(Inhibiting) Factors for (Un)Sustainable Behaviour in Relation to the Effects of Education for Sustainable Development: The Role of Psychological Constructs, Neurotransmitters and Ideological Impact on Consumer Behaviour

Despite several decades of Education for Sustainable Development, it seems that there is still no massive transition in (individual) consumer behaviour from ‘unbridled’ to sustainable and thus so that we still notice an absence of widespread responsible lifestyles. It has been documented numerous times that there is a gap between knowledge of and positive attitude towards addressing unsustainable behaviours, and the actual individual’s behaviour when it comes to sustainable lifestyles. The question now is: what is causing this gap? Our research focuses on the different factors that influence sustainable (consumer) behaviour changes. We will use psychoanalytical models (Lacan) to try and find out how satisfaction of materialistic needs works, the effect of consumption patterns on the brain, the impact of political and ideological influences on behaviour(al changes),… The goal is to create a systems model that would allow us to better understand consumer behaviour and that hopefully will bring suggestions on how to change education models for sustainable development. The research will use a multidisciplinary approach and hopes to explain why behaviour is so hard to change and why current programmes (such as the 4E and 7E-model) based on cognitive behavioural therapy are not as effective.