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Social Influence in Environmental Movements

Social influence involves individuals changing or conforming their beliefs to those of trusted individuals. Within the realm of social influence there are many different forms, including conformity, persuasion, and observer effect (Izuma, 2017). It is extremely common for people to feel the need to conform to beliefs of others in order to feel like they belong and fit in. Another reason for conformity is people with similar beliefs can come together to work towards a shared goal (Waude, 2017). The larger a group of like minded people on a topic, the more power they have in making changes and accomplishing goals. Social influence can spark interest and awareness about various topics including environmental issues and environmental movements. For example, one environmental movement that has benefited from social influence, is the climate movement, which advocates for climate change. A large part of social influence for topics such as environmental movements, are social networks. These social networks allow individuals to access information about environmental behaviors and shape their beliefs by discussing these issues with others (Severo, Guimares, Dellarmelin, & Ribeiro, 2019). The first step of influence for the pro-environmental behaviors in these social networks is individuals becoming aware of the environmental movements, such as climate change, and how their daily actions can have negative environmental impacts. The next step of the process is how the individuals are influenced by others pro-environmental beliefs and how they decide to form their own opinion on how they want to act in the situation, and if they want to help contribute to the environmental movement. It has also been found through research studies that people who are surrounded by social groups who exhibit pro-environmental behaviors, will also exhibit more of these behaviors as well, due to the idea of conforming to social norms (Videras, Owen, Conover, & Wu, 2012). Engagement in pro-environmental behavior is not only due to sharing of information but it is also a social process. By acquiring knowledge on environmental movements it can allow for people to feel a sense of belonging when in a community with others that share the same beliefs and ideas (Estrada,Schultz, Silva-Send, Boudrias, 2017). As more individuals are joining environmental movements to advocate for change, the social influence these communities have is simultaneously increasing as well.

References

Estrada M, Schultz PW, Silva-Send N, Boudrias MA. The Role of Social Influences on Pro- Environment Behaviors in the San Diego Region. J Urban Health. 2017; 94(2):170-179. doi:10.1007/s11524-017-0139-0.

Izuma, K. (2017). Chapetr 16- The Neural Bases of Social Influence on Valuation and Behavior. Decision Neuroscience (pp. 199-209). Academic Press. https://doi.org/10.1016/B978-0- 12-805308-9.00016-6.

Severo, E., Guimares, J., Dellarmelin, M., & Ribeiro, R. (2019). The Influence of Social Networks on Environmental Awareness and the Soical Responsibility of Generations. Brazilian Business Review, 16 (5). https://doi.org/10.15728/bbr.2019.16.5.5

Videras, J., Owen, A., Conover, E., & Wu, S. (2012). The influence of social relationships on pro- environemental behaviors. Journal of Environmental Economics and Management, 63 (1), 35-50. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jeem.2011.07.006

Waude, A. (2017, July 20). Social influence: Why we conform in groups. https://www.psychologistworld.com/influence/social-influence