SARS-Cov-2 and environmental protection: A collective psychology agenda for environmental psychology research.

ABSTRACT

While the virus SARS-CoV-2 spreads all over the world, most countries have taken severe measures to protect their citizens and slow down the further spread of the disease COVID-19. These measures affect individuals, communities, cities, countries, and the entire planet. In this paper, we propose that the tremendous consequences of the corona crisis invite environmental psychology to focus more strongly on research questions that address major societal challenges from a collective psychology perspective. In particular, we stress that the corona crisis may affect how people appraise - and potentially respond to - the looming climate crisis. By consistently pointing out systemic links and their human factor, environmental psychology can become central to a scientific agenda of a sustainable 'post-corona society'. In order to provide a framework for future research towards a sustainable societal transformation, we build on the Social Identity Model of Pro-Environmental Action (SIMPEA) and extend its scope to understand people's responses following the corona crisis. The model allows predictions of previously not explicitly included concepts of place attachment, nature connectedness, basic psychological needs, and systems thinking. It may serve as a guiding framework for a better understanding of the transformation towards a sustainable future.