ABSTRACT
Chapters 4, 5, 6, 7, and 8 of Psychology for Sustainability, 5th edition, comprise the section Psychology for a Sustainable Future, which reviews psychological theory and research relevant to sustainable and unsustainable behavior. Chapter 7 covers individual differences. Cognitive variables include environmental knowledge and ecological literacy; need for cognition; time perspective; optimism; systems thinking; a growth mindset; locus of control; self-efficacy; and values. Personality traits are reviewed, the overall conclusion being that proenvironmentalism is predicted by a prosocial orientation and is negatively associated with a social dominance orientation and the dark triad of antisocial traits. Social identities are discussed, with particular attention paid to environmentalists. Conceptualizations and measures of nature-connected identity are reviewed. This is correlated with proenvironmental concern and may have origins in significant experiences. Interdependent self-construal and associated measures of human-connected identity are explored as a foundation for collective efficacy. The final two sections of the chapter address gender and race. Gender identity and biological sex are defined, and this chapter acknowledges that variations in both have been neglected in psychology research on sustainability. Gender differences in environmental behavior are explored as a function of roles, self-presentation, and identity concerns. Race and ethnicity are differentiated, although these are confounded in the research. The underrepresentation of people of color in environmentalism is contrasted with data documenting their elevated environmental concern, particularly about hazards to which they are disproportionately exposed. The conclusion emphasizes that correlations between individual differences and environmental concern or behaviors do not necessarily imply the individual differences are the cause for the concern or behaviors.
