Forum 5.2 Planning to change behavior: individuals vs. groups

 
Check your ability to assess the social dimension of an environmental management opportunity. Take time to study the material for this activity. Try to incorporate new information presented here, the Value-Belief-Norm theory, along with content introduced in Lesson 5.2 in your response.

Use your post to this forum to see how well you have mastered course information about behavior change.

Directions

Explain your ideas about the difference between planning to change the behavior of an individual vs. planning to build the capacity of a group or community.

To develop your explanation, compare what you know about changing the behavior of individuals, to information about changing behavior of group members. Consider one more behavior change theory, the Value-Belief-Norm theory – explained below and in Table I of the Behavior Change Theories fact sheet, and refer to it as the basis for your understanding of group behavior.

Your explanation should take into account: the Value-Belief-Norm theory (summarized in the box below), community “capitals” described in Lesson 5.2, and individual behavior change theories outlined in Unit 4. You might find it helpful to start by developing your ideas in conversation with a colleague.

NOTE: By personal norm, in this context, we mean the beliefs that a person has adopted about a particular action based on: his or her attitude towards a specific behavior; his or her belief about that behavior's acceptability in society; whether the person feels that by applying that behavior he or she will make a difference; and finally whether the person feels that they have the skills to apply the behavior. Review Lesson 4.4 to check your understanding. 

BONUS QUESTION: As part of a social assessment process, what questions could you ask to determine whether individuals where you work have experienced an obligation (personal norm) for “pro-movement” action? How would you use their answers to develop an education or communication initiative?

Share your ideas, questions, and suggestions with other course participants. Add to a discussion, or start a new one.

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In Lesson 5.3, you will consider whether human behaviors are contributing towards a particular environmental condition found in a specific place and community, in more detail, building on concepts you learned in Unit 4. The answer to this question requires that you have a thorough and comprehensive understanding of the situation – an answer inclusive of the social and natural dimensions.