#812 Mélusine Boon-Falleur: The Impact of Resources on Psychology, and Climate Change
Mélusine Boon-Falleur is a PhD student in cognitive sciences at the École Normale Supérieure (ENS) Paris, researching how evolution shaped our brain. She is particularly interested in studying how individuals adapt to the amount of resources available in their environment, and how our social cognition influences pro-environmental behavior.
In this episode, we focus on how resources impact psychology, and climate change. We start by talking about noncognitive skills and their impact on academic achievement. We then get into how quantitative changes in resources lead to qualitative changes in people’s psychology. We discuss the importance of time horizons, and talk about pyramids of needs. We discuss how resource allocation affects cooperation and health-related behavior. We discuss risky behaviors through different time horizons. We talk about where stereotypes about the behavior of people of low socioeconomic status come from. We talk about the belief-action gap and what explains it. We discuss the labeling of behaviors as “irrational”. Finally, we talk about the social dilemma of climate change and the cognitive mechanisms that play a role in environmental policies, and the important role of social scientists in helping tackle climate change.
Time Links:
Intro
Noncognitive skills (grit, conscientiousness and self-control) and academic achievement
How quantitative changes in resources lead to qualitative changes in people’s priorities and psychology
Time horizons, and pyramids of needs
How resource allocation affects cooperation and health-related behavior
How people’s time horizons vary across socioeconomic levels
Understanding risky behaviors through different time horizons: hazardous behaviors vs. venture behaviors
Approaches to prevent hazardous behaviors
Where stereotypes about the behavior of people of low socioeconomic status come from
How people formed perceived morbidity and mortality risks associated with COVID-19
The belief-action gap
A comment on labeling behaviors as “irrational”
The social dilemma of climate change, and the cognitive mechanisms that play a role in environmental policies
The important role of social scientists in helping tackle climate change
Follow Mélusine’s work!
Follow Mélusine’s work:
University page: http://bit.ly/3HyxTUI
Website: http://bit.ly/3VnpTta
ResearchGate profile: https://bit.ly/3WETj7l
Twitter handle: @BoonFalleur