Environmental psychology is a branch of psychological science, founded in 1911 by the author of the book “Geopsychics” V. Gelpakh, who was engaged in the study of geophysical and bioclimatic phenomena and their impact on people. In his opinion, landscape, weather, air humidity, flowers, etc., influence the mental state of a person. We will talk more about this section in this article.
Priorities of Ecopsychology
As far back as the last century, G. Proshansky developed three main priorities of environmental psychology: natural, civilizational and cultural methods of interaction between man and nature. With the help of them, behavior and social interaction are regulated.
In other words, ecopsychology is the psychology of our environment. There are two understandings of this science:
- the impact of the environment on man and on society as a whole;
- the influence of ecopsychology on the living space surrounding us - both on a single taken housing, and on the planet as a whole.
Subdivisions of Ecopsychology
One of the many concepts of environmental psychology is the psychotype. It means the psychological system of living space, reflecting the necessary minimum environmental requirements.
Ecopsychology can include several subsections:
- climate psychology - the impact of climate on the psychological state of a person;
- housing psychology - the operation and use of housing, its impact on the psyche;
- psychology of architecture - the definition of the functions of buildings and structures and their impact on the psyche;
- the psychology of the city and landscape is the correct organization of artificial gardening from the point of view of psychology;
- psychological analysis of work and leisure;
- proper organization of extreme living environment from the point of view of psychology;
- psychology of art - the study of art in the context of psychology.
What specifically studies ecopsychology
Ecology and psychology are quite broad concepts, their connection is very multifaceted. Based on the basis of various psychological knowledge and conducting various studies on the impact of ecology, architecture and production (ergonomics), dwellings on the human psyche, environmental psychology develops and accumulates experience and material that are very useful for society.
This interesting science is engaged in a direct study of environmental consciousness, in particular the study of the characteristics of society's perception of the environment. The subject of environmental psychology is also the study of the motivation of environmental behavior in the context of harm or benefit, and the psychological consequences of environmental problems, for example, mental disorders, a growing crime rate.
It is because of the coverage of the most important social problems that ecopsychology has become an integral part of applied psychology.
Problems of Ecopsychology
All kinds of studies in environmental pedagogy and psychology are more relevant than ever, because overcoming the environmental crisis requires solving the following problems:
- identification of the characteristics of human perception of the environment and its negative factors affecting the psyche;
- identification of psychological motives of people related both responsibly and irresponsibly to the environment;
- analysis of the consequences of the environmental crisis in terms of psychology and psychosomatics;
- development of environmental protection propaganda, as well as ways to convey to society the real environmental situation in the world.
The development of all kinds of ecological and technical projects that directly or indirectly affect the environment should be subjected to detailed analysis and professional expertise.
Diversity of views on the subject of ecopsychology
Some scientists say that ecopsychology explores the relationship of a person with the environment. Others argue that ecopsychology studies the interaction of the human psyche with a variable environment. Still others believe that ecopsychology studies the relationship between the material environment of the environment and the individual.
D. Gold coined the term environment. This is the most comprehensive and complete set of both physical and sociocultural circumstances and conditions that are the human environment. In ecopsychology, there are a number of unresolved issues that are related to the human perception of the environment, as well as adaptation and behavior in it, accompanied by all kinds of emotional and volitional processes. Gold argues that a person mainly interacts with his environment using such phenomena of the psychology of environmental consciousness as perception and cognition.
Cognition and perception
Cognitiveness is one of the processes of the psyche that helps people to receive, store, interpret and use information. Cognitiveness includes processes such as sensation, discrimination, remembering, imagination, reasoning, and making important decisions. All these concepts are based on human behavior and life experience accumulated by him.
The concept of perception is narrower. It means a holistic reflection of situations, objects and events that arise when various external factors are exposed to receptor stimuli. With the help of perception, a direct sensory orientation in the environment occurs. With the help of perception, a person translates various sensory indicators into ordered information.
Domestic Ecopsychology
In domestic pedagogy, many attempts have been made to understand environmental problems in psychology, to highlight its motives and functions. S.D. Deryabo and V.A. Yasvin is shared by subjects of study and concepts. These scientists distinguish ecopsychology, psychological ecology and environmental psychology.
In Russian psychology, all these disciplines are fundamentally divided.
For example, environmental psychology studies the interaction of man and the environment, and psychological ecology studies the effects of various environmental factors on humans. The task of environmental psychology is to analyze the interaction of nature and man, and environmental psychology explores nature as a medium. Psychological ecology explores nature as an environmental factor, and ecopsychology as a separate world, i.e. as a combination of certain objects of nature, considered in their originality.
The subject and tasks of environmental psychology
Based on the foregoing, we can conclude that at the moment there is no unambiguous and undeniable approach to the direct determination of the essence and tasks of ecopsychology, which causes certain problems and questions in specifying the subject of its study. According to Russian psychologists S.D. Deryabo and V.A. Yasvin, the main subject of the study of ecopsychology is public environmental consciousness, which is considered in the socio-genetic, functional and ontogenetic aspects.
According to the aforementioned authors, the main directions in the field of ecopsychology research are the study of psychoecological consciousness in general, the study of the variety of objective and subjective attitude to the environment, a detailed analysis of all kinds of strategies and various technologies of human interaction with the environment