A Psychological View on Industrial Transformation and Behaviour

This paper argues that psychologists are only beginning to understand how global environmental issues may be related to the ways people create a ‘fit’ between themselves and their environment in order to survive. The notion of a person-environment fit is an analogue at the personal level of the concept of sustainable development at the level of society. Using knowledge from a wide range of behavioural disciplines (i.e. psychology, sociology, anthropology, history) the author presents a cascade-like framework that sorts influences on a person's behaviour into a logical order. The framework combines perceptual and rational processes internal to the person with social, organizational, and distal processes (i.e. long-term causes). Two psychological processes are discussed in greater detail to highlight the role of personal values and the process of becoming mindful of changes in the environment.