Abstract: In recent years, there has been growing criticism of research in the behavioral sciences, behavioral public policy, and environmental psychology for treating climate change as an individual rather than systemic problem, with individual rather than systemic solutions. In this talk, I argue that this criticism overlooks the interdependent relationship between individual and systemic change. First, while largescale structural interventions like the expansion of renewable energy infrastructure are urgently needed, they remain stalled without individual buy-in and are unlikely to occur in the first place without public support and pressure. Additionally, a large literature has shown that people are socially embedded — they have profound influences on those around them and are, in turn, influenced by their social networks. These social dynamics can render the status quo difficult to change, but it also means that circumscribed bottom-up change—for example, adoption of rooftop solar or cycling among a committed minority—can spread rapidly, leading to the emergence of new pro-environmental norms. I will present research on the role of social norms in both stalling and accelerating collective climate action.

Bio: Sara Constantino is an assistant professor at the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability in the Department of Environmental Social Sciences and a visiting research scholar at Princeton’s School of Public and International Affairs. She is also a faculty affiliate at SPARQ and the Social Science Environmental Health Research Institute. She has an interdisciplinary background at the intersection of economics, psychology, and environmental policy and politics. Her research focuses on understanding the interplay between individual, collective, institutional, and ecological factors, including how they shape preferences, decisions, experiences, and resilience to extreme events or shocks. In recent and ongoing studies, she is looking at the role of polarization, social norms and governance in stimulating or stifling climate action, including both adaptation and mitigation, and what conditions lead groups mobilize to shape policy and other outcomes. She also works on the impacts and politics of guaranteed income and other cash transfer programs.

This event is presented as part of the 2026 Perspectives on the Climate Change Challenge Seminar Series:

• Most Mondays, Spring Semester 2026, 2:55-4:10 p.m.
• 155 Olin Hall & Zoom

This university-wide seminar series is open to the public (via Zoom), and provides important views on the critical issue of climate change, drawing from many perspectives and disciplines. Experts from Cornell University and beyond present an overview of the science of climate change and climate change models, the implications for agriculture, ecosystems, and food systems, and provide important economic, ethical, and policy insights on the issue. The seminar is being organized and sponsored by the Department of Biological and Environmental Engineering and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability.