Saving ecopsychology from itself: the need for scientific enquiry

The rise of environmentalism as a cultural ethos has had an impact on psychology. The field of psychology has witnessed the emergence of ecopsychology. At the foundational level, there has been significant writing that roots ecopsychology theory with transpersonal psychology. Roszak’s (1992) pioneering work The Voice of the Earth has envisioned ecopsychology as a further exploration of humans’ spiritual link with nature. Such writings have resulted in a field of study heavily influenced by New Age and Eastern mystical traditions. But as a consequence, does that put ecopsychology in the domain of spirituality rather than psychology? This paper suggests ecopsychology would be better served by rooting itself in experimental scientific psychology. Even when science is challenged as lacking depth, “Existential Experimental Psychology” (XXP) may build the bridge between the scientific methods and the need for deeper meaning. This paper concludes that the theoretical foundations for ecopsychology must move beyond philosophy and spirituality and suggests XXP as a solution to maintaining scientific rigour while not losing meaning.