Psychologists and the problem of population growth: Reply to Bridgeman (2017).

Bridgeman (2017) describes the important role of population growth in contributing to environmental problems. The present essay argues that population is an important component of human impact on the environment, but it must be considered in combination with consumption rates. A place-based approach, examining the local context for reproductive decisions, is necessary to assess population growth as a contributor to environmental impact and to develop appropriate behavioral interventions. (PsycINFO Database Record

Expanding the role for psychology in addressing environmental challenges.

Environmental challenges, though daunting, present an important area for psychologists to apply their knowledge. Psychological theories, research methods, and interventions are essential for examining the questions about human impacts, tendencies, and capacities that are integral to constructing effective responses to these challenges. Although a great deal of relevant research has been done, there is scope for psychologists to be more extensively involved. Following a brief review of existing research, we outline some important new directions. We also highlight 2 key divergences, arguing that psychological research needs to expand beyond a traditional, theory-based and decontextualized approach to environmental issues to incorporate a contextualized or "place-based" approach and a willingness to collaborate in interdisciplinary research teams that focus on specific environmental problems. Suggestions for promoting such interdisciplinary collaborations are reviewed. We encourage psychologists to expand their engagement with important environmental issues through multiple research approaches in order to further their understanding of human behavior, contributions to human well-being, and relevance to other disciplines and to society.

Perceived Residential Environment Quality Indicators and neighborhood attachment: A confirmation study on a Chinese sample in Chongqing.

This paper concerns people's assessment of their neighborhood of residence in a Chinese urban context. The aim of the study was to verify the factorial structure and the reliability of two instruments originally developed and validated in Italy (the full versions of the Perceived Residential Environment Quality Indicators [PREQIs] and of the Neighborhood Attachment Scale [NAS]) in a different cultural and linguistic context. The instruments consist of 11 scales measuring the PREQIs and one scale measuring neighborhood attachment (NA). The PREQIs scales include items covering four macroevaluative domains of residential environment quality: architectural and urban planning aspects (three scales: Architectural and Town-planning Space, Organization of Accessibility and Roads, Green Areas), sociorelational aspects (one scale: People and Social Relations), functional aspects (four scales: Welfare Services, Recreational Services, Commercial Services, and Transport Services), and contextual aspects (three scales: Pace of Life, Environmental Health, Upkeep and Care). The PREQIs and NAS were included in a self-report questionnaire, which had been translated and back-translated from English to Chinese, and was then administered to 340 residents in six districts (differing along various features) of a highly urbanized context in China, the city of Chongqing. Results confirmed the factorial structure of the scales and demonstrated good internal consistency of the indicators, thus reaffirming the results of previous studies carried out in Western urban contexts. The indicators tapping the neighborhood's contextual aspects (i.e., pace of life, environmental health, and upkeep) emerged as most correlated to NA.

Inhabitants' environmental perceptions in the city of Rome within the framework for urban biosphere reserves of the UNESCO programme on man and biosphere.

The article presents the main tenets of the UNESCO Programme on Man and Biosphere (MAB), launched by the United Nations at the beginning of the 1970s. The program aimed at supporting applied research and scientific knowledge for managing natural resources in a rational and sustainable way. The implication of the full ecological perspective, typical of the MAB, for promoting multidisciplinary and integrated approaches in the study of environmental issues is briefly outlined. In particular, we point out the role of the MAB, through the biosphere reserve concept, in supporting the collaboration between natural-biological and social-behavioral sciences when dealing with biodiversity conservation problems and with urban ecosystems. Then, the specific UNESCO-MAB Project on the city of Rome, launched at the end of the 1980s, is briefly presented, together with the recent project of the Department of the Environment of the Rome Municipality to propose Rome's urban and periurban green areas as a new UNESCO-MAB Biosphere Reserve. The results of the main research activities conducted therein are summarized. In particular, the specific research lines of the environmental psychology research group, involved in the MAB-Rome Project for approximately two decades, are presented. These research lines dealt with various aspects of residents' environmental perceptions and behaviors in the city of Rome. The practical implications of these results are also briefly discussed.

Integrated healthscape strategies: an ecological approach to evidence-based design.

AIM: This paper explores some of the premises of evidence-based design (EBD) and suggests that greater attention to and differentiation of the various purposes of research are needed, along with the development of an ecological theory that reflects the complexity of the health systems studied and more varied ways to communicate with and engage practitioners. BACKGROUND: Problems with the American healthcare system are well known. For the past 20 years, an intervention that has gained increasing attention has been the physical design of healthcare facilities-hospitals in particular. EBD has been advocated as one means of using research to examine the relationship between design and healthcare to improve patient safety and the quality of care. CONCLUSIONS: The concept of integrated healthscape strategies is proposed to focus not only on research "evidence" and the methods used to collect and analyze it, but also on the different purposes research serves, the role of theory, and the use of EBD research in practice.