ENVIRONMENTAL PSYCHOLOGY

Environmental psychology is a discipline that studies the interplay between individuals and their built and natural environment. Environmental psychology examines the influence of the environment on human experience behaviours and well-being as well as the influence of individuals on the environment. It also studies factors affecting environmental behaviour and ways to encourage proven environmental behaviour.

Pol(2006) argues that Hellpach was one of the first scholars who introduced the term environmental psychology in the first half of the 28th century. Hellpach (1911) studied the impact of different environmental stimuli such as colour and form, sun and moon and extreme environments on human activities. Later, he also studied urban phenomena such as crowding and overstimulation and distinguished between types of environment: natural, historical, and cultural environment.

Egon Brunswik and Kurt Lewin are generally recorded as the founding fathers of environmental psychology (Gifford. 2007).

In the beginning much importance was given to the physical environment such as buildings, technology, architecture and engineering and how it affected human behaviour and slowly the focus shifted to the natural environment, social and political environment as well. Psychologists wanted to figure out how homes, offices, and hospitals could be built for their potential uses and how environmental stress such as extreme temperatures, humidity and crowding would affect human performance and well-being. As a result, environmental psychologists started studying how to design buildings to facilitate the behaviour functions of humans.

The second part of the study of environmental psychology is related to the rapid growth in people becoming aware of environmental problems. This resulted in studies on environmental issues, how they negatively affect human activities(pollution) and how human activities hurt the biophysical environment.

In the 21st century, it has become evident that lots of environmental problems are increasingly caused by human behaviour in one way or another. The growing concern of environmental psychology is to find ways to change people's behaviour to reverse environmental problems while at the same time preserving human well-being and quality of life. The concept of sustainability broadly encompasses environmental as well as social phenomena, such that the subject has gradually evolved into the 'psychology of sustainability'.

4 Key features of the environmental psychology:

• Focus on human-environmental interaction; the interactive approach,

• Interdisciplinary approach and

• Applied focus and

• The use of diversity of methods

1) Interactive approach- As explained earlier, environmental psychologists primarily study the interaction between humans and the natural and artificial environment, and how they affect each other. So humans and the environment are related in a reciprocal, dynamic way.

2) Interdisciplinary Approach- Collaboration has mostly occurred in three domains. First, environmental psychology has always worked closely with the disciplines of architecture and geography to ensure a correct representation of the physical-spatial components of human–environment relationships. Second, theoretical and methodological development in environmental psychology has been influenced strongly by the psychological disciplines of social and cognitive psychology. Third, when studying and encouraging pro-environmental behaviour, environmental psychologists have collaborated with environmental scientists to correctly asses the environmental impact of different behaviours.

3) Applied focus- An important aim of theoretical development in environmental psychology lies in identifying the most effective solutions to real-life problems. Environmental psychology studies human–environment interactions at different scale levels, from domestic surroundings and the neighbourhood to cities, nature reserves and countries, and even the planet as a whole. The problems and associated solutions that are studied vary across these levels. For example, at the local level, problems such as littering and solutions such as recycling may be a focus of research. At regional and national levels, problems such as species loss and solutions such as ecological restoration can be studied. At the global level, problems such as climate change and solutions such as the adoption of new technologies to combat climate change are of interest. Environmental psychology is concerned with problems at all scales, from local to global.

4) The use of diversity of methods- Environmental psychology is characterised by the use of a wide diversity of methods. Each research method has its strengths and weaknesses. Choosing a method often involves a trade-off between internal and external validity. Ideally, environmental psychologists try to replicate findings on the same phenomenon using different research methods. In this way, the weaknesses of one research method may be compensated by the strengths of another.

METHOD	STRENGTHS	WEAKNESS	USE
Questionnaire studies	High external validity Cost-effective method for reaching large populations	No manipulation of variables No causal inferences	Describing populations or practices Studying relationships among variables