Environmental Issues are Health Issues: Making a Case and Setting an Agenda for Environmental Health Psychology

Inauen, Jennifer; Contzen, Nadja; Frick, Vivian; Kadel, Philipp; Keller, Jan; Kollmann, Josiane; Mata, Jutta; van Valkengoed, Anne M (2021). Environmental Issues are Health Issues: Making a Case and Setting an Agenda for Environmental Health Psychology. European psychologist, 26(3), pp. 219-229. Hogrefe 10.1027/1016-9040/a000438

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Increasing demands on ecosystems, decreasing biodiversity, and climate change are among the most pressing environmental issues of our time. As changing weather conditions are leading to increased vector-borne diseases and heat- and flood-related deaths, it is entering collective consciousness: environmental issues are human health issues. In public health, the field addressing these issues is known as environmental health. This field addresses both the effects people have on their environment as well as the effects of the environment on people. Psychology, as a discipline concerned with explaining, predicting, and changing behavior has much to contribute to this topic, because human behavior is key in promoting environmental health. To date, however, an integrative view of environmental health in psychology is lacking, hampering urgently needed progress. In this paper, we review how the environment and human health are intertwined, and that much can be gained through a systemic view of environmental health in psychology. Based on a review of the literature, we suggest that psychologists unite efforts to promote an integrative science and practice of environmental health psychology, and jointly address environmental-health related behavior. The research agenda for this field will include integrating behavior change theory and intervention approaches. Thereby, psychology can potentially make an important contribution to sustained environmental health for generations to come.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

07 Faculty of Human Sciences > Institute of Psychology > Psychological and Behavioral Health

UniBE Contributor:

Inauen, Jennifer

Subjects:

100 Philosophy > 150 Psychology
600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health

ISSN:

1016-9040

Publisher:

Hogrefe

Language:

English

Submitter:

Jennifer Chantal Inauen

Date Deposited:

02 Feb 2021 14:39

Last Modified:

05 Dec 2022 15:46

Publisher DOI:

10.1027/1016-9040/a000438

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/151682

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/151682

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