SITUATION OR EVENT
PRIMARY APPRAISAL
LOW STRESSOR
HIGH STRESSOR
LOW DEGREE COPING ABILITY
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2 types of strategies:
Problem-focused
Emotion-focused
SECONDARY APPRAISAL
No Solution Needed
HIGH DEGREE COPING ABILITY
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Have complete control over situation and is able to resolve threat -- little stress
PSYCHOLOGICAL STRESS THEORY
Based on this theory, when encountered with a threat, humans will first appraise the threat – primary appraisal – and then assess their own degree of coping ability – secondary appraisal. (Lazarus, 1991)
Environmental problems are often deemed as high stressors with low individual coping abilities, since the problems often appear too global and large for individuals to tackle. There are 2 main types of coping strategies for such problems:
WHAT YOU CAN DO TO HELP
Infographic for #CleanSeas. (Source: UNEP)
Infographic: Reduce (Source: Sylvia Chen)
Infographic: Recycle (Source: Sylvia Chen)
Infographic for #CleanSeas. (Source: UNEP)
We can all start today by making personal commitments to reduce plastic waste by carrying reusable shoppings bags and water bottles, saying no to straws and choosing products without microbeads and plastic packaging. We can also support the efforts of the emerging youth leaders around the world working for healthy and plastic free oceans.”
UNEP Goodwill Ambassador
Jack Johnson, 2017
Photo of Jack Johnson. (Source: FanArt.TV)
PRIMARY BIAS
the tendency to overestimate the probabilities for rare causes of death and underestimate those for common causes of death (Lichenstein et al., 1978)
SECONDARY BIAS
the tendency for people to exaggerate the probabilities for dramatic and sensational causes of death, such as deaths commonly reported in media (homicides and accidents)
Attention often goes to problems that are more dramatised and widely reported by media – oil spills and radiation from power plant failures. However, issues that are less dramatic, such as waste problem and ozone depletion receive lesser attention. It is thus, not surprising that most people tend to underestimate the risks for latent problems. For example:
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Which cause of death do you think is more common – diabetes or homicide?
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The correct answer is diabetes (76,488 deaths in US as compared to 15,809 deaths). (Centres of Disease Control and Prevention, 2014)
PERCEPTION OF RISK
HUMANS' PERCEPTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL PROBLEMS
Misconception of the risk of the global waste problem further fuels our excessive consumption, as we underestimate the consequences of our own actions and the problem itself.
PROBLEM-FOCUSED
Strategies that target the problem in a logical manner to reduce the stress by targeting the main cause
EMOTION-FOCUSED
Strategies that change one's emotional reactions to stressful events, such as avoidance, denial, wishful thinking
However, there is a lack of coping strategies for environmental problems. Problem-focused strategies do not work since these problems are too complicated and large-scale for one person to handle. Emotion-focused ones do not work due to increased knowledge about the severe consequences. Thus, a sense of learned helplessness and despondence toward environmental problems is resulted, thereby causing a lack of motivation and actions.
like those listed at the top of this page, target learned helplessness and provide self-efficacy to the audience. With a higher perceived ability to control the problem, individuals will be more likely to take action. And together, we will be able to make a change.