Ecological Psychology: Healing the Split Between Planet and Self

This book is an introduction to psychology as it applies to environmental problems. Chapter 1 outlines the main features of our environmental difficulties and argues that because they have been caused by human behaviors, beliefs, decisions, and values, psychology is crucial for finding solutions to them. Chapter 2 discusses some historical contributions in Western intellectual thought to contemporary views about nature. Chapters 3 to 7 each examine a particular field or theory in psychology and applies it to a selected environmental problem. Chapter 8 summarizes and compares these five psychological approaches and analyzes where psychology has been and where the author believes it should go in order to make stronger and more potent contributions to solving the environmental problems.

As an introduction to psychology applied to environmental problems, this book is written for the introductory psychology student, the environmental studies student, and for the layperson who may wonder if psychology has anything useful to say about mounting ecological difficulties.