Water Crisis: A Social Dilemma

Document Type : Review Paper

Author

Associate Professor, Institute for Humanities and Cultural Studies, Tehran, Iran.

Abstract

Currently, many countries, including Iran, are facing extremely high levels of water stress and annually more than 80% of the water available to users is supplied from groundwater resources. Water resources are declining fast, and the picture is alarming in many places around the world. Water resources are part of the common heritage and one of the most basic common natural resources of mankind. Common or public resources are resources for which exclusion of users is difficult to achieve and for which joint use reduces the availability of benefits derived from the resource for others, resulting in condition that produces a competition in the use of resources and the degradation or even destruction of resources. In this article, by using the method of documentary research, the effective factors in the development of cooperative behavior for water conservation using social dilemma theory are described and strategies such as education, moral commitment, communication, punishment and reward and social sanctions for sustainable exploitation of this resource are discussed.

Keywords


 
اندیشکده تدبیر آب ایران، (1394)، ارزیابی مقدماتی حکمرانی آب در کشور، اتاق بازرگانی، صنایع، معادن و کشاورزی کرمان.
فراستخواه، م.، (1395). ما ایرانیان: زمینه‌کاوی تاریخی و اجتماعی خلقیات ایرانی، نشر نی، تهران.
قاضی مرادی، ح. (1380)، در پیرامون خودمداری ایرانیان، نشر اختران، تهران.
Adams, E.A., (2014), "Behavioral attitudes towards water conservation and re-use among the United States Public", Resources and Environment, 4(3), 162-167.
Anabo, A.H., (2013), "The myth of tragedy of the commons in sustaining water resources", Mizan Law Review, 7(2), 309-350.
Anderson, T.L., and Leal, D.R., (2010), "Priming the invisible pump", In: P.G. Brown and J.J. Schmidt (eds.), Water Ethics: Foundational Readings for Students and Professionals, Island Press, 91-104.
Arisal, I., and Atalar, T., (2016), "The exploring relationships between environmental concern, Collectivism and ecological purchase intention", Procedia - Social and Behavioral Sciences, 235, 514-521.
Ashraf, S., Nazemi, A., and AghaKouchak, A., (2021), "Anthropogenic drought dominates groundwater depletion in Iran", Scientific Reports, 11, 9135. Viewed 15 Agust 2021, https://doi.org/10.1038/s41598-021-88522-y.
Bedard, S.A.N., and Tolmie, C.R., (2018), "Millennials’ green consumption behaviour: Exploring the role of social media", Corporate Social Responsibility and Environmental Management, 25(6), 1388-1396.
Boettke, P.J., (2013), "Cooperation/Coordination", In: Byren Kaldis (eds.). Encyclopedia of Philosophy and the Social Sciences, SAGE, 256-260.
Bogelein, S., (2015), "The social dilemma structure of climate change mitigation: Individual responses and effects on action", Ph.D. Thesis, University of East Anglia, UK.
Borgstede, Ch., Johansson, L.O., and Nilsson, A., (2013), "Social dilemmas: Motivational, individual and structural aspects influencing cooperation", In: L. Steg, A.E. van den Berg, J.I.M. de Groot (eds.), Environmental Psychology: An Introduction, First Edition, Psychological Society and John Wiley & Sons, USA, 175-184.
Borgstede, Ch., Johansson, L.O., and Nilsson, A., (2019), "Social dilemmas: Motivational, individual and structural aspects influencing cooperation", In: L. Steg and J.I.M. De Groot (eds.), Environmental Psychology: An Introduction, Second Edition, John Wiley & Sons, USA, 2007-2016.
Bravo, G., and Marelli, B., (2008), "Irrigation systems as common-pool resources", Journal of Alpine Research, 96(3), 1-11.
Cerutti, N., (2017), "Social dilemmas in environmental economics and policy consideration: A review", Ethics in Progress, 8(1), 156-173.
Chang, H., (2016), "Water conservation", In Richardson, D., Castree, N., Goodchild, M.F., Kobayashi, A., Liu, W., Marston, R.A. (eds.), The International Encyclopedia of Geography, Wiley, 1-6.
Cumming, G.S., (2018), "A review of social dilemmas and social-ecological traps in conservation and natural resource management", Conservation Letters, 11(1), 1-15.
Debaere, P., (2020), The tragedy of the (water) commons, Darden Case No. UVA-GEM-0174, Viewed 8 Agust 2021, https://ssrn.com/abstract=3682604 or http://dx.doi.org/10.2139/ssrn.3682604
Dijk, E.V., Wilke, H., and Wit, A., (2003), "Preferences for leadership in social dilemmas: Public good dilemmas versus common resource dilemmas", Journal of Experimental Social psychology, 39, 170-176.
Dipierri, A.A., and Zikos, D., (2020), "The role of common-pool resources’ institutional robustness in a collective action dilemma under environmental variations", Sustainability, 12, 1-21.
Engler, A., Melo, O., Rodriguez, F., Penafiel, B., and Jara-Rojas, R., (2021), "Governing water resource allocation: Water user association characteristics and the role of the state", Water, 13(17), 1-6.
Fischer, M., Twardawski, M., Steindorf, L., and Thielmann, I., (2021), "Stockpiling during the COVID-19 pandemic as a real-life social dilemma: A person-situation perspective", Journal of Research in Personality, 91, 1-13.
Fujii, S., (2017), "Prescription for social dilemmas: Psychology for urban, transportation, and environmental problems, Springer, Japan.
Gifford, R., (2017), "Applying social psychology to the environment", In: J.A. Gruman, F.W. Schneider and L.M. Coutts (eds.), Applied Social Psychology: Understanding and Addressing Social and Practical Problems, Third Edition, Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage, 351-382.
Gifford, R., and Comeau, L., (2011), "Message framing influences perceived climate change competence, engagement, and behavioral intentions", Global Environmental Change, 21, 1301-1307.
Groot, J.I.M., and Thogerson, J., (2019), "Values and pro-environmental behavior", In: L. Steg., A.E. Van Den Berg and J.I.M. De Groot (eds.). Environmental Psychology: An Introduction, John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 167-178.
Guppy, L., and Anderson, K., (2017), "Water crisis report", United Nations University Institute for Water, Environment and Health, Hamilton, Canada.
Habiba, U., Abedin, M.A., and Shaw, R., (2014), "Defining water insecurity", In Water Insecurity: A Social Dilemma, Published online: 20, Aug 2014; 3-20, Viewed 9 Agust 2020, http://dx.doi.org/10.1108/S2040-7262(2013) 0000013007.
Hardin, G., (2017), Tragedy of commons, In: L.P. Pojman, P. Pojman and K. Mcshane (eds.), Environmental Ethics: Readings in Theory and Application, Seventh Edition, Cengage Learning, 728-738.
Hardin, G., (1968), "The tragedy of the commons", Science, 162(3859), 1243-1248.
Harper, C.L., (2017), Environment and society: Human perspectives on environmental issues, Sixth Edition, Routledge, New York and London.
Hoelzle Martins, A.F., Roque Ferreira, D.M., Carvalho Lima, A.A.T.F., Marques Ferreira, M.A., and Sampaio, D.O., (2018), "Water consumer behaviors and contextual factors: Brazil and Canada Comparative Analysis", Journal of Marketing Management, 6(1), 55-69.
Hoffman, C.M., (2013), "Building upon common-pool resource theory to explore success in transitioning water management institutions", Dissertations & Theses in Natural Resources, Viewed 17 January 2022, https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/natresdiss/66.
 Horton, T., and Doron, N., (2011), Climate change and sustainable consumption: what do the public think is fair? York: Joseph Rowntree Foundation.
House-Peters, L., and Chang, H., (2011), "Urban water demand modeling: Review of concepts, methods, and organizing principles", Water Resources Research, 47(5), W05401.
Jennings, B., and Gwiazdon, K., (2021), "Water and ecological ethics in the Anthropocene”, In Ethical Water Stewardship, I.L. Stefanovic and Z. Adeel (eds.), Springer. 
Joireman, J., Posey, D.C., Truelove, H.B., and Parks, C.D., (2009), "The environmentalist who cried drought: reactions to repeated warnings about depleting resources under conditions of uncertainty", Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 181-192.
Kallhoff, A., (2017), "Transcending water conflicts: An ethics of water cooperation", In Global Water Ethics: Towards a Global Ethics Charter, R. Ziegler and D. Groenfeldt (eds.), Routledge.
Kidwai, A.H., and Oliveira, A.C.M., (2020), "Threshold and group size uncertainty in common-pool resources: An experimental study", Public Finance Review, 48(6), 751-777.
Laizer, L.M., Gibson, R., and Lukonge, E., (2018), "Seasonal water crises and social dilemmas in semi-arid areas of the Lake Zone of Tanzania", International Journal of Asian Social Science, 8(5), 213-226.
Levin, T., and Muehleisen, R., (2016), "Saving water through behavior changing technologies", 2016 ACEEE Summer Study on Energy Efficiency in Buildings, California, 1-8.
Llamas, M.R., and Martinez-Cortina, L., (2009), "Specific aspects of groundwater use in water ethics", In: M.R.  Llamas, L. Martinez-Cortina and A. Mukherji (eds.). Water Ethics, Taylor & Francis Group, London, UK, 187-253.  
Mesgaran, M., and Azadi, P., (2018), "A national adaptation plan for water scarcity in Iran", Working Paper 6, Stanford Iran 2040 Project, Stanford University, August 2018.
Moghadam Manesh, M., (2019), “Tragedy of the commons in groundwater resources and evaluating strategies to achieve sustainable development (A case study of Iran)”, M.Sc. Thesis, University of Bergen. 
Muller, M.F., Muller-Itten, M.C., and Gorelick, S.M., (2017), "How Jordan and Saudi Arabia are avoiding a tragedy of the commons over shared groundwater", Water Resources Research, 53, 5451-546.
Pfattheicher, S., and Keller, J., (2017), "A motivational perspective on punishment in social dilemmas", European Review of Social Psychology, 28(1), 257-287.
Saatsaz, M., (2020), "A historical investigation on water resources management in Iran", Environment, Development and Sustainability, 22, 1749-1785.
Sachdeva, S., (2016), "Religious identity, beliefs, and views about climate change", Viewed 8 Agust 2021, https://www.fs.fed.us/nrs/pubs/jrnl/2016/nrs_2016_sachdeva_003.pdf.
Sauri, D., (2013), "Water conservation: Theory and evidence in urban areas of the developed world", Annual Review of Environment and Resources, 38, 227-248.
Shinada, M., and Yamagishi, T., (2008), "Bringing back leviathan into social dilemmas", In: A. Biel, D. Eek, T. Gärling and M. Gustafsson (eds.), New Issues and Paradigms in Research on Social Dilemmas, Springer, pp. 93-115.
Steg, L., and Vlek, C., (2009), "Encouraging pro-environmental behavior: An integrative review and research agenda", Journal of Environmental Psychology, 29, 309-317.
Thielborger, P., (2014), The right(s) to water: The multi-level governance of a unique human right, Springer, London.
Van Lange, P.A.M., Balliet, D., Parks, C.D., and Van Vugt, M., (2014b), Social dilemmas: The psychology of human cooperation, Oxford University Press.
Van Lange, P.A.M., Joireman, J., Parks, C.D., and Van Dijk, E., (2013), "The psychology of social dilemmas: A review", Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 120, 125-141.
Van Lange, P.A.M., Rockenbach, B., and Yamagishi, T., (2014a), "Reward and punishment in social dilemmas: An introduction", In P.A.M. Van Lange, B. Rockenbach and T. Yamagishi (eds.), Reward and Punishment in Social Dilemmas, Oxford University Press, 1-15.  
Van Lange, P.A.M., Rockenbach, B., and Yamagishi, T., (2017), "Trust: Introduction and trending topics", In P.A.M. Van Lange, B. Rockenbach and T. Yamagishi (eds.), Trust in Social Dilemmas, Oxford University Press, 1-8.
Van Vugt, M., (2009), "Averting the tragedy of the commons: Using social psychological science to protect the environment", Current Directions in Psychological Sciences, 18(3), 169-173.
Wellington, A., (2021), "Contextualizing a human Rrights perspective for water ethics: From exploitation to empowerment and beyond", In: I.L. Stefanovic and Z. Adeel (eds.), Ethical Water Stewardship, Springer, 43-77. 
Williams, I., (2020), “5 Real world examples of the tragedy of the commons”, Viewed 30 May 2022. https://populationeducation.org/5-real-world-examples-of-the-tragedy-of-the-commons.
Xiang, P., Zhang, H., Geng, L., Zhou, K., and Wu, Y., (2019), "Individualist–collectivist differences in climate change inaction: The role of perceived intractability", Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1-12.
Xue, W., Hine, D.W., Marks, A.D.G., Phillips, W.J., and Zhao, S., (2016), "Cultural worldviews and climate change: a view from China", Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 19, 134-144.
Zhang, W., Zeng, W., Fu, X., Pan, J., and Guo, H., (2011), “Economic analysis on the Ttragedy of the commons of river”, Journal of Management and Sustainability, 1(1), 124-132.