Empirical research in environmental psychology: Past, present, and future

Have research interests in environmental psychology changed over the years? If so, in which direction? What can we learn from the past to direct future research? To answer these questions, empirical studies published in Environment & Behavior (E&B) and in Journal of Environmental Psychology (JEP), from their foundation to 2005, were reviewed. The articles were classified in relation to the following criteria: mode of human–environment transaction, research topic, type of setting and function of places, socio-demographic characteristics and environmental role of people, mode of presentation of the setting, sampling procedure, and source of data. Results showed both variations through the years and differences between the journals. The main research topics can be identified as the study of the residential environment, environmental cognition, observation of actual behaviour in the environment, and concern for the ecological value of the global environment. Trends in research interests showed a stable interest in the analysis of the built environment, a more place-specific approach in the beginning, strongly anchored in observational studies, and a central concern for sustainability and conservation of the environment in recent years. With respect to journals, the central role attributed to psychology by JEP, and the stronger participation by designers and planners in E&B, are reflected in the emphases given to the different modes of human–environment transaction. Trends in research interests help address the strengths and weaknesses of the discipline, thus suggesting future directions of inquiry.