Motivation and Influence in Taking Climate Action
Summary
In this two-part activity, students learn the psychology of motivation and goal-setting, and apply it to an action plan for civic engagement that addresses food insecurity caused by climate change impacts. They carry out a civic action that addresses a climate justice issue, and reflect on motivations for their action and how social influence and persuasion concepts apply to their experience of taking action.
Learning Goals
1. Describe and differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
2. Explain how extrinsic motivation can undermine intrinsic motivation, and how the type of reinforcement/reward matters in this relationship.
3. Describe how belongingness is related to intrinsic motivation.
4. Apply concepts of motivation theory to explain rewards and drive for civic engagement.
5. Define instinctive behavior and explain why instincts are difficult to identify in humans.
6. Explain the drive theory of motivation and how habits may be formed.
7. Predict the relationship between arousal and performance on specific types of tasks based on the Yerkes-Dodson law.
8. Explain the relationship between an individual's self-efficacy and their motivation.
9. Describe Maslow's hierarchy of needs as well as the limitations of this theory.
10. Use concepts from this unit to examine and analyze the issue of food insecurity that is exacerbated by climate change.
11. Engage in an action around climate justice to better understand how an individual can influence their community.
12. Identify local examples of successful projects that address food insecurity.
Context for Use
I thread this two-part project through five weeks of a hybrid General Psychology survey course with a class size of 30 students at a two-year college, in which students learn a wide range of psychology concepts and ideas. During Week 4 of an 11-week term, I use two 50-minute class sessions for small group and class discussions and brainstorming. Students spend about five to six hours of time outside class working on readings, watching videos, and completing assignments related to the project between Week 4 and Week 8. In addition to this, they spend a few hours outside class time engaging in a civic action related to climate justice during that time period.
I implement the activity in the section of the course in which students are learning about motivation and action (e.g., intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, belongingness, self-actualization, drive, and Maslow's hierarchy of needs) and then we follow up with reflecting on their action during a unit on social influence and persuasion. The activity could also be used in different parts of a similar psychology course, such as when students are learning about classical and operant conditioning and behavior modification, mental health (e.g. climate anxiety), or child development. This activity is not dependent on class size and could easily work in a stadium-style lecture hall course with a much larger class size, with small group and class discussion happening during weekly breakout or discussion sessions led by graduate teaching assistants. It is also suitable across levels, from high school psychology courses to upper level university courses. It could also be used in other social science courses, such as sociology or economics, where the topic of social influence is covered. There are no skills or concepts that students need to have mastered prior to encountering this activity (other than eligibility to take a basic English Composition course, to make sure they are not still English Language Learning, in which case they will struggle with the readings). I don't use a single textbook for the course, though most of the readings are compiled by me using the Open Educational Resource Noba: General Psychology at North Seattle College (NSC). To teach this activity, a computer and internet connection are needed for accessing readings and videos. I use the Canvas online Learning Management System (LMS) to distribute assignments, collect student work, and offer feedback on assignments completed by students, but any LMS will work, and the use of an LMS is not necessary if the course is offered in-person in a classroom. In a non-LMS context, instructors can print out handouts of assignments for distribution to students during class, collect assignments completed by students on paper during class time, and provide written feedback on each assignment.
Description and Teaching Materials
Instructor Preparation: Check links to readings and video in assignments, prepare PowerPoint presentation for class, set up assignments on a Learning Management System or print out assignments to distribute during class time as handouts, research local food security issues and how local communities, organizations, or governments are addressing these issues, then create a "resource and reading list" for students (see Word file provided in Step 3, below, for an example).
Step 1: Motivation and Civic Engagement Reading Assignment (1 hour or less). For this part of the activity, students read a textbook chapter and an article before class to prepare for a discussion that occurs during class (Step 2 below). Students read a chapter on motivation from an OER Commons textbook. A similar chapter from any standard introductory psychology textbook should work as well. Students also read The psychology of citizenship and civic engagement, which is a book summary written by the author of a book of the same name. The reading describes the author's research on the benefits of civic engagement for individuals and for communities.
Step 2: Motivation and Civic Engagement Class Discussion (45 minutes). This part of the activity occurs during class time. The purpose of this step is to help students connect the concepts of intrinsic and extrinsic motivation to civic engagement. I start by giving a short lecture (see PowerPoint presentation below) on motivation theories (instinct/evolutionary theory, drive theory, and arousal theory), using eating behavior as an example of our biological and psychological drives for food. The goal of the lecture is to get students thinking about what they read, and to check to see if they have any questions. I also describe factors that motivate behavior (intrinsic versus extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, locus of control, and explanatory style). During class, students work in groups to discuss the two readings that they completed prior to the class session (from Step 1) and to create a list of ways that civic actions can be both intrinsically and extrinsically motivated. For example, in The psychology of citizenship and civic engagement, which they read before class, there is information about how communities see benefits to their own resources/environment as a result of civic engagement, which illustrates how extrinsic motivation influences the civic actions taken by a community. There is also a sense of belonging that comes from being civically engaged with your community, which is an intrinsic motivator. Groups of students report out on their discussion and list of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations for civic engagement. This is followed by a class-wide discussion focused on applying concepts from the chapter on motivation to students' own personal experiences with civic engagement.
Motivation and Civic Engagement.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 2.9MB May15 24)
Step 3: Introduction to Climate Justice and Food Insecurity Assignment (1 hour). For this step, students complete a reading, watch a video, and explore a list of resources to prepare for the class discussion and reflection in Step 4 (below). Students read Why Climate Change is an Environmental Justice Issue, which focuses on how climate change impacts marginalized communities disproportionately. This prepares them for discussion about climate justice during the next class session. (Note: I teach this course from an anti-racist lens, and structural racism is introduced early on in the course, so students are already familiar with thinking about social justice issues using a structural perspective and framework. In week 6, I use the Psychology of Racism reading from the Noba OER textbook I created for this course: General Psychology at North Seattle College (NSC) to emphasize this topic). Students then watch a six-minute PBS NewsHour video How climate change is disrupting the global food supply, which shows ways that food production and security are affected by climate change, including how global food supply issues will affect everyone. I also provide students with a list of readings and resources (see Word file below) that will help them better understand local food security issues and efforts to address them, such as on my college's campus (North Seattle College), on the nearby University of Washington campus, and in the broader Seattle area and King County as a whole. I ask students to read How To Get Connected And Fight Food Insecurity, which provides an overview of food insecurity in the region where my college's campus is located, so that students can start thinking about a local action they can take to address food insecurity. I include a full list of local resources as well, though students do not need to review them all at this time. The list is available so that students have ideas to draw from in Steps 4 through 6 (below) to figure out how they could become involved locally and then take civic action on a local food insecurity issue. Another reason that I provide a comprehensive list of local resources is that some students in my class may be food insecure.
Local Food Insecurity Readings & Resources.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 14kB May15 24)
Step 4: Maslow's Hierarchy, Food Insecurity, and Civic Action Discussion (50 minutes). This part of the activity occurs during class time. The purpose of this step is to help students connect Maslow's hierarchy of needs to the disproportionate effects of climate-exacerbated food insecurity on marginalized communities, as well as to acts of civic engagement. I start by giving a short lecture (see PowerPoint presentation below) to get students thinking about Maslow's hierarchy of needs content in the chapter on motivation and action that they have read previously (Step 1) and check-in to see if they have any questions. During the lecture, I highlight criticisms of Maslow's hierarchy of needs, especially how it is centered on Western culture and values, and the concept of self-transcendence (through helping others) as a level higher than self-actualization on the hierarchy. After the lecture, students work in small groups to map how food insecurity due to climate change may affect peoples' needs, as shown on Maslow's hierarchy, differently and disproportionately, and discuss whose needs students think should be met and why. (Discussion question prompts are on Slide 5 of the PowerPoint file provided below.) I center the discussion around climate justice and how the issue of climate-exacerbated food insecurity will disproportionately affect some communities. The activity solicits questions about whether needs lower on the hierarchy need to be met before higher needs, which leads to critiques of the hierarchy. Finally, I ask students to discuss how taking civic action might relate to their own experience of Maslow's hierarchy. After the small group discussions, each group shares their group's insights with the class and this leads into class-wide discussion where such issues as environmental racism, food deserts, and climate change disproportionately impact people and communities who are already marginalized. I ask students about actions they have taken in the past or things they think they could do to address food insecurity, with a focus on self-efficacy and self-actualization and self-transcendence on Maslow's hierarchy. This leads to students brainstorming an action they think they can take during the course. As part of this brainstorming step, I encourage students to delve more into the readings and resources (see "Local Food Insecurity Readings & Resources.docx" Word file in Step 3) for understanding and addressing local food insecurity, to help them come up with ideas for actions they can take.
Maslow Food Insecurity & Civic Brainstorming.pptx (PowerPoint 2007 (.pptx) 5.3MB May16 24)
Step 5: Climate Justice Issue and Civic Action Plan (1.5 to 2 hours). One week after the class session in which I implement Step 4, there is a follow-up assignment that asks students to write a short paper (1.5 to 2 pages longer) in which they describe a climate justice issue they want to take action on, apply what they've learned about motivation to their choice of action (e.g., intrinsic motivation, extrinsic motivation, self-efficacy, belongingness, self-actualization, drive, Maslow's hierarchy of needs), and describe the benefits of completing the action (for them and their community) based on what they learned from The psychology of citizenship and civic engagement reading and class discussions. Each student completes this assignment on their own outside class time. For their action and this paper, I encourage them to focus on food insecurity, but tell them they can choose another climate justice issue instead if they have an interest in or passion for another issue. For students interested in climate issues beyond food security, I direct them to this United Nations Climate Action web page: Explainers: Transforming climate issues into action. I also provide students with a list of ideas for different types of civic engagement (see Word file below), including (but not limited to) influencing policy(encouraging or registering others to vote, contacting government officials, canvassing),volunteering (for a group or organization, or fundraising), outreach (using social media or publication, write an op-ed or letter to the editor), or protesting or demonstrating (join a protest, sign or organize petitions, organize boycotts, create art, fashion, display buttons, logos, signs, stickers). I use a Wiki page on our LMS to compile this list and encourage students to add their own ideas.
Identify Issue & Motivation Assignment.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB May16 24)
Civic Engagement Ideas.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB May30 24)
Step 6: Civic Action and Social Influence Reflection Paper (variable). The amount of time needed for students to complete this step depends on the civic action they choose. Most students spend several hours on their civic action and the reflection paper takes them about 1.5 to 2 hours to complete. Students have about three weeks to take action to address a climate justice issue, based on when they complete Step 5 (during which they define the civic action they will take). During that same time period, students learn about social influence and persuasion as part of the course. (Students read two chapters from my Noba OER course textbook to learn about these psychology topics: Persuasion: So Easily Fooled and Conformity and Obedience). For this step, students write a 500- to 700-word paper to reflect on the action they took and their experience completing the action, and apply what they've learned about social influence and persuasion to their civic action. I ask them to include at least two social psychology concepts they can connect to their experience, including (but not limited to) social norms, observational learning, routes of persuasion, reciprocity, trustworthiness, escalating commitments, conformity, and informational influence. Finally, students reflect on how the action made them feel, whether they plan to take action in the future, and how taking action has impacted their motivation to take action in the future.
Action & Social Influence Assignment.docx (Microsoft Word 2007 (.docx) 15kB May16 24)
Teaching Notes and Tips
About 75% of students in my course tend to choose food insecurity as a focus and choose an action from the list of resources and readings about local food insecurity that I provide them with, while the other 25% pick another climate justice issue or type of civic action (often because they are already interested in or engaging in such work). Providing students with local ideas for civic engagement is very helpful, so that students not familiar with civic engagement are given guidance. Also, during the class discussion in Step 4, when students share actions they have taken, the other students in the class and I learn about other climate justice-focused activities occurring on our college's campus or nearby. Many students who chose to volunteer at my college's campus food pantry (North Seattle College) enjoyed it so much that they continued to do so throughout the rest of the term and beyond. Students who were not comfortable taking civic action, or those who did not have a lot of time, tended to engage in smaller-scale actions such as having a conversation with a family member or friend about food insecurity and climate justice. Students sometimes find local organizations on their own, such as one student volunteering recently for Sustainable Seattle, which is an organization I had not known about, to create art for protests about the genocide occurring in Gaza. Other students chose to work at local community gardens (known as "P-Patches" in Seattle). Another student made cookies for a Tiny House Village, which is an initiative of the Low Income Housing Institute, a non-profit organization that develops, owns and operates housing for the benefit of low-income, homeless and formerly homeless people in Washington State; advocates for just housing policies at the local and national levels; and administers a range of supportive service programs to assist those we serve in maintaining stable housing and increasing their self-sufficiency. Another student started using an electric bicycle more and posted about her experiences on social media to encourage others to do the same.
Many high schools require community service. If implementing this activity in a high school psychology course, it could be a great way for students to meet their community service hour requirement. In the psychology course I teach at my two-year college, many students are "Running Start" students, which is a program in Washington state that allows 11th and 12th grade students to take college courses at Washington's 34 community and technical colleges. Students earn both high school and college credits for these courses.
I teach this course through a lens of anti-racism. Students will gain a deeper understanding of climate justice and the disproportionate effects of food insecurity on marginalized communities, through this activity, if they are familiar with structural racism. During Week 6 of the term, in the middle of the time that I implement this activity in my course, students read about structural racism in a chapter from my course textbook for the course to learn about this idea within the context of the discipline of psychology: Psychology of Racism. Most introductory psychology textbooks do not include such a chapter. Again, this is not necessary, but it enriches and deepens student learning.
Assessment
1. Describe and differentiate between intrinsic and extrinsic motivation.
2. Explain how extrinsic motivation can undermine intrinsic motivation, and how the type of reinforcement/reward matters in this relationship.
3. Describe how belongingness is related to intrinsic motivation.
4. Define instinctive behavior and explain why instincts are difficult to identify in humans.
5. Explain the drive theory of motivation and how habits may be formed.
6. Predict the relationship between arousal and performance on specific types of tasks based on the Yerkes-Dodson law.
7. Explain the relationship between an individual's self-efficacy and their motivation.
Learning goals 1 through 7 are all focused on psychology concepts and I assess all of them using multiple choice questions on weekly quizzes and course exams.
8. Describe Maslow's hierarchy of needs as well as the limitations of this theory.
I also assess this learning goal using multiple choice questions on weekly quizzes and course exams. This learning goal also involves a lot of formative assessment and feedback during class time. During the small group discussions in Step 4, I walk around the room listening to student conversations as they talk in small groups and answering questions they ask me. This is a way for me to informally assess this learning goal and also offer formative feedback to students. When students are done discussing in small groups, I ask each group to share their answers to each discussion question with the class, which allows me to assess the understanding of the class as a whole and provide formative feedback to the whole class.
9. Use concepts from this unit to examine and analyze the issue of food insecurity that is exacerbated by climate change.
I use formative assessment during class time in Step 4 to assess this learning goal. During the small group discussions, I walk around the room listening to student conversations as they talk in small groups and answer questions they ask me. This is a way for me to informally assess this learning goal and also offer formative feedback to students. When students are done discussing in small groups, I ask each group to share their answers to each discussion question with the class, which allows me to assess the understanding of the class as a whole and provide formative feedback to the whole class.For students who choose a civic action that is focused on food insecurity, I can also assess this learning goal using the reflection paper they write for Step 6.
10. Engage in an action around climate justice to better understand how they can influence their community.
I assess this learning goal using Questions 3 and 5 of the reflection paper students write for Step 6.
11. Apply concepts of motivation theory to explain rewards and drive for civic engagement.
I assess this learning goal using Questions 3 and 4 of the short paper students write for Step 5.
12. Identify local examples of successful projects that address food insecurity.
I assess this learning goal using Question 6 of the reflection paper students write for Step 6.
References and Resources
This work is supported in part by NSF IUSE grant DUE 2043535.
General Psychology at North Seattle College (NSC) (this is the textbook I created for the course using Noba, a free online platform that provides open access flexibly structured textbooks and educational materials.
Motivation (psychology textbook chapter from OER Commons)
The psychology of citizenship and civic engagement (blog post book summary by author of The Psychology of Citizenship and Civic Engagement, 2014)
Why Climate Change is an Environmental Justice Issue (State of the Planet by Columbia Climate School, Columbia University)
How climate change is disrupting the global food supply (PBS NewsHour video)
How To Get Connected And Fight Food Insecurity (The Seattle Medium, October 2022)
Economic, social, and overall health impacts: food insecurity (interactive map with food insecurity by zip code in King County, Washington State, USA)
What Is Food Insecurity? (City of Seattle, Race and Social Justice Initiative)
Food and Nutrition (North Seattle College, Food Distribute and Financial Assistance for Food)
Food Pantry Volunteer Sign-Up (North Seattle College)
Seattle Community Fridge Project
UW Food Systems students tackle food security, food justice, and food sovereignty (University of Washington, Seattle food systems student projects)
Food Access (Seattle City Office of Sustainability and Environment)
Explainers: Transforming climate issues into action (United Nations Climate Action web page)
Persuasion: So Easily Fooled (psychology textbook chapter from Noba)
Conformity and Obedience (psychology textbook chapter from Noba)
Psychology of Racism (psychology textbook chapter from Noba)