Environmental cues and the implemental mindset in task persistence

¶ … Environmental Cues Shape Behavior

Most people spend their daily lives completing tasks, which involve waiting or queuing on a line. With this situation of waiting like at ATMs, others avoid, postpone, or even abandon their endeavors. Other people endure the wait even though they feel frustrated or dissatisfied by the experience (Horowitz, 2007).

It is evident that irrelevant environmental cues like queue barriers used in airports, banks of ATMs serve as barriers that split people waiting in two categories. The first category comprises those who are within the system and the other category involves those outside the system. In-system people show increased persistence in task completion, action initiation and overall optimism (Ahmad & Prasad, 2012).

Situational cues have a substantial impact on behavior. For instance, wine shops that play French music have demonstrated an increase in the purchase of French wine. This suggests that cues not directly connected to a person's objectives could have a significant impact in a task setting: influencing cognition and the way in which the job is done (Cormier, Nurius & Osborn, 2009).

Individuals have a tendency of locating physical markers in their environments defining and creating boundaries. They can do this consciously and unconsciously. For instance, weather patterns and objects in a waiting setting create virtual borders, which divide those waiting in the system between out-system and in-system categories. After a sample crossed the virtual border, a hypothesis is created; a person will embrace an implemental mindset (Horowitz, 2007). This would be characterized by a minor optimistic perception of objective-relevant information and great action-conscious. From their findings, in-system customers in an ATM were more expected to remain on the queue and complete their transactions. This is unlike the out-system individuals, some of whom dropped out of the line.

These findings are among the growing literature focusing on the impacts of environmental cues on behavior and motivation. Additionally, besides its application to the daily tasks, using environmental cues in activating the implemental mindset could have wider implications if the choice to wait could have detrimental consequences. For instance, encouraging patients, who are waiting for a kidney transplant to remain optimistic, might have a beneficial impact on the well-being (Horowitz, 2007).

Behavior modification to support sustainability and limit negative impacts on the environment

One approach to support sustainability through modifying behavior is to create self-reliant communities founded on the principles of simple living. This maximizes self-efficiency, especially in the production of food. These principles, on a broader scale, support the concept of environmental protection (Ahmad & Prasad, 2012). Other strategies, intertwined around a better life are successful minimizing environmental impacts through altering the built environment in an effort to preserve and create a sustainable community, which supports a sustainable environment. These approaches require people to drive short distances in order to reduce environmental impacts.

The level of human progress towards environmental sustainability relies upon social movements that influence the environment and community choices. One such movement could be eco-municipalities. This social movement takes a systems approach focused on sustainable principles. The movement involves participation by community members in a bottom-up model. Currently, many towns and cities can adopt a common set of principles of sustainability and implement them systematically in the entire municipal operations (Cormier, Nurius & Osborn, 2009).

Many useful strategies exist for people intending to change their behavior to limit negative impacts on the environment. This can be accomplished by adopting easy and cheap achievable steps. However, the change required to minimize human consumption to sustainable levels entails large steps at different levels in the community. The UN acknowledges the core role of education in a sustainable environment (Horowitz, 2007). This means that we must adopt new practices and behaviors to secure the future. The UN proposes a sustainability strategy that extends beyond education in tackling the materialistic and individualistic societal values and strengthens peoples' relationships with the natural environment (Ahmad & Prasad, 2012).

Possible solutions

There are different strategies for behavior change. Each approach focuses on a distinct set of behavioral determinants. This section recommends two possible strategies, which could be informational and structural.

Informational: Providing Information

This approach has a complex role in behavior change. Although information alone cannot encourage people to adopt new behaviors, it is obvious that lack of information could be a barrier to behavior change, and even a national culture. In some cases, national cultures might be used, but in some communities, a combination of cultures is likely to make media approach challenging (Ahmad & Prasad, 2012).

Structural: Utilizing Incentives and Creating Commitment

This approach focuses on activities that extract commitment from community members. This commitment is given either verbally or in writing to increase the chances of changing behavior. This approach is viewed as individual's basic desire to attain consistency between their statements and behaviors. If a person agrees to recycle because he/she is convinced that it is the right thing to engage in, then he/she is more likely to follow through the commitment (Horowitz, 2007). In most cultures, human beings prefer to believe that they tend to keep their word. Therefore, because of their commitment, they have high chances of matching their activities to their beliefs about recycling. In turn, this promotes a sustainable environment for interaction.