As awareness of climate change and its consequences increases, many have asked, “Why aren’t people taking action?” Some psychologists have provided an answer that we describe as a “psychological barriers explanation” (PBE). The PBE suggests that human nature is limited in ways that create psychological barriers to taking action on climate change. Taking a critical social psychology approach (e.g., Adams, 2014), we offer a critique of the PBE, arguing that locating the causes of inaction at the psychological level promotes a misrepresentation of human nature as static and disconnected from context. Barriers to environmental action certainly exist, and most if not all involve psychological processes. However, locating the barrier itself at the psychological level ignores the complex interplay between psychological tendencies, social relations, and social structures. We consider the ways in which psychological responses to climate change are contingent upon social-structural context, with particular attention to the ways unequal distributions of power have allowed elites to block climate action, in part by using their power to influence societal beliefs and norms. In conclusion, we suggest that psychologists interested in climate (in)action expand their scope beyond individual consumer behaviours to include psychological questions that challenge existing power relations and raise the possibility of transformative social change.

中文翻译：

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从心理障碍的角度解释气候不作为的危险

随着人们对气候变化及其后果的认识不断提高，许多人问：“为什么人们不采取行动？” 一些心理学家提供了一个答案，我们将其描述为“心理障碍解释”（PBE）。PBE 表明，人性在为应对气候变化采取行动时造成心理障碍的方式受到限制。采取批判性社会心理学方法（例如，亚当斯，2014 年），我们对 PBE 提出了批评，认为在心理层面定位不作为的原因会促进将人性误解为静态且与上下文脱节。环境行动的障碍当然存在，而且大多数（如果不是全部）都涉及心理过程。然而，将障碍本身定位于心理层面，却忽略了心理倾向、社会关系、和社会结构。我们考虑了对气候变化的心理反应取决于社会结构背景的方式，特别关注权力分配不均导致精英阻止气候行动的方式，部分原因是利用他们的权力影响社会信仰和规范。总之，我们建议对气候（不）行动感兴趣的心理学家将他们的范围扩展到个人消费者行为之外，包括挑战现有权力关系并提高变革性社会变革可能性的心理问题。部分是通过利用他们的权力来影响社会信仰和规范。总之，我们建议对气候（不）行动感兴趣的心理学家将他们的范围扩展到个人消费者行为之外，包括挑战现有权力关系并提高变革性社会变革可能性的心理问题。部分是通过利用他们的权力来影响社会信仰和规范。总之，我们建议对气候（不）行动感兴趣的心理学家将他们的范围扩展到个人消费者行为之外，包括挑战现有权力关系并提高变革性社会变革可能性的心理问题。