Psychological Barriers that Limit Community Adaptation to Climate Change; Special Reference to Sri Lanka

The increasing scale of potential climate impacts on communities highlight the urgency for successful adaptation. Although there are many potential adaptation options available for marginal changes of weather conditions, the... [ view full abstract ]

The increasing scale of potential climate impacts on communities highlight the urgency for successful adaptation. Although there are many potential adaptation options available for marginal changes of weather conditions, the persisting deficiency of adaptation in developing countries has recently received much attention for barriers to adaptation within both academic and policymaking agendas. Except the limits which can be analysed as structural barriers, there are psychological factors relating to human cognition which impede behavioural choices that would facilitate community adaptation and sustainability. Individual human cognition or their cognitive appraisal about the risk and coping capacity is strongly related to person’s adaptive behaviour and outcomes. Although, a few social scientists have focused on some of these factors, there has been little empirical research on psychological barriers that influences community adaptive behaviour in the social sciences research domain.
The primary purpose of this study is to examine the role of psychological barriers in limiting community adaptive behaviour and outcomes in the context of climate change. An examination of collective behaviour of rural community in Hambantota, Sri Lanka provides ample illustration of how those barriers limit the adaptive capacity to climate change.
Gifford, R. (2011), there are 7 types of psychological barriers obstruct behavioural choices that would facilitate mitigation, adaptation, and environmental sustainability. Lazarus and Folkman (1984), discuss the relationship of cognitive appraisal and coping mechanisms; and outcomes.
The case study indicated that mainly, adaptation to climate change is limited by the beliefs, values, goals, aspirations, lethargy and power structures within society. It is highly significant that the centralized political system, historical social changes of a country highly influenced for their cognitive process of decision making for adaptation to climate change.
Tipping Point: A failure to recognise psychological barriers can have dramatic consequences for an individual’s adaptive capacity to cope up with climate hazards and aggravate the vulnerability of marginalized people in developing countries.
Key Words: Climate Change, Adaptation, Psychological Barriers, Cognitive Process