The Psychology of Pollution Control

Abstract

This chapter argues that exploring the psychology of pollution perception and response can help in crafting more effective regimes for pollution control. The impacts of pollution—like other environmental problems—are often diffuse, complex, and nonhuman in character. Furthermore, pollution itself often generates an affective, disgusted response, and perceptions of pollution risk are mediated by who is polluting. Each of these characteristics has implications for managing human behaviors that create, promote, or reduce pollution. As a result, understanding the psychology of pollution control can help in understanding, predicting, and evaluating how existing environmental policies shape human behavior, and in crafting policies that are better at controlling pollution.

Keywords: pollution, psychology, economics, environmental law

JEL Classification: K32, Q50, Q52, Q53, Q57