From Social Psychology to Political Economy: A Model of Energy Use Behavior

Argues that policies designed to affect individual energy-use behavior focus mostly on a limited number of micro (social and psychological), short-run, and easily manipulable variables, which have produced limited response. A theoretical framework is proposed that attempts to provide a comprehensive and integrative view of energy use behavior linking micro and macro (political and economic) factors. The framework examines variables that create and maintain particular types and intensities of energy-use behavior. It is concluded that the energy-use behavior of a household is largely the result of integration into a socially determined consumption pattern. A set of policies comprising the energy conservation program of a nation has to be mutually consistent and reinforcing. Energy consumption and conservation are not influenced by specific behavior-change strategies directed at individual households. (61 ref)