IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jsusta/v14y2022i15p9146-d871935.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Water Conservation and Environmental Sustainability from a Community Clinical Psychological Perspective

Author

Listed:
  • Andrea Caputo

    (Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Manuela Tomai

    (Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

  • Elpiniki Pomoni

    (Institute of Geosciences and Earth Resources, National Research Council, 56127 Pisa, Italy)

  • Hilda Cecilia Méndez

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of El Salvador (UES), San Salvador 3222, El Salvador)

  • Bartolo Atilio Castellanos

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of El Salvador (UES), San Salvador 3222, El Salvador)

  • on behalf of the “Agua Futura” Consortium

    (Faculty of Medicine, University of El Salvador (UES), San Salvador 3222, El Salvador
    Membership of the “Agua Futura” Consortium is provided in the acknowledgments.)

  • Viviana Langher

    (Department of Dynamic and Clinical Psychology, and Health Studies, Sapienza University of Rome, 00185 Rome, Italy)

Abstract

This study was carried out as a part of the international cooperation project “Agua Futura” for the improvement of water resource management in rural communities of Central America. Given the problem of water shortage, especially in El Salvador, the aim was to detect some key factors affecting water conservation and environmental sustainability from a community clinical psychological perspective. Ninety rural inhabitants (mean age = 46.84, SD = 17.05) of El Salvador were given a structured interview exploring their symbolizations about water conservation. Data were analyzed through computer-assisted thematic analysis, then complemented by a qualitative analysis. Several themes were identified highlighting some differences regarding the emotional salience given to water resources as a primary good, the sense of responsibility for the sustainability of water resources at the community level, as well as diverse motivations and purposes affecting water use in households. The findings support the role of emotions, representations about others’ attitudes, and defenses against vulnerability and future uncertainty about water shortage. Additionally, the shift between an individualist or collectivist perspective underlying the decision to preserve water resources represents a significant matter to be taken into account for the understanding of effective pro-environmental behaviors in the long run.

Suggested Citation

  • Andrea Caputo & Manuela Tomai & Elpiniki Pomoni & Hilda Cecilia Méndez & Bartolo Atilio Castellanos & on behalf of the “Agua Futura” Consortium & Viviana Langher, 2022. "Water Conservation and Environmental Sustainability from a Community Clinical Psychological Perspective," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 14(15), pages 1-14, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9146-:d:871935
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9146/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2071-1050/14/15/9146/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Cho, Yoon-Na & Thyroff, Anastasia & Rapert, Molly I. & Park, Seong-Yeon & Lee, Hyun Ju, 2013. "To be or not to be green: Exploring individualism and collectivism as antecedents of environmental behavior," Journal of Business Research, Elsevier, vol. 66(8), pages 1052-1059.
    2. Daniel Kahneman, 2003. "Maps of Bounded Rationality: Psychology for Behavioral Economics," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 93(5), pages 1449-1475, December.
    3. Emmy De Buck & Hans Van Remoortel & Karin Hannes & Thashlin Govender & Selvan Naidoo & Bert Avau & Axel Vande Veegaete & Alfred Musekiwa & Vittoria Lutje & Margaret Cargo & Hans‐Joachim Mosler & Phili, 2017. "Approaches to promote handwashing and sanitation behaviour change in low‐ and middle‐income countries: a mixed method systematic review," Campbell Systematic Reviews, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 13(1), pages 1-447.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Winter, Peter, 2007. "Managerial Risk Accounting and Control – A German perspective," MPRA Paper 8185, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Kelly, Scott & Shipworth, Michelle & Shipworth, David & Gentry, Michael & Wright, Andrew & Pollitt, Michael & Crawford-Brown, Doug & Lomas, Kevin, 2013. "Predicting the diversity of internal temperatures from the English residential sector using panel methods," Applied Energy, Elsevier, vol. 102(C), pages 601-621.
    3. Zhu, Jiahua & Bao, Te & Chia, Wai Mun, 2021. "Evolutionary selection of forecasting and quantity decision rules in experimental asset markets," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 182(C), pages 363-404.
    4. Coleman, S., 2010. "Russian Election Reform and the Effect of Social Conformity on Voting and the Party System: 2007 and 2008," Journal of the New Economic Association, New Economic Association, issue 5, pages 73-90.
    5. Das, Willy & Das, Satyasiba, 2018. "Role of Heuristic Principles On Crowd-Funder's Investment Decision Making," 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disruptive Change (Dubrovnik, 2018), in: 6th International OFEL Conference on Governance, Management and Entrepreneurship. New Business Models and Institutional Entrepreneurs: Leading Disrupt, pages 443-452, Governance Research and Development Centre (CIRU), Zagreb.
    6. repec:osf:socarx:a9436_v1 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Randall Holcombe, 2005. "Government growth in the twenty-first century," Public Choice, Springer, vol. 124(1), pages 95-114, July.
    8. Shastitko, Andrey & Golovanova, Svetlana, 2016. "Meeting blindly… Is Austrian economics useful for dynamic capabilities theory?," Russian Journal of Economics, Elsevier, vol. 2(1), pages 86-110.
    9. Steven Andrew Culpepper & James Joseph Balamuta, 2017. "A Hierarchical Model for Accuracy and Choice on Standardized Tests," Psychometrika, Springer;The Psychometric Society, vol. 82(3), pages 820-845, September.
    10. Spagano, Salvatore, 2021. "Generalized Darwinism: An Auxiliary Hypothesis," MPRA Paper 108829, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    11. Robin Maximilian Stetzka & Stefan Winter, 2023. "How rational is gambling?," Journal of Economic Surveys, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 37(4), pages 1432-1488, September.
    12. Michaël Lainé, 2014. "Vers une alternative au paradigme de la rationalité ? Victoires et déboires du programme spinoziste en économie," Post-Print hal-01335618, HAL.
    13. Diantimala, Yossi & Wijayana, Singgih, 2024. "Compliance and familiarity with fixed assets' disclosure requirements and firm value," Emerging Markets Review, Elsevier, vol. 62(C).
    14. L. Mundaca & H. Moncreiff, 2021. "New Perspectives on Green Energy Defaults," Journal of Consumer Policy, Springer, vol. 44(3), pages 357-383, September.
    15. Benchimol, Jonathan & Bounader, Lahcen, 2023. "Optimal monetary policy under bounded rationality," EconStor Open Access Articles and Book Chapters, ZBW - Leibniz Information Centre for Economics, vol. 67, pages 1-25.
    16. Hajdu, Tamás & Hajdu, Gábor, 2011. "A hasznosság és a relatív jövedelem kapcsolatának vizsgálata magyar adatok segítségével [Examining the relation of utility and relative income using Hungarian data]," Közgazdasági Szemle (Economic Review - monthly of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences), Közgazdasági Szemle Alapítvány (Economic Review Foundation), vol. 0(1), pages 56-73.
    17. Iwowari Beatrice Dute, 2020. "The Influence of Cross-Cultural Language and Background on Climate Change Perception – An Empirical Investigation," International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation, International Journal of Research and Scientific Innovation (IJRSI), vol. 7(9), pages 50-55, September.
    18. Peysakhovich, Alexander, 2014. "How to commit (if you must): Commitment contracts and the dual-self model," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 101(C), pages 100-112.
    19. Suleyman Basak & Hongjun Yan, 2010. "Equilibrium Asset Prices and Investor Behaviour in the Presence of Money Illusion," Review of Economic Studies, Oxford University Press, vol. 77(3), pages 914-936.
    20. Basieva, Irina & Khrennikova, Polina & Pothos, Emmanuel M. & Asano, Masanari & Khrennikov, Andrei, 2018. "Quantum-like model of subjective expected utility," Journal of Mathematical Economics, Elsevier, vol. 78(C), pages 150-162.
    21. Brown, Zachary & Johnstone, Nick & Haščič, Ivan & Vong, Laura & Barascud, Francis, 2013. "Testing the effect of defaults on the thermostat settings of OECD employees," Energy Economics, Elsevier, vol. 39(C), pages 128-134.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    ;
    ;
    ;
    ;

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jsusta:v:14:y:2022:i:15:p:9146-:d:871935. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.