Better Balance: A Psychological Approach to the Problem of Sustainability

This paper presents a new model of sustainability, which proposes that solutions to issues such as climate change and population growth may emerge if businesses seek to better understand and harness the underlying human motivations responsible for driving sustainable and unsustainable behaviour. By drawing on the theories of Lawrence and Nohria (2002) and Seligman (2011, 2012), the authors argue that unsustainable behaviour is a result of imbalances in the achievement of human drives within our societies. The paper then invites the reader to reconsider the purpose of business as helping to achieve psychological balance within individuals, organisations and societies by being: (1) a provider of quality products; (2) a defender of what is important to people; (3) a facilitator of conversations and communities; (4) an educator in the space of sustainable consumption and wellbeing; (5) a co-creator of
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