More Than Idyll Speculation: Utopian Thinking for Planetary Health

Julian W. Fernando, Léan V. O’Brien, Madeline Judge and Yoshihisa Kashima
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Julian W. Fernando: Department of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia
Léan V. O’Brien: Centre for Applied Psychology, University of Canberra, Bruce 2617, Australia
Madeline Judge: Department of Management and Marketing, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia
Yoshihisa Kashima: Melbourne School of Psychological Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville 3010, Australia

Challenges, 2019, vol. 10, issue 1, 1-7

Abstract: The problems and challenges associated with planetary health are vast and interconnected, and are therefore requiring of research which takes an all-of-society perspective. Following calls for input from behavioural scientists in discussions about planetary health, we here present a review and synthesis of recent research on utopian thinking and lay beliefs about societal change. For some time, utopian theorists have recognised the capacity of ideals for society to motivate social change behaviour, but this has largely been ignored by behavioural scientists. However, recent research has shown that utopian thinking elicits social change behaviour among ordinary people, and that a utopia with pro-environmental content tends to be especially motivating. Furthermore, changes which are seen as increasing levels of warmth and morality in society elicit greater levels of support and motivation to bring about those changes. These findings have implications for how social movements for planetary health can proceed and provide hope for motivating the necessary social change. We present this work in the hope that it can contribute to the furtherance of efforts for the achievement of planetary health.

Keywords: utopia; social change; motivation; environment; society (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: A00 C00 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2019
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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