Unpacking the Psychosocial Dimension of Decarbonization between Change and Stability: A Systematic Review in the Social Science Literature

Fulvio Biddau, Sonia Brondi and Paolo Francesco Cottone
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Fulvio Biddau: Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy
Sonia Brondi: Department of Philosophy and Cultural Heritage, Ca’ Foscari University of Venice, 30123 Venezia, Italy
Paolo Francesco Cottone: Department of Philosophy, Sociology, Education, and Applied Psychology, University of Padua, 35122 Padova, Italy

Sustainability, 2022, vol. 14, issue 9, 1-28

Abstract: This paper provides a systematic overview of the psychosocial contribution to decarbonization studies and critically discusses current trends. Following the PRISMA protocol, we reviewed 404 articles informing how socio-psychological processes affect decarbonization, and vice versa, and highlighting research gaps and biases. Contrary to criticisms about methodological individualism and reductionism of socio-psychological research on sustainability, the review illustrates that the field is equally attentive to psychosocial processes operating at different levels, including the individual (e.g., attitudes, stress, environmental concerns), community (e.g., collective identity, justice, sense of place), and socio-cultural levels (e.g., social norms, values, memory). However, evidence shows some problematic trends in the literature: (i) A bias toward specific agents and geographies, which overlooks mesoscale actors (e.g., media, unions, NGOs) and developing and eastern countries; (ii) instrumental and normative views of transitions, which coincide with a prevailing focus on cognitive processes and a selective bias toward technologies, policies, places, and natural resources conceived as instrumental to decarbonization. This also emphasizes how biophysical processes, people–nature relationships, and the role of emotions in understanding the psychology of agents and decarbonization processes are almost absent; (iii) a research gaze normatively oriented toward the future, which risks neglecting continuity–discontinuity dynamics and the timing and pace of transitions.

Keywords: social psychology; environmental psychology; interdisciplinarity; energy transition; decarbonization; lock-in (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (1)

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