The Big Issues of the 21st Century

The science of psychology can help us to understand the big issues facing the world today and find solutions that contribute to individual and community wellbeing.

To many Australians, we appear to be living in a time of multiple risks, threats, and dangers. Challenges like climate change, violent extremism, and soaring rates of depression and self-harm are some of the threats that dominate the media, and raise people’s anxieties and concerns. Are we right to be concerned about these issues? How do they affect us psychologically and socially? And what can we do about them? These are some of the questions that the 2016 APS Presidential Initiative tackled in relation to three such ‘Big Issues’: climate change, social cohesion, and individual and community wellbeing.

This concise report draws on the psychological evidence to provide insights that can inform public policy and everyday living, and assist Australians to confront these pressing issues.

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