Thesis
Conservation psychophysiology : a proposal and exploration of a crucial new field of research
Southern Cross University
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
2019
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25918/thesis.77
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Abstract
It is well known that anthropogenic environmental issues, such as plastic waste, species extinction, and climate change, need to be mitigated, but there is still a gap between what we know needs to be done and how we continue to behave. There is urgency in our need to increase our understanding of conservation behaviours and how to best encourage them, which is the goal of conservation psychology. Largely reliant on self-report data, research in conservation psychology can explain some of the variance in environmentally relevant behaviour, but there is much unexplained. Psychophysiology, on the other hand, is barely utilised in the field. The aim of this thesis is twofold: (1) propose and define a new research field coined here as conservation psychophysiology; and (2) conduct an initial study within this field using electroencephalography event-related potential (ERP) methodology. Although exploratory in nature, efforts were made to maintain a robustness in the research, including the development of relevant stimuli and collection of associated normative data; the Sustainable Affective Image Norms (SAIN). Two subsets of the SAIN were used in the ERP study, rated as being high and low on sustainability. To start this new field in a favourable position, it was decided that null hypothesis significance testing would not be utilised, due to ongoing criticism of its appropriateness. Instead, confidence intervals and visuals were used to draw inferences, along with explanations for interpreting these. Two ERP components were explored. The late positive potential (LPP), thought to be associated with feeling emotion, was chosen a priori as an ERP of interest, revealing responses inconsistent with normative ratings. A second ERP, the FN400, was chosen through exploration of the data. The FN400 was found to distinguish the unsustainable SAIN images from comparison images, potentially revealing a lack of conceptual fluency with unsustainable imagery. The meaning of these ERP responses is discussed. Besides the specifics of these ERPs, the greater overall aim of this research was to assess the viability of conservation psychophysiology as a research field. In this sense, the research has been successful. The field has been clearly defined, a pathway for progressing the field has been presented, and initial steps have been taken towards establishing the research field of conservation psychophysiology.
Details
- Title
- Conservation psychophysiology : a proposal and exploration of a crucial new field of research
- Creators
- Royce L Willis
- Contributors
- Steve Provost (Supervisor) - Southern Cross UniversityLeslie Christidis (Supervisor) - Southern Cross University
- Awarding Institution
- Southern Cross University; Doctor of Philosophy (PhD)
- Theses
- Doctor of Philosophy (PhD), Southern Cross University
- Publisher
- Southern Cross University
- Number of pages
- 353
- Identifiers
- 991012890800502368
- Copyright
- © RL Willis 2019
- Academic Unit
- Faculty of Health; School of Health and Human Sciences; Human Sciences
- Resource Type
- Thesis