Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer
FrancoAngeli Journals

Regular Articles

No. 2 (2024)

For “a meaning-centered, culturally oriented psychology” of climate change

DOI
https://doi.org/10.3280/rpc2-2024oa18838
Submitted
novembre 16, 2024
Published
2025-01-13

Abstract

The present paper emphasizes the central role of meaning in human action, highlighting how the analysis of its emergence and reproduction can offer insights into complex phenomena, including the challenges posed by contemporary society, with a particular focus on the climate crisis. A micro-genetic model of the constitution of experience is initially proposed, followed by a presentation of the concept of “value of life” of signs. Next, the article introduces the Semiotic-Cultural Psychology Theory (SCPT), highlighting its processual interpretation of culture understood as a continuous sensemaking process. Two empirical studies are presented that apply the theoretical framework of SCPT, demonstrating the impact of meaning systems on pro-environmental behaviors: the first explores the relationship between wildfire risk perception and preventive behaviors and the moderating role played by symbolic universes, while the second analyzes the role of affect in the link between attitudes and pro-environmental behaviors. The results underscore the crucial importance of the symbolic universes and lines of semiotic force in shaping individuals’ perceptions, thoughts, and actions, suggesting relevant theoretical and practical implications for promoting a culture of sustainability.

References

  1. Abrahamse, W. (2019). Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour: What works, what doesn’t, and why. Academic Press.
  2. Albertazzi, L., & Jacquette, D. (2001). The School of Alexius Meinong (1st ed.). Routledge.
  3. Andreassi, S., Signore, F., Cordella, B., De Dominicis, S., Gennaro, G., Iuso, Kerusauskaite, S., Mannarini, T., Kosic, A., Reho, M., Rochi-ra, A., Rocchi, G., Scharfbillig, M., & Salvatore, S. (2023). Identity and Symbolic Universes in Voting Behavior. A study of the Italian society. Psychology Hub, 40(2), 69-80. DOI: 10.13133/2724-2943/17900.
  4. Austin, J. (1962). How to do things with words. Oxford University Press.
  5. Ballarotto, G., & Velotti, P. (2023). Easier said than done: an empirical study of the role of emotional factors in pro-environmental behaviors. PsyEcology, in press.
  6. Berger, P., & Luckman, T. (1966). The Social Construction of Reality: a treatise in the sociology of knowledge. Open Road.
  7. Brenkert-Smith, H., Champ, P. A., & Flores, N. (2012). Trying not to get burned: Understanding homeowners’ wildfire risk-mitigation behaviors. Environmental Management, 50, 1139-1151. DOI: 10.1007/s00267-012-9949-8.
  8. Brenkert‐Smith, H., Dickinson, K. L., Champ, P. A., & Flores, N. (2013). Social amplification of wildfire risk: the role of social inter-actions and information sources. Risk Analysis, 33(5), 800-817. DOI: 10.1111/j.1539-6924.2012.01917.x.
  9. Bruner, J. S. (1990). Acts of meaning. Cambridge: Harvard University Press.
  10. Champ, P. A., Donovan, G. H., & Barth, C. M. (2013). Living in a tinderbox: wildfire risk perceptions and mitigating behaviours. International Journal of Wildland Fire, 22(6), 832-840. DOI: 10.1071/WF12093.
  11. Christopher, J. C., & Bickhard, M. (2007). Culture, self and identity. Interactivist contributions to a metatheory for cultural psychology. Culture & Psychology, 13(3), 259-295. DOI: 10.1177/1354067X07079881.
  12. Cobern, W. W., Aikenhead, G. (1997). Cultural Aspects of Learning Science. Scientific Literacy and Cultural Studies Project, (13). Available from: http://scholarworks.wmich.edu/science_slcsp/13.
  13. Cordella, B., Signore, F., Andreassi, S., De Dominicis, S., Gennaro, G., Iuso, S., Mannarini, T., Kerusauskaite, S., Kosic, A., Reho, M., Ro-chira, A., Rocchi, G., & Salvatore, S. (2023). How socio-institutional contexts and cultural worldviews relate to COVID-19 acceptance rates: A representative study in Italy. Social Science & Medicine. DOI: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2023.115671.
  14. Cremaschi, M., Fioretti, C., Mannarini, T., & Salvatore, S. (2021). Culture and Policy-Making. Springer.
  15. De Groot, J. I., & Thøgersen, J. (2018). Values and pro‐environmental behaviour. Environmental Psychology: An Introduction, 167-178. DOI: 10.1002/9781119241072.ch17.
  16. De Luca Picione, R. (2020). The Semiotic Paradigm in Psychology. A Mature Weltanschauung for the Definition of Semiotic Mind. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 54(3), 639-650. DOI: 10.1007/s12124-020-09555-y.
  17. De Luca Picione, R. (2022). Il confine come dispositivo semiotico essenziale per la costruzione dell’esperienza umana. Dalla semiotica di Lotman alla psicoanalisi. Lexia, Rivista Internazionale di Semiotica, 39-40, 279-302. DOI: 10.53136/979122180426316.
  18. De Luca Picione, R., & Salvatore, S. (2023). Mind is movement: We need more than static representations to understand it. In J. Valsiner (Ed.), Farewell to variables (pp. 137-157). Information Age Publishing Inc.
  19. De Saussure, F. (1916). Course in General Linguistics. London: Duckworth.
  20. Donmez-Turan, A., & Kiliclar, I. E. (2021). The analysis of pro-environmental behaviour based on ecological worldviews, environmental training/knowledge and goal frames. Journal of Cleaner Production, 279, 123518. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.123518.
  21. Douglas, M. (1986). How Institutions Think. Syracuse University Press.
  22. Eco, U. (1975). A Theory of Semiotic. Indiana University Press.
  23. ElHaffar, G., Durif, F., & Dubé, L. (2020). Towards closing the attitude-intention-behavior gap in green consumption: A narrative review of the literature and an overview of future research directions. Journal of Cleaner Production, 275, 122556. DOI: 10.1016/j.jclepro.2020.122556.
  24. Fronterotta, F., Di Letizia, R., & Salvatore, S. (2018). Processual monism: A fresh look at the mind-body problem. Minds and Matter, 16(2), 167-194.
  25. Ghasemi, B., Kyle, G. T., & Absher, J. D. (2020). An examination of the social-psychological drivers of homeowner wildfire mitigation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 70, 101442. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101442.
  26. Gordon, J. S., Luloff, A., & Stedman, R. C. (2012). A multisite qualitative comparison of community wildfire risk perceptions. Journal of Forestry, 110(2), 74-78. DOI: 10.5849/jof.10-086.
  27. Juvan, E., & Dolnicar, S. (2014). The attitude-behaviour gap in sustainable tourism. Annals of Tourism Research, 48, 76-95. DOI: 10.1016/j.annals.2014.05.012.
  28. Kerušauskaitė, S., Reho, M., Mannarini, T. (2023). A Tool to Analyze the Cultural Milieu: View of Context (VOC). In S. Salvatore, G. A. Veltri, & T. Mannarini (Eds.), Methods and Instruments in the Study of Meaning-Making (pp. 127-153). Springer.
  29. Koenig-Lewis, N., Palmer, A., Dermody, J., & Urbye, A. (2014). Consumers’ evaluations of ecological packaging-Rational and emotional approaches. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 37, 94-105. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp.2013.11.009.
  30. Leiserowitz, A. (2006). Climate change risk perception and policy preferences: The role of affect, imagery, and values. Climatic Change, 77(1-2), 45-72. DOI: 10.1007/s10584-006-9059-9.
  31. Li, D., Zhao, L., Ma, S., Shao, S., & Zhang, L. (2019). What influences an individual’s pro-environmental behavior? A literature review. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 146, 28-34. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec.2019.03.024.
  32. Mannarini, T., Rochira, A., Ciavolino, E., Russo, F., & Salvatore, S. (2020). The demand for populism. A psycho-cultural based analysis of the desire for non mainstream political representation. Psychology Hub, 37(2), 31-40. DOI: 10.13133/2724-2943/17161.
  33. Manzotti, R. (2010). There are no Images (to be seen) or the fallacy of the intermediate entity. APA newsletters, 9(2), 59-66.
  34. Martin, W. E., Martin, I. M., & Kent, B. (2009). The role of risk per-ceptions in the risk mitigation process: The case of wildfire in high risk communities. Journal of Environmental Management, 91(2), 489-498. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2009.09.007.
  35. Meldrum, J. R., Brenkert-Smith, H., Champ, P., Gomez, J., Falk, L., & Barth, C. (2019). Interactions between resident risk perceptions and wildfire risk mitigation: evidence from simultaneous equations modeling. Fire, 2(3), 46. DOI: 10.3390/fire2030046.
  36. Meloni, A., Fornara, F., & Carrus, G. (2019). Predicting pro-environmental behaviors in the urban context: The direct or moderated effect of urban stress, city identity, and worldviews. Cities, 88, 83-90. DOI: 10.1016/j.cities.2019.01.001.
  37. Nagle, M. G. (2018). Wildfire Risk Perception and Homeowner Mitigation: Evidence from Montana. Dissertation, University of Montana, Missoula. https://scholarworks.umt.edu/etd/11158.
  38. O’Neill, S., & Nicholson-Cole, S. (2009). “Fear won’t do it”: Promoting positive engagement with climate change through visual and iconic representations. Science Communication, 30(3), 355-379. DOI: 10.1177/1075547008329201.
  39. Peirce, C. S. (1932). On Sign. In C. Hartshorne, & P. Weiss (Eds.), Collected Papers of Charles Sanders Peirce (Volume II). Harvard University Press [Original version: 1897].
  40. Plavsic, S. (2013). An investigation of gender differences in pro-environmental attitudes and behaviors. Honors Scholar Theses. 404. https://opencommons.uconn.edu/srhonors_theses/404.
  41. Reho, M., & Salvatore, S. (2024). Redefining Meaning: A Micro-Genetic Model of the Constitution of Experience. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 1-8. DOI: 10.1007/s12124-024-09849-5.
  42. Reho, M., Ballarotto, G., Velotti, P., & Salvatore, S. (2024b). Managing climate crisis through the affects: a semiotic cultural perspective in the improving of pro-environmental behaviors. [Manuscript submitted for publication].
  43. Reho, M., Kerušauskaitė, S., Cordella, B., & Gennaro, A. (2023). The representation of climate change: A retrospective newspaper analysis. Rivista di Psicologia Clinica ‒ Open Access, (2). DOI: 10.3280/rpc1-2023oa15951.
  44. Reho, M., Veneziani, G., Ciacchella, C., Gennaro, A., Salvatore, S., & Lai, C. (2024a). The influence of cultural worldviews on the association between wildfire risk perception and preventive behaviors. Psychology Hub, 41(2). DOI: 10.13133/2724-2943/18435.
  45. Russell, S. V., Young, C. W., Unsworth, K. L., & Robinson, C. (2017). Bringing habits and emotions into food waste behaviour. Resources, Conservation and Recycling, 125, 107-114. DOI: 10.1016/j.resconrec. 2017.06.007.
  46. Russo, F., Mannarini, T., & Salvatore, S. (2020). From the manifestations of culture to the underlying sensemaking process. The contribution of semiotic cultural psychology theory to the interpretation of socio‐political scenario. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 50(3), 301-320. DOI: 10.1111/jtsb.12235.
  47. Salvatore, S. (2012). Social life of the sign: Sense-making. In J. Valsiner (Ed.), The Oxford handbook of culture and psychology (pp. 241-254). Oxford Academic.
  48. Salvatore, S. (2013). The reciprocal inherency of self and context. Notes for a semiotic model of the constitution of experience. Interacções, 9, 20-50. DOI: 10.25755/int.2840.
  49. Salvatore, S. (2016). Psychology in Black and White: The project of a theory-driven science. Information Age Publishing Inc.
  50. Salvatore, S. (2018). Cultural Psychology as the Science of Sensemaking: A Semiotic-cultural Framework for Psychology. In A. Rosa & J. Valsiner (Eds.), The Cambridge Handbook of Sociocultural Psy-chology, 2nd Edition (pp. 35-48). Cambridge University Press.
  51. Salvatore, S. (2019). Beyond the meaning given. The meaning as explanandum. Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 53(4), 632-643. DOI: 10.1007/s12124-019-9472-z.
  52. Salvatore, S., & Cordella, B. (2024). Foundations of the Psychological Intervention: A Unifying Theoretical and Methodological Framework. Taylor & Francis.
  53. Salvatore, S., & Venuleo, C. (2013). Field dependency and contingency in the modelling of sensemaking. Papers on Social Representation, 22(2), 21.1-21.41. http://www.psych.lse.ac.uk/psr/.
  54. Salvatore, S., & Zittoun, T. (Eds.). (2011). Cultural psychology and psychoanalysis: Pathways to synthesis. IAP Information Age Publishing.
  55. Salvatore, S., Avdi, E., Battaglia, F., Bernal-Marcos, M. J., Buhagiar, L. J., Ciavolino, E. et al. (2019b). Distribution and Characteristics of Symbolic Universes Over the European Societies. In S. Salvatore, V. Fini, T. Mannarini, J. Valsiner, & G. A. Veltri (Eds.), Symbolic Universes in Time of (Post)Crisis. The Future of European Societies (pp. 25-49). Springer.
  56. Salvatore, S., De Fortuna, A.M., Reho, M., De Luca Picione, R. (2024a). L’inestricabilità e reciproca inerenza tra il soggetto e il contesto. Lineamenti di un modello semiotico-dinamico della costruzione dell’esperienza. In E. Martini, F. Pergola, & R. De Luca Picione (Eds.), Confini, liminalità e metamorfosi. La complessità del confine nell’esperienza dell’umano. Mimesis.
  57. Salvatore, S., De Luca Picione, R., Cozzolino, M., Bochicchio, V., & Palmieri, A. (2022). The role of affective sensemaking in the consti-tution of experience. The affective pertinentization model (APER). Integrative Psychological and Behavioral Science, 1-19. DOI: 10.1007/s12124-020-09590-9.
  58. Salvatore, S., Fini, V., Mannarini, T., Veltri, G. A., Avdi, E., Battaglia, F., et al. (2018). Symbolic universes between present and future of Europe. First results of the map of European societies’ cultural milieu. PLoS ONE, 13(1), e0189885. DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0189885.
  59. Salvatore, S., Palmieri, A., Picione, R. D. L., Bochicchio, V., Reho, M., Serio, M. R., & Salvatore, G. (2024b). The affective grounds of the mind. The Affective Pertinentization (APER) Model. Physics of Life Reviews, 50, 143-165. DOI: 10.1016/j.plrev.2024.07.008.
  60. Salvatore, S., Picione, R. D. L., Bochicchio, V., Mannino, G., Langher, V., Pergola, F., ... & Venuleo, C. (2021). The affectivization of the public sphere: the contribution of psychoanalysis in understanding and counteracting the current crisis scenarios. International Journal of Psychoanalysis and Education: Subject, Action & Society, 1(1), 3-30. DOI: 10.32111/SAS.2021.1.1.2.
  61. Salvatore, S., Valsiner, J., & Veltri, G. A. (2019a). The Theoretical and Methodological Framework. Semiotic Cultural Psychology, Symbolic Universes and Lines of Semiotic Forces. In S. Salvatore, V. Fini, T. Mannarini, J. Valsiner, & G. A. Veltri (Eds.), Symbolic Universes in Time of (Post)Crisis. The Future of European Societies (pp. 25-49). Springer.
  62. Smith, N., & Joffe, H. (2013). Climate change in the British press: The role of the visual. Journal of Risk Research, 16(2), 211-230. DOI: 10.1080/13669870802586512.
  63. Tamar, M., Wirawan, H., Arfah, T., & Putri, R. P. S. (2020). Predicting pro-environmental behaviours: the role of environmental values, attitudes and knowledge. Management of Environmental Quality: An International Journal, 32(2), 328-343. DOI: 10.1108/MEQ-12-2019-0264.
  64. Valsiner, J. (2007). Culture in Minds and Societies. Foundations of Cultural Psychology. Sage Publications.
  65. Valsiner, J. (2014). An invitation to cultural psychology. Sage Publications.
  66. Wittgenstein, L. (1958). Philosophical Investigations. Basil Blackwell. [Original work published 1953].
  67. Wolters, E. A. (2023). Homeowner firewise behaviors in fire-prone central Oregon: An exploration of the attitudinal, situational, and cultural worldviews impacting pre-fire mitigation actions. Journal of Environmental Management, 327, 116811. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvman.2022.116811.
  68. Xie, B., Brewer, M. B., Hayes, B. K., McDonald, R. I., & Newell, B. R. (2019). Predicting climate change risk perception and willingness to act. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 65, 101331. DOI: 10.1016/j.jenvp. 2019.101331.
  69. Xue, W., Hine, D. W., Marks, A. D., Phillips, W. J., & Zhao, S. (2016). Cultural worldviews and climate change: A view from China. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 19(2), 134-144. DOI: 10.1111/ajsp.12116.
  70. Zajonc, R. B. (1980). Feeling and thinking: Preferences need no inferences. American Psychologist, 35(2), 151-175. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.35.2.151.

Metrics

Metrics Loading ...