Wednesday 22 July 17:15
- 18:45
Hall: 25 - Room 4 SPT
Chair and Presenter:
Sabherwal Anandita
Co-Chair:
Goldwert Danielle
Division: Division 4: Environmental Psychology
Addressing urgent global challenges requires co-ordinated efforts from individuals and key societal entities such as politicians, media, and scientists. These systemic actors can serve as barriers—creating gridlock, deepening divides, and undermining motivation—but they also hold great potential for unlocking large-scale solutions. This symposium examines the dual role of systemic factors as both obstacles and drivers of collective action on societal challenges.
Talk 1 investigates how barriers to bipartisan climate action are rooted in systemic dynamics across citizens, politicians, media, and activists. It highlights how entrenched identities, polarized narratives, and institutional incentives perpetuate inaction. Talk 2 illuminates that civil society is not powerless in the face of systemic opposition. Using large-scale conjoint and behavioral experiments, it shows that when scientific experts and social consensus align, they can spur widespread support for environmental, health, and technology initiatives—even amidst opposition from governments and corporations.
The next three talks then uncover how systemic factors can drive collective action. Talk 3 demonstrates the promise of emerging technological solutions, evaluating how generative AI, equipped with climate knowledge and personalized guidance, can correct public misperceptions about climate action and increase intentions to adopt high-impact behaviors. Talk 4 presents results from a megastudy testing 17 interventions to mobilize climate advocacy, showing that emphasizing efficacy and emotional benefits provides scalable pathways to engagement. Talk 5, also from the megastudy, finds that confidence in the government's ability to act effectively (i.e., governmental response efficacy) is especially powerful in motivating climate advocacy across partisan groups.
Together, these talks illuminate how systemic forces can both stall and accelerate social change. By envisioning systemic actors as influences, barriers, and solutions, this research pushes psychology beyond the individual, showing how the field can engage with complex systems to help address challenges that may be too large for individuals alone.
