God-nature Overlap and Environmental Care - Tobias Tanton

Summary:

Psychologists have long applied their disciplinary tools to probe the pressing social issues of their day; for example, the psychology of prejudice was developed in wake of World War Two and the American Civil Rights Movement. The recent environmental crisis has been no exception to this trend, with psychologists turning their attention to psychological phenomena associated with climate change and motivations for environmentally sustainable behaviours. However, the inclusion of religion in this burgeoning area has largely been insufficient, despite the possibility that religion may provide a potent motivating (or demotivating) factor for environmental care. Given that religion often plays a central role in shaping cosmological and ethical frameworks, it is seems highly plausible that it may also be an important factor in conceptualisations of the natural world and, thereby, environmental ethics. Recent attempts to draw religious factors into the conversation (Preston and Baimel, 2021) have sought to redress this lacuna. They present an important opportunity for engagement with ecotheology, in which theologians re-examine theological formulations in the context of environmental crisis. 

This project aims to investigate the relationship between a) God-nature overlap in psychological representations of the divine and b) environmental attitudes and behaviours.  It will consider whether those who conceptualise the natural world as enchanted or in some way permeated by the divine are more or less likely to exercise environmental care. It thereby works towards the theme of the fellowship, by focusing on the impact of divine representations vis-à-vis the natural world. 

The project will proceed by a) surveying theological work on categories such as pantheism, panentheism, and ‘classical theism’ to sharpen questions for psychological testing; b) collecting and analysing pilot data on God-nature overlap in relation to environmental concerns, and c) bringing psychological findings into dialogue with theological analogues of God-nature overlap. 

The output of the project will be a science-engaged theology conference presentation and journal article. The project aims to establish psychology and an important dialogue partner for ecotheology. It is hoped that the project will also lay the groundwork for a larger interdisciplinary grant on the project.