Environmental psychology is concerned with how humans affect, and are affected by the environment. Environmental psychology is a relatively new field and only came into prominence in the 1950s. The field is interdisciplinary, focusing on the interplay between humans and their surroundings, both the built and the natural environments. The field defines the term environment broadly, encompassing natural environments, social settings, built environments such as, cities, schools and houses. The discipline is both value oriented and problem oriented, prioritizing research aimed at solving complex environmental problems in the pursuit of individual well-being within the larger society. Some key concepts include; place identity, place attachment, environmental consciousness, behaviour settings and environmental design and planning. There has also been widespread incorporation of environmental psychology into other areas of psychology, such as, health psychology (where psychologists explore social and physical environmental characteristics in relation to health); developmental psychology (for example, the role of different childcare settings); cognitive; and social psychology.
Degree Programmes/Course Units Linked To Thematic Area
CPY 202: Human Sexuality
CPY 203: Social Psychology
CPY 214: Biopsychology
CPY 216: Experimental Psychology
CPY 301: Health Psychology
CPY 303: Addictive Disorders
CPY 313: Organizational Psychology
CPY 319: Experimental Psychology
CPY 409: Cross Cultural Counselling
CPY 411: Engineering Psychology
CPY 414: Environmental Psychology
CPY 415: Community Psychology
CPY 418: Sports Psychology
CPY 420: Contemporary Issues in Psychology
CPY 422: Consumer Psychology