The evolutionary psychology of climate change behaviors: Insights and applications—Palomo-Velez 2021

We explore climate-related behaviors via an evolutionary psychology lens, focusing on characteristics that inspire or discourage sustainable behavior to reduce climate change. Five key ancestral psychological drives impact people's environmental actions. Recent research study how self-interest, status, sensing, discounting tendencies, and social imitation might enhance proenvironmental behavior. We examine the virtues and limits of evolutionary-based behavioral treatments and open research concerns for integrating evolutionary methods into mainstream environmental psychology.

Palomo-Vélez, G., & van Vugt, M. (2021). The evolutionary psychology of climate change behaviors: Insights and applications. Current opinion in psychology, 42, 54–59. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.copsyc.2021.03.006