Storytelling for Behavior Change: Use of Folktales for Promoting Sustainable Behaviors
Soumita Mitra
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India (India)
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2632-2705
Ahmed Sameer
Indian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India (India)
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6066-726X
Abstract
Our Earth has been entangled in different adverse effects resulting from the excessive human interference into the territory of nature. The habit of extracting and consuming indiscriminately is moving them to a situation, where their own future generation would not be able receive benefits of the natural resources. It has also been recognized that human action is perhaps the most significant contributor to this. And therefore, a proper equilibrium, i.e., sustainable development, could only be achieved by bringing about a change in human behavior in general. We explore the possibility of using indigenous knowledge for encouraging sustainable behaviors. We propose a model for behavior change through storytelling by using folktales. We argue that folktales serve three functions – epistemic, motivational, and ethical – which make them potent tools for promoting sustainable behavior. We conclude by pointing out limitations and suggestion for future research.
Keywords:
folktales, storytelling, behavior change, sustainability, environmentReferences
BBCmediaction (Youtube Channel), https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GU-wh8UQxg4 (23.12.2021).
Google Scholar
Bloomberg Green, https://www.bloomberg.com/news/features/2021-02-03/how-a-water-crisis-hit-india-s-chennai-oneof-the-world-s-wettest-cities (21.12.2021).
Google Scholar
DELMOTTE V.M., ZHAI P., PIRANI A., CONNORS S.L., PEAN C., BERGER S., CAUD N., CHEN Y., GOLDFARB L., GOMIS M.I., HUANG M., LEITZELL K., LONNOY E., MATTHEWS J.B.R., MAYCOCK T.K., WATERFIELD T., YELEKCI O., YU R., ZHOU B., in press, Climate Change 2021: The Physical Science Basis, Contribution of Working Group I to the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, IPCC.
Google Scholar
DE WIT J. B. F., DAS E., VET R., 2008, What works best: Objective statistics or a personal testimonial? An assessment of the persuasive effects of different types of message evidence on risk perception, Health Psychology, 27(1): 110-115, https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.27.1.110.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1037/0278-6133.27.1.110
Google Scholar
GHOSH A., 2003, An Uncertain ‘Coming of the Book’: Early Print Cultures in Colonial India, Book History, 6: 23-55.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/bh.2004.0009
Google Scholar
GREEN M.C., SESTIR M., 2017, Transportation Theory, The International Encyclopedia of Media Effect, eds. Rössler P., Hoffner C.A., Zoonen L., Wiley-Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0083.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/9781118783764.wbieme0083
Google Scholar
HAGGER M., CAMERON L., HAMILITON K., HANKONEN N., LINTUNEN T., 2020, The Handbook of Behavior Change, Cambridge Handbooks in Psychology, Cambridge University Press, Cambridge.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1017/9781108677318
Google Scholar
HAIDT J., 2012, The Righteous Mind, Penguin, UK.
Google Scholar
HORNSY M. J., HARRIS E. A., BAIN P., FIELDING K. S., 2016, Meta-analyses of the determinants and outcomes of belief in climate change, Nature Climate Change, 6: 622-626, https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2943.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2943
Google Scholar
JIMENEZ P.V., 2012, El Gallo Pinto, Food, Culture & Society, 15(2): 223-240, https://doi.org/10.2752/175174412X13233545145228.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.2752/175174412X13233545145228
Google Scholar
KRISTL Z., SENIOR C., SALAJ A.T., 2020, Key Challenges of Climate Change Adaptation in the Building Sector, Urbani Izziv, 31(1): 101-111.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.5379/urbani-izziv-en-2020-31-01-004
Google Scholar
LEVINE C., KOHLBERG L., HEWER A., 1985, The Current Formulation of Kohlberg's Theory and a Response to Critics, Human Development, 28 (2): 94-100, https://doi.org/10.1159/000272945.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1159/000272945
Google Scholar
MICHIE S., RICHARSON M., JOHNSTON M., ABRAHAM C., FRANCIS J., HARDEMAN W., ECCLES M. P., CANE J., WOOD C. E., 2013, The behavior change technique taxonomy (v1) of 93 hierarchically clustered techniques: building an international consensus for the reporting of behavior change interventions, Annales of behavioral medicine: a publication of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, 46(1): 81-95. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9486-6.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12160-013-9486-6
Google Scholar
Narrative Transportation, http://davenussbaum.com/blog/narrative-transportation, (10.12.2021).
Google Scholar
OKYERE K., 2011, Bible, ecology and sustainable development: A reading of Genesis 1:1-2:4a, Ilorin Journal of African Studies, 1(2): 81-96.
Google Scholar
PASSON B., 2019, The power of storytelling for behavior change and business, American Journal of Health Promotion, 33(3): 475-476, https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117119825525d.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0890117119825525d
Google Scholar
PATHONI H., ALRIZAL A., FWBEIYANTI S.,2020, The folklore-based comic to increase Students’ motivation in physics learning, Journal of Education for the Gifted Young Scientist, 8(4): 1471-1482, https://doi.org/10.17478/jegys.770665
DOI: https://doi.org/10.17478/jegys.770665
Google Scholar
POLLARD E.M., THAMAN R., BRODIE G.D., MORRISON C., 2015, Threatened Biodiversity and Traditional Ecological Knowledge: Associated Beliefs, Customs, and Uses of Herpetofauna among the ’Are’ Are on Malaita Island, Solomon Islands, Ethnobiology Letters, 6(1): 99-110, https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.6.1.2015.389.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.14237/ebl.6.1.2015.389
Google Scholar
PRAKASH G., 2021, An Implication of Buddhist Ethical Teaching on Sustainable Development, Problemy Ekorozwoju/ Problems of Sustainable Development, 16(1): 187-191, https://doi.org/10.35784/pe.2021.1.2.
DOI: https://doi.org/10.35784/pe.2021.1.20
Google Scholar
VIJAYAN V.S., 2003, Where have all the sparrows gone?, New Delhi, Down to Earth.
Google Scholar
Authors
Soumita MitraIndian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India India
https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2632-2705
Authors
Ahmed SameerIndian Institute of Technology (Indian School of Mines), Dhanbad, India India
https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6066-726X
Statistics
Abstract views: 91PDF downloads: 48
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.