The Psycho-Spatial Dimensions of Global Environmental Problems

This research sought to address 3 questions: (1) are people only able to relate to environmental issues if they are concrete, immediate and local; (2) do people consider environmental problems to be more serious at a global or a local level; and (3) what is the effect of the public's perceptions of the seriousness of environmental problems on their sense of responsibility for taking action? Three studies were undertaken in Australia, England, Ireland and Slovakia, in which respondents (including adults aged 18-56+ yrs and adolescents who had received environmental education) were presented with 20 cards, each marked with 1 of 7 environmental problems. Results of each study consistently demonstrate that respondents are not only able to conceptualize problems at a global level, but an inverse distance effect is found such that environmental problems are perceived to be more serious the farther away they are from the perceiver. An inverse relationship was also found between a sense of responsibility for environmental problems and spatial scale resulting in feelings of powerlessness at a global level. The paper concludes with a discussion of psychological theories and perspectives which informs our analysis and understanding of what might be seen as environmental hyperopia.