Abstract

SAPIAINS ARRUE, Rodolfo  and  UGARTE CAVIEDES, Ana María. Psychology´s contributions to address the human dimensions of climate change in Chile (Second part). Interdisciplinaria [online]. 2017, vol.34, n.2, pp.259-274. ISSN 1668-7027.

Multiple studies show that the integration of social and psychological factors in the design, implementation and evaluation of mitigation and adaptation strategies is paramount to address the complexities of climate change. Such factors influence both the perception of the problem and the responses to it in every social system. Considering a multiple level approach that considers institutional, communitarian and personal dimensions the inclusion of these psychological aspects can help to increase the importance of climate change in society, favor a deeper community engagement, improving public policies, and strengthen individual, social and institutional resilience. Although Chile is one of the most vulnerable countries in the world regarding climate change impacts, presenting seven out of nine vulnerability criteria, the study of the social and psychological dimensions of climate change in our country is limited and its importance for policy-making generally unknown. In such a context we organized a literature review aimed at exploring how Psychology can contribute to address the human dimensions of climate change in Chile considering a wide range of topics. To do this a reasonable high number of specialized data -bases and scientific journals were used. As a result of this work we expect to encourage scholars from diverse disciplines, not only psychologists, to digdeeper on these issues in the Chilean and Latin American context to fill this gap in the knowledge. The literature review showed that most research has been conducted in developed countries such as United States, Australia and United Kingdom. This is expected considering the high levels of political polarization about climate change in those countries, either regarding the causes of the problem, the actions needed to address it, or even if it is happening or not. Contrariwise, we only found a reduced number of articles addressing specifically the psychological aspects of climate change in both Latin America and Chile. Interestingly, mainly scholars from other disciplines generally related to environmental management, planning, Sociology and other social sciences, rather than psychologists, have conducted those studies in the region, most of them focused on issues such as social vulnerability, inequalities, poverty alleviation, political participation and agriculture in rural and indigenous communities in the context of droughts or water management related issues. Results of this review are presented in two articles covering five main topics reflecting the most relevant issues identified in the interaction between psychological factors and climate change in the literature. This Second part follows the literature review presented in a previous article (First part). It starts with climate change related topics that are particularly relevant to Latino America mainly associated with social and environmental vulnerability and participation. Then we present an analysis of national and sectorial climate change plans developed in Chile during the last decade to identify the social and psychological aspects that need to be addressed in each of them. Similarly, multiple case studies conducted in Chile are presented to illustrate the importance of these issues. As a result, we propose a framework to organize and encourage research in this area and to integrate this knowledge in policy-making. Four general research topics are suggested: beliefs, values and attitudes; education and climate change awareness; citizen participation; and mental health and social wellbeing. Overall, this review suggests that Psychology's contributions to address climate change challenges will improve our understanding of the complex relationship between people and nature in general and society and climate change in particular. However, to have a significant impact in policy-making, psychological studies need to be part of wider multidisciplinary teams and work at multiple levels, especially close to communities and public institutions avoiding an excessive experimentalism and academicism preventing isolation from society.

Keywords : Climate change; Psychology; Chile; Pro-environmental behaviors; Adaptation.

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