ISHS Acta Horticulturae 1355: XXXI International Horticultural Congress (IHC2022): International Symposium on Agroecology and System Approach for Sustainable and Resilient Horticultural Production
Understanding the process of pesticide regulations, a cognitive and behavioral perspective |
| Authors: | L. Parrot, C. Faure |
| Keywords: | pesticides, public institutions and agroecology, history, new-institutional economics, cognitive triad, cognitions, dissonance |
| DOI: | 10.17660/ActaHortic.2022.1355.38 |
| Abstract:
We combine methodological individualism and the cognitive and behavioral sciences to propose a framework to understand the processes of economic change. Methodological individualism states that subjective individual motivation explains social phenomena. Cognitive and behavioral sciences in medicine state that a permanently interacting cognitive triad affects human behavior: cognitions, behavior and emotions. The 3 major aspects of the cognitive triad are 1) the universality of emotions, 2) the need to recognize the emotional virtues of conflicts versus violence, and 3) the bidirectional relations between emotions, cognitions, and behavior (one affects the others and vice versa). Therefore, understanding how the components of the cognitive triad interact with each other can explain not only human decision making, but also institutional change. We test this framework to the history of pesticide regulations since 1945 in Europe through the lenses of the precautionary principle. We analyze the major turning points in pesticide regulation from the cognitive triad. Pesticide regulation evolved with a major cognitive switch from food security to environmental protection. Pesticide regulations gave substance to the behavioral requirements induced by the cognitive switch. Emotions, through cognitive dissonance, were a major factor for change as they drove the gradual cognitive switch. Cognitions, behavior and emotions interacted permanently and evolved from one temporary equilibrium to another. Put simply, a large part of what was considered as normal before is not anymore; and inversely, a large part of what was considered as abnormal before is now considered as normal. The process of change of public policies can therefore be a matter of understanding the processes underlining the cognitive triad in human decision making. This framework offers challenging interdisciplinary opportunities and renews the ways we understand institutional change for sustainable development. | |
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