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Group 114: SOCIAL SCIENCES l
ENERGY CONSERVATION AS A SOCIAL SCIENCE PROBLEM
Elliot Aronson
INTRODUCTION
The 1980 Summary Study on Building Energy Efficiency
juncture in this nation's approach to its energy problem 0
the first time a conference funded by the Department of
a
for
was
receptive to a social science perspective and incorporated recommenda
tions from social scientists into its analysis of energy and the
design of new programs0
The social scientists at Santa Cruz considered the energy as
.largely a upeoplett problem rather than an exclusively technological one~
Physical scientists maintain that by the year 2000, the United States
can reduce the amount of energy required to heat, cool, and illuminate
buildings by as much as 50 percent through conservation efforts alone~
Much of the technology to accomplish this goal exists0 A
is that many people appear reluctant to adopt conservation tech-
or to utilize them to the fullest extent~ In order to
understand the human factor in energy conservation, the social science
group relied on a social psychological framework for under
human motivation and decision making~ While this
with the so-called ueconomic.....rationalu model whichis not
has tradi""..&.,.,JI"""","io"&"...L. been used policymakers, the social science model
does differ on certain basic assumptions and thus results in novel pol
recommendations ~ Social science distinguishes between situations
1 Members of the Social Science Group were: Elliot Aronson (Chair), Dane) Dudley Burton, Hal Levin, Tom Pettigrew, Joel Primack, and
Suzanne Yates--from the University of California at Santa Cruz; MarkChristensen and Karl Dake--from the University of California at Berke-
; John Darley--from Princeton University; and Paul Stern.....-.from theInstitution for Social and Policy Studies at Yale University~ SuzanneYates was particularly helpful in the preparation of this manuscript0
that give rise to n economic-rational n decision-ma.king processes and
those that cause other factors to become more salient~ Based on what
social scientists have discovered about the nature and the dynamics of
these different situations, they are in a position to help construct
programs which could produce far greater impact than would otherwise be
possible 0
This overview consists of three sections:
l~ A brief review of the economic-rational model as it has been
employed by energy-policy makers;
2$ An introduction to a few central social psychological
and the of these for development; and
3~ A brief discussion about program evaluation needs and
research
THE ECONOMIC-RATIONAL MODEL: MAJOR STRATEGIES TO DATE
The economic~rational model (at least as it has been applied to
energy rests on the that an individual in a
choice situation surveys the environment a.nd a cost-benefi t
s on each of the available alternatives@ According to this
model, the i11dividual studies the alternatives to determine the costs
and benefits associated with each, collects to the
criteria of value, discounts future costs and benefits, and
does on risks and Every actor is
assumed to be a ~ autonomous decisionmaker who tries to maximize
own benef! t and to reduce costs externalizing as
many costs as onto other actors or the environment QI In the
usual case, costs and benefits are measured prices or plau-
sible surrogates 0 While economists argue that, in , the model is
not limited to financial costs and benefits, in practice these have been
the or considerations as the model has been to energy conser-
vation~ A linear between costs and behavior in the market-
is assumed to exist~ Based on these assumptions,
strategies for achieving energy conservation rest on the assump-
tion that the most cost effective technologies or behaviors will be
adopted $ The general premise is that if cost-effective insulation
materials are available, for example) people will install them in their
houses and save much of the fuel that is normally UwastedU in home heat
ing* Contrary to these expectations, however, actual energy savings to
date fall far short of the potentia10 It has been estimated that in the
buildings sector energy savings of from 40 percent to 50 can be
achieved nationally through technological measures alone (Hayes, 1976;
Solar Energy Research Institute, 1981), but
these savings has yet been realizede
a small of
Policy makers to market failures--those cases in
which the decisions made are not the most cost-effective--in one of
several ways 111 One explanation, within the ~irationaln model, for the
failure to reach the technological is that the relevant infor-
mation has not reached the decision makers@ When this is to be
infor
much
The of
of various informa
-~~~-~~~s~ But the data available
of a million
research, while limited, suggests that
, inform8c tion campaigns are
~u~__ ~, pamphlets, surveys, and
and distributes
the
tional
from
rna tion on how to save energy does not in and of itself
, the implici t
will seek;that
behavioral change (Stern and Gardner 1980) 0
of the informational
understand, believe~ and abide the information are not met ~
Another solution is to institute economic incentive systems on the
Again, theof conservation
the relative costs of alternatives will have athat
direct effect on the
evidence is mixed ~ The recent federal energy credi ts have been used
the affluent, even cost~effectiveness is not a function
of income~ studies (Stern and Gardner, 1981; Winett, in
press) that, in the short run, a in the of energy
only about a reduction in consumer demand Further,
The few limited stu-
the institution of incentive systems show that usage
and after
terns return to
to,
the impact of incentives appears to be short-term
dies tha t have tracked energy
levels after the incentives are discontinued (Kohlen
berg, Phillip, Proctor, 1976; Hayes and Cone, 1977)~ Systems that use
disincentives J such as higher prices, also produce a disproportional
amount of hardship for the poor and the people on fixed incomes~ Thus,
not only is this strategy ineffective but it is also unjust~ Moreover,
since the poor are not the major energy consumers, these policies have
maximal impact on the wrong group~
Finally, the government often resorts to regulation as a means of
influencing behavior~ Thus, the federal government has dictated ther
mostat settings in office buildings, speed limits on highways, and is
considering imposing efficiency standards for appliances and buildings~
These have been effective at beste Most people do
not wi comply with regulations; enforcement is costly, sporadic,
and inefficient~ This is not to say that costs is always inef-
fective: one s of the effect of charging a fee for telephone
direc calls ) found that local directory
calls after inst! the fee0 No reductions,
however, occurred in the distance directory-
assistance calls, which remained free of s* Thus, even in those
cases where there is effectiveness, there is not much g'eneraliza-
tion~ , we do not that conservation behavior mandated
in one situation will to other unregulated set-
makers that none of these has been com-
successful~ Failures elicit one of two basic
responses 0 First, ~8newn often consist of proposals to do
more of t he same ~ The seems to be: 1I~ If send!ng ou t one mil-
lion brochures didn't the conservation message across, then surely
out two million will @ U Or, §& If means have produced
some energy , then more will savings" U
The second s is to support from
conservation programs al Because of the lim! ted
success of the conservation methods that have been tried, there is a
that conservation in may be deemed unworkable & This
would lead to~policy based on the of new sup-
ply technologies III , nuclear power s, and other
supply source.s might be considered the feasible alternatives to
imported oil @ A more realistic s would be to seek ways of
improving existing conservation programs~ The same number of brochures
may be sent out each year, but market surveys could be conducted to
learn how to increase their effectiveness~ surveys could be
undertaken in order to different consumer tiona so that
information distribution could be tailored
While such marke are reasonable and should be
wherever possible, another involves the consideration of the
from an ent different s In effect, the
latter was where the social science group at Santa Cruz focused its
attention~
A SOCIAL SCIENCE ANALYSIS: AN ALTERNATIVE PERSPECTIVE
Social Diffusion and : Social scientists are aware of the
fact that of innovation occurs in a linear fashion0
Ra ther, social diffusion ts tha t of innova tion
occurs very at first and builds momentum over time0 Moreover~
research s that cal ,are not economic
and rational information Rather, are to
innovation because come into contact with others who have
1t~
Goldman, wrote the followingthis new convenience:
Its inventor, Sylan
s response to
cart~
of the
of theConsider the
UWomen customers would come in ~ ~ ~ but very ~ very few wouldtake one e Their comment was 'No, we ha.ve pushed enough babybuggies around# 0 ~ ~ and the men customers would say 'with mybig arms, I can carry my baskets 0 P strollaround with carts was the gimmick that did the trick0 @~
) record the
the 1930s to disseminate
At first, the
filled
tural
, Crandall and Reed (1
tried to di
, Nisbett,
case of the U0S~
information about
with tables, charts, and statistics* This information was a
dismal failure0 Then the set up a demonstration in
with fa.rmers on selected
farmers saw the size of their
the new
s worked
harvest~
which
farms 0 When the
The diffusion model is to consider for several rea.sons 0
First, it that we want to less effort on media
This
that
current
toand more on
will be discussed below0 In addition, the diffusion model
researchers may have been when
estimates of conservation levels~ Some survey data indicates that the
number of
True,
to reduce their use of energy falls below
have been made, but there does not seem to be
8. S li"near trend in a direction0 These have
caused many to conclude that conservation programs will not be suffi
effective in the United States0
2 Goldman'sthe Smithsonian Collection, asHow Grevl~lU The Smithsonian,
of the now stored ints:
416
after a Ucritical mass u is
The
accep""'"
to accelerate
to social diffusioll
at first
Recall, however, that
tance occurs very
reached does the rate of
curve which best describes this process is a distribution, not
a linear onee A , initial of the diffusion process may take
of energy conserva~
...,."l$,.... ""'''''!1'''11 te the diffu-
therefore, it is
in behavior to manifest
in establi more
evaluations More
to lines of research from
abandoned before have had time
momentum 0 The
or
to social diffusion
of diffusion
new and little has been done to
to
several years before it
tion is
sian process 0
probably too
itself~
realistic timetables and
tantly, this
cut off
to behavior~
This is not to that the national conservation effort s
as as possible, however.. On the ) it would be
efficacious to make interventions which wi 1 facilitate the social
observed
effec
of new
of
the exam-
(1980)~
the
t cart, the
conducted a small demons-
would be to
learn from and are influenced
Aronson and
of
In the case histories
and the use of the
on the
proceSS0 One way of
is evident0
of otherS0
tive model
tration
behavior in the Universi of California. ~ Santa Cruz .... s
athletic field house~ It is a fact that water and energy are saved if
take short ~ rather than :~ showe,rs When interviewed, the
of students indicated that know that
short showers saves e11ergy 0 When asked to describe the shower room j
all students indicated that were aware of a s on the
showers short and to turn off the water
~_.~_~~u~) of this nor
to conserve
te of this, very few (6
took the recommended
them to
In
wall
while
of the behavi.or was not
sufficient to ensure proper actiou0
When the researchers made the very obtrusive, shower-
taking increased to 19 , but many verbal hostility in
response to the obtrusiveness of the Clearly, the success of this
tac tic was limi ted ~ Indeed; it may have done more harm than good by
creating a grqup who, as part of the backlash to the sign, might have
become extra-lengthy shower-takers~
During the third of the , researchers employed students
who would serve as models off the water and soap-
ing up whenever someone came in to use the This strategy had
the desired effect~ When a model was used) the number of
off the water to soap up climbed to 49 ; with two simul-
the proper behavior it rose to 67
How can we accelerate the social diffusion of energy conservation?
We should first locate the Hsocio-metric s in each communi A
socio-metric star is an individual who is well and who has a
wide range of contacts; this is the person whom others follow and emu-
late0 should be taken to ensure that these are involved in
consumer education such as the home t programs)
home insulation ) and demonstrations of the feasibili for con-
standard systems to 801a:r0 If need be, these
could be offered free or minimal-cost retrofits to ensure their partici-
Because of their tion in the will communi-
cate with a wide range of and their will be respected~
Time and e'vidence shows tha t are more influenced the
fellow-next-door than are brochures and data
summaries~
This is true even if the more vivid information is a
indi·""
s
and is
of :i.nfOl1n8''''''
most will be more the:ir
ca.r is a ulemonu than will a technical
that the same make and model of car gets excellent
sound~ When faced with such
that hi
For
make of car,
it has lesswith
thattion, most people will refuse to
for one that another
attractive statistical
and
sinfluenceprocesOther factors in human
evaluation of the '*facts H
5l 1979), do not to infor1llation in strict
accordance wi th its economic
low ities and ones
research has shown that most pay more attention to the
do the rule itself Another finding is thatto a rule than
are more affected a loss than a of the same tude>;, Thus~
it has been shown that the aluoun of when one wins $100
is not as as the amount of consternation red when one loses
00 Related to this is the fae that individuals tend to
be more to take a risk to avoid a loss than to increase their
fortune~ Furthermore~ choose diffel:~ent of reference in
evalua situations Different of reference can result in one
as a s~loss situation U(
risks) while another individual who is
a
more prone to
to the same set (
very hesitan,t to These factors are
of obvious of infol~ational
will succeed however, unless t
mosthe
is the :role of sel
also considers the forces of human motivation
element which needs to be
esteem~ are motivated a desire to maintain and increase their
self~esteem (Aronson~ Chase 51 Helmreich and Ruhnke~ 1975)
(from the of view of energy , many individuals have
to define their own worth in terms of their behavior as consu~
mel'S who have suffered economic in the pas may be
4 9
reluctant to adopt energy conserving behavior~ Such behavior implies to
them--or they fear implies to others--that they cannot afford to live
comfortably. This poses a threat to self-esteem which tends to result
in overconsumption~ Hence, energy consultants report that it is not
uncommon to hear members of middle-class minority groups ask, UWhy
should I turn down the thermostat at night? I can afford to pay for the
heat*u
It should be emphasized that we are not suggesting merely that some
people prefer comfort to savings. If that were the case, the prescrip
tion for change would involve persuading those people that it is impor
tant to give up some comfort in the national interest as well as in
their own financial self-interest& While that is not an easy task, it
is far les.s complex than the self-esteem issue; the latter is deeply
embedded in the psyche of the individual and is therefore relatively
unresponsive to either direct persuasion attempts or economic rational
i
How can people be motivated to substitute, in place of consumerism,
an alternative means of self-esteem that is more conducive
to energy conservation? We can speculate on this empirical question ~
One be by an obesity model: if individuals can be con
vinced that, in the case of energy consumption, consuming less is akin
to slim and trim is esteem ) rather than obese)
some progress be made~ A different method might involve encourag-
to teach their about the benefits of conservation 0
It is that this would residents with an opportunity to
maintain their self-esteem while foregoing the need to consume large
amounts of energy~
Commi tment One model of change in social sys-
tems derives from the psychology of commitment and self-perception0
s behavior) a tti tudes, and defini tion of themselves are influ
enced their actions and the situations surrounding them~ Thus, to
the extent that people act in the absence of coercion) .public commi t
themselves to act in front of others, or invest time, money, or personal
in an activi , they come to see themselves as believers in
(see Aronson 1978;
of the iterature
:i.nteres
976,~ for
aandthat
Aronson, 1980; Wicklund and Brehm
in this area)@
This model that commitments can be ielted
from with smaller commi tments Such a process is
Freeman and Fraser
ane who would agree to
to 3~Drive
of
on their front lavffi
(1966) found that the
increased drama tical (from 17 to 55
had first been the to petition safe
'What does this have to do with energy conservation? Consider
very energy conscious~ but who agrees to
on her win--
energy audi
Let us assume that as a resul of
to install weathers
~ about
home
the person who is not initial
have an energy audit on hi
this contact, Ms~ X is
dowsq If Ms~ X talks to her
visi t;s she will tell hirn about benef! ts of ~7eathers
If Ms~ X invests fme and money in weathers and finds herself
to about wJeathers she v.lill star to
think of herself as someone \~lho is concerned about residential heat
loss~ who are concerned about residential hea loss tend to be
interested in wall and insulation, storm windows~ sand
air leaks as well~ As a result Ms
close and open s at the
~lil1 be more inclined to
tlmes~ consider instal
had the energy audit
her windo~;ifs and talked to Mr Y ',11 th
that t s easier to filotivate to
insulation, and so on} than she v.las beforE:
done
this, i should be
engage in cOl1servation
new; energy efficient
that are one-time in nature--such as
an,d cars ~flhen old ones wear
out--than it is to them to engage in behaviors
cammi tment-=¥=-such as bottles and cans
We should that the not if e are
forced into the behaviors @ As Linder ~ " ........,ii'l.,§iW"_.s., and Jones (1 ) have
demonstrated, who induced to rID a.ctions without their
On the othe
volition or the appearance of choice do not
that action; thus) continued action is not
their attItudes th
hand, Linder, et al~, have also found people do change attitudes to
make them congruent with their behavior if they believe that the
behavior was chosen* People resent being told what to do;
it offends a person's sense of being a free and competent adult to be
prodded with either a carrot or a stick& The model of human behavior
presented here suggests that heavy-handed attempts to influence behavior
through prohibitions or large tangible incentives may be counterproduc
tive (Dec!, 1975; Brehm, 1966)~ If people feel pressured, they may
react doing the opposite of what the incentive or regulations call
for, or at best, complying for only a short time~ For example, peo-
can probably be induced to comply with limits if we are wil-
to have a patrol car stationed every mile or so along the highway~
This is not consistent with our goal, which is to motivate
to internalize a whole new set of values so that will drive
more of whether anyone is watching0
This model s, therefore, that ations and incentives be
used and be constructed with an eye toward minimiz-
their coercive nature0 In most cases, these should be thought of as
minor interventions which may encourage interest rather than as major
solutions in their own At the Santa Cruz conference, it was
noted that appear to be more interested in solar energy than in
insulation--even solar installations are more expensive
and less practical--because solar is usexier n than insulation,~ One of
the suggested that this Uirrational U behavior could be
remedied wi tax credits for unless the home had
first been insulated and This approach has a certain
intuitive wisdom to it; it is akin to a child that he may not
have dessert unless he first eats his brussels sprouts~ But we believe
that such a reco'tnmendation may be naive from a social psychological
s cannot slate how people become interested in
energy conservation; nei ther can it dictate how they express their
interest~ Withd tax credits from who wish to put in solar
lJ8,ter heaters before install is likely to discourage
from at all ~ , providing people wi th
some for in whatever behavior
choose should the seeds for and continued commitment
in the futurel~ In short~ the sexier '~~desse:rt~'~ of sola!' energy ['118.y pro"=
vide the foot in the door for the less sexy insulation and weatherstr
need to exercise a serLse of control over thetr Iives ~ To
maximize and programs should allow to exercise
choice whenever This does not mean that makers need to
construct elaborate systems of critical choices for citizens to select
from~ On the to make small choices in s
matters can have very result For e and Rodin
(1 ) studied nur hOIfte,* SOIDe of the 'w(~rt;
make decisions about their routines 0
Patients decided how wanted the their rooms
where wanted to meet with sitors~ what kind of wanted
in their rooms, and when wanted to view the movie The con-
tent of these decisions may not have a dramatic effec on the of
ife in homes, but the process of them does The result
of this are clear: pa ients who over their lives
v,7henever became much more act and alert and in
sense of personal than a
group of in the same home
Work done social sts at the Center for and
Environmental Studies at Princeton Universi a e of
the of this to energy conservation (Becker~
man, and 197)~ The Princeton group considered #8 resis~
tance to ins autom2~tic thermostats
that the involved believed that lacked control over the tem-
Ol1.ce the p:rograrn The st ?
wj~th technical assist.ance) modified the thermostats so that resident
were able to override the system This made
the automatic thermostats much more attractive to the residents because
i allo\r>led them to ad the system the partictllar
needs These studies are because 8ucce in.cor~:"
mechanisms that encourage to become act involved
maintain a sense of control their
The more the of energy conservation involve
residents in conservation awareness programs that make them feel as if
they have control over and are for their energy usage, the
more successful the conservation efforts will bee Consistent with this,
enlisting community groups in local conservation or renewable energy
projects shows great promise (Stern and Kirkpatrick, 1977)0 If conser-
vation are adopted on a basis) or if a
community commits itself to a local energy production , it should
be possible to involve relatively numbers of non-
coercive means such as encouraging them to be to their
neighbors, to up their civil commitments, or to assume active con
trol over their energy
resources and for mobilization of these
exist wi thin the VISTA and CETA programs, as
well as among the various level assistance programs
and among young ~ environmental These can be
trained and far more economical than the contractors and
utili who have been to most of the conser-
vation service programs now
a cadre of such would not only
deliver assistance more homeovmers and
tenants, but it would also a cohort of energy
of new and energy conser-
vation measures~ to Denman (1980)~ a recent Science
Foundation s concluded that small businesses were times
more cost~effective than businesses in new
Grass roots action and programs, therefore) deserve sup-
for many reasons~ involve a number of residents in all
of the process; engage individuals
in energy efficient behaviors; awareness;
for members; allow programs to be tailored
to the needs of the locale; and se the
return for each dollar invested
Demography and the American Dream: In another vein, social scien
tists can also offer some valuable insights into rapidly changing demo
graphic patterns~ There is a widespread belief that in order to achieve
energy conservation goals, it might be necessary to change radically or
destroy completely "The American Dream * 1lf The American Dream is thought
by many to consist of a four-bedroom, single-family house in the
suburbs 0 But recent demographic survey evidence indicates that although
this was the American Dream from the end of World War II through the
19508, the u~s. population is now shifting to small cities and towns of
under 50,0000 Many young couples and their families are leaving subur
bia in search of affordable housing and communities that encourage
citizen participationo
The cohort of people currently joining the housing market consists
of those who were of college age during the social turmoil of the 1960s@
This generation highly values community awareness, collective action,
and interpersonal contact ~ The idea of a centrally located dwelling
that provides quick access to work) schools, stores, and recreational
facilities is considered by this group far more appealing than a spread
out housing tract requiring inhabitants to commute long distances~ In a
search for affordable housing, this group has come to welcome the
development of the condominium, the townhouse, and the planned commun-
Additionally, many older couples who provided the market
for the suburban dream houses are moving back into apartments and con
dominiums in the cities0 The four-bedroom suburban house has become too
to operate, is inconveniently located, and is unnecessarily
for with grown childrene
The American Dream is changing rapidly, and this change is creating
a demand for a new and different kind of housing ~ Fortunately, it
appears that this new market is completely compatible with the type of
design our economy now requires~ There is evidence
that architects and planners are beginning to recognize and respond to
this shift (Miller, 1980)@ Consideration should be given to discovering
mechanisms for providing support and encouragement for these trends0
RESEARCH AND PROGRAM EVALUATION NEEDS
Up to this , we have drawn upon the store of knowledge that
social scientists have compiled regarding persuasion, attitude change,
demographic patterns, policy formation, and the like$ But social scien
tists can contribute in another major area as welle Social scientists
possess an of methods and research skills that are
larly well suited to applied situations and which can provide answers to
the new questions generated involved effort
to increase energy efficiency@
If the nation is to achieve significant reductions in the amount of
energy resources consumed to our energy services, it is impera-
tive that we be able to di effective conservation programs from
ineffective ones~ To date, most for program evaluations
stress the collection of U data~ That is, evaluators focus on
technical measures such as the number of kilowatt hours used when
variables ~ ) this choice will infor-
mation that is necessary to the evaluation of conservation programs~ It
is not~ however, sufficient to answers to all of the basic and
relevant Social scientists have for the advan-
of e measures of variables in
studies ~ How will 'we determine a program failed if we depend on
one technical measure of success? Such a fails to
makers with information about the nature, , and numbers of
Nor can this new;; for the
future~ a person seeks an energy audit or refuses to have
one done may be even more than out how much energy the
audited households save
We need to answer other about the human aspects of conser-
vation We must learn how individual decisions of consumers about
energy use are (or are not) affected If we are to
maximize our efforts, we need to compare the reasons one gives
for insulation, another for a solar water heater, and
a third for no action at all. If conservation ices and new
energy sources are to have an ~ we must learn what makes some
innovations diffuse throughout the society while others fail to be
adopted@
In order to make useful contributions to evaluation of conservation
programs, social scientists need to be included in their planning
stages @ Analyses are flimsy at best when done in post-hoc fashion;
attitude change can only be studied in situations which have upreu meas
ures~ People cannot be relied upon to provide accurate ions of
former opinionsG Similarly, behavioral indices cannot be generated by
speculation., Although people will not invariably lie about the informa-
tion in question, they sometimes will do so to present themselves in a
good light or in an effort to IUhelpu the researcher@ The same non-
economically-rational forces that work to distort judgments also influ-
ence people when they attempt to reconstruct the past or their
own behavior~ Consider the residents of Portland, Oregon, who partici-
pated in an experiment designed to decrease automobile use and
Bachman, 1980)~ Bus fares were drastically lowered for a period of
timee When questioned, citizens clearly believed and
they were driving less0 Indeed, bus rider records
maintained
their
claims: ridership was considerably higher~ Unfortunately, the residents
were wrong ~ The experimenter kept careful odometer records of cars
before and during the study~ It appears that people felt so virtuous
about the bus to work everyday that they felt of spe-
cial reward on weekends--namely, long, recreational car Reliance
on memory alone, or memory supported circumstantial evidence) would
have led to an conclusion~
, social scientists are needed to conduct longitudinal stu
dies. Because both the diffusion of social innovation and the degree to
which an individual is committed to a cause changes and grows over time,
it is essential that research contact be maintained with over a
of years~ Research strategies in which a large number of
are interviewed only once will be far less useful than those in which
fewer people are interviewed more often$
CONCLUSION
In presenting the case at Santa Cruz for the importance of the
social science perspective in energy conservation research and program
evaluation, the social scientists also maintained that it is not
intended to usurp the economic-rational model~ Rather) it suggests fac
tors that need to be considered in order to increase the effectiveness
of tradi tional The use of this can lead to the
development of programs that will be effective in a wide array
of situations~ Further, several social concepts--such as
the social diffusion of innova tion, the role of the self-esteem as a
motivational force, and the of rational fac-
tors in described 0 The of these con-
for energy conservation were discussed and a. recommendation
for the of based programs was made~ Additional
the nature of the American Dream and recent shifts in demo-
terns were outlined @ A case for the inclusion of social
scientists in all of conservation research and evaluation pro-
grams was made ~ Final , the need for tudinal studies·
mult measures of variables was noted@
REFERENCES
commitments for
on Social
Press, 1980~
l~ Aronson, E@ Persuasion~ self
small rewards 0 In L~ Fe
Oxford: Oxford Universi
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