Between evidence and delusion – a scoping review of cognitive biases in Environmental and Sustainability Education

Abstract

Exposing learners to sustainability-related topics can present affective–motivational challenges for learners, which may prompt cognitive bias. Cognitive bias directly influences how individuals perceive and process sustainability-related information, thereby also influencing sustainability-related behaviour and decision-making. Therefore, cognitive bias may also present a significant obstacle to the purposes of Environmental and Sustainability Education. Notwithstanding its potential relevance, there is no comprehensive understanding of how cognitive bias is currently addressed in Environmental and Sustainability Education. This review scopes scientific literature that addresses cognitive bias in Environmental and Sustainability education, based on SCOPUS, Web of Science and ERIC. We identified 21 articles that matched our search criteria. We identified four superordinate categories of cognitive bias that were addressed in the literature, including bounded rationality, confirmation bias, self-enhancement and ambiguity aversion. Moreover, we distinguished three perspectives from which cognitive bias is discussed in the literature: (i) education to mitigate bias associated with sustainability-related matters, (ii) bias as a barrier to Environmental and Sustainability Education and (iii) bias at the research-paradigm level. The list of identified biases provides evidence that cognitive bias may play an important role in Environmental and Sustainability Education scholarship and practices, which suggests that more research on this topic is needed.