Читать книгу The Psychology of Environmental Law - Arden Rowell - Страница 10

Psychology has several features that can contribute to environmental law and policy.

 • Focuses on mental processes. Psychology describes, explains, and predicts the mental processes of humans, which in turn affect their behavior.

 • Uses mental processes to understand/predict behavior. Knowing how cognitive, emotional, and motivational processes (and consequent behaviors) work can help legal actors design environmental policies that have the effects they intend.

 • Experimental methodology. Methodologically, psychology supplies tools for a rich understanding of causes and effects in environmental law, and for predicting human behavior in light of social and environmental change.

 • Nonnormative. Psychology does not commit the user to any particular normative framework or set of environmental goals.

These features offer descriptive, predictive, and prescriptive payoffs, which can be used to make environmental laws more effective at achieving their goals.