We look at climate-related behaviors through the prism of evolutionary psychology, focusing on what motivates or dissuades people from acting sustainably to combat climate change. We explain five major ancestral psychological reasons that impact people's environmental decisions in fundamental ways, in addition to current understanding. We examine how developed psychological systems such as self-interest, status, sensing, discounting tendencies, and social imitation might be exploited to promote pro-environmental behavior in recent studies. We examine the benefits and drawbacks of evolutionary-based behavioral interventions, as well as several open research issues that can help to integrate evolutionary approaches into mainstream environmental psychology
