options, according to Oettingen and Gollwitzer, that leads to: fatigue (“pff, what should I choose?”); Uncertainty (“What works best?”); Less self -confidence (“Can I do this?”); Negative emotions (“I can never do all of this!”) And ultimately to less action.
The role of ‘the system’
Well, I think, limit the choice for ordinary people like me. Help me focus. But how then?
According to Oettingen and Gollwitzer, the focus can come from outside or from the inside. In the first they think of clear information and rules of conduct. The government should stimulate a limited number of behaviors that make proven difference.
Employers can also play a role in this. Organizations can introduce clear sustainability rules. Example: We don’t fly when traveling under 500 kilometers. For some, that can feel like a limitation, but clear agreements at work are usually appreciated.
Such an approach from outside, from the ‘system’, will be a S-Frame named.
It is important, it is, saying oettingen and gollwitzer, that we have faith in the person who draws up information or rules. And that is, cautiously, not self -evident.
What can you do yourself?
Only an S-Frame is not enough. We also have to work individually: a I-Frame. Let that be the specialty of oettings and Gollwitzer.
How can we focus within the abundance of sustainable options? Our natural tendency, when we think about the future, is to worry about all kinds of obstacles or to day dreams about later. Both approaches do not lead to ties and action. What does help is: first thinking about the future you want and then about the obstacles in the present. That is hot mental (abbreviated: MC). Oettingen has been investigating this for 25 years.
How do you apply that to sustainable behavior? You are considering options that appeal to you. For example: switch to a greener employer or the second car out the door.
Successively you introduce your future situations and think of obstacles. Those obstacles can be ‘internal’ (your own habits or feelings) or ‘external’ (obstacles outside of yourself). You think of some obstacles: we solve. With others you know: that doesn’t work.
This way you discover which paths to the future are realistic for you.
Woop
MC helps you to choose. But to really take action, Oettingen and Gollwitzer ‘Implementation intentions’ advise (abbreviated: II). That is an accurate formulated ‘if, then’ plan that links specific behavior to concrete situations, such as the confrontation with an obstacle. Gollwitzer has been investigating this for 35 years.
Example of a sustainable II: if meat is offered in the canteen, then I opt for a vegetarian alternative. Or: If I orient myself online for holidays, I click away seductive flight offers and look for destinations without a flight.
The combination of MC and II is called MCII, or more popular: Woop. That stands for: Wish (what do you want?); Outcome (what does this yield?); Obstacle (what stands in the way?); Plan (make one if, dan plan for these obstacles). Dozens of studies show that Woop is simple and effective.
Practically
So? We have to combine S-Frame and I-Frame and use Woop. What does that look like in real life? Three suggestions.
- Governments, schools, employers and other institutions can help us focus. We want a small number of effective options, clear information and clear rules. And we want a little help with our Woop steps.
- Politicians, policy makers and employers can also use Woop themselves, individually or in teams. Ask yourself and each other: what information and rules would be ideal; What obstacles are there; And how can you overcome it?
- My own lesson? Pieces writers must also do something with these insights. Nobody helps an excess of information and good advice. I will try to restrain myself a bit more from now on.
“Wa that Wahl hat, that Qual“Oettingen and Gollwitzer probably already learned both at their German primary school. Too much choice leads to stress. This old saying also applies to current world problems. But a little sober behavioral science may help us.