Do individual behaviors make a difference?
We are often asked to take personal action to help the planet like eating less meat and riding more bikes—but many decree individual behavior as limited and naive in the face of powerful companies and governments. So, how does mass change really come about? There’s more to it than a simple individual-vs-system dichotomy.
The core mechanism of how change unfolds through societies is by people — our sensitivities to groups, perceptions, trends, and imitation and the social trends that are passed from human to human that lead to bigger systems changes such as laws, taxes, technologies, and urban design, are carried on the back of human behaviors.
Jan Willem Bolderdijk is an associate professor and researcher at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands. He studies how small groups of people influence bigger systems with respect to sustainability and climate change.
Jan's research papers here:
Minority influence in climate change mitigation
“How do you know someone's vegan?” They won't always tell you. An empirical test of the do-gooder's dilemma
Why going green feels good
How to Save the World is a Podcast About the Psychology of What Gets People To Take On Sustainable Behavior and Climate Action.
Environmental engineer, designer, and author, Katie Patrick, hunts down the latest behavioral science literature from top universities such as Harvard, MIT, and Stanford to unearth the evidence-based teachings you can use to get magnitudes more people to adopt your environmental campaign, program, or product. Sign up for Katie's free behavior and gamification design course at katiepatrick.com
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