Description
The current challenges of societal transformation into socially fair and ecologically sustainable economies require a deeper understanding of how people can be motivated, supported and empowered to change their habits and engage in sustainable behavior over longer time periods. In the present paper, we elaborate on the Personality-System-Interaction Theory as an integrative theoretical framework in psychological research, which differentially explains how, when, and why people are able and willing to support sustainable transformation and engage in environmentally compatible behavior. On the basis of this framework, we provide insights into three current projects, which aim at facilitating ecologically sustainable processes by creating best-possible psychological preconditions. First, the project “bergisch.kompetenz” seeks to develop and transfer in-depth expertise of solutions of circular economy into companies via human-resource processes (e.g., personnel and organizational development). In this project, we conceptualize different methods and instruments (based on the Personality-System-Interaction Theory), which enable and empower employees and experts to create and monitor sustainable material circles across different companies. Second, we also demonstrate another transdisciplinary project “Fit4Klima”, which aims at developing and distributing a web- and APP-based software that fosters a sustainable and healthy behavioral lifestyle in different private domains (e.g., nutrition, sport activities, vacation, mobility etc.). Third, we will show and discuss findings from a longitudinal study on the relationships between individual attitudes, motivational tendencies, perceived political initiatives of sustainable transformation and sustainable behavior (foot-print). In doing so, we provide insights into promising precursors of sustainable behavior under different psychologically and politically relevant boundary conditions.
