Ebenezer Scrooge, A Christmas Carol

You are probably familiar with A Christmas Carol, the classic holiday tale of Ebenezer Scrooge who hates all things happy and then reforms with the help of three ghosts.  Scrooge is most known for his attitude in the beginning of the story: cold, greedy and mean.  The extent of Scrooge’s social network was one family member and one deceased friend — how empty his Facebook page would have been!  After reading an article in Wired magazine that explained how loneliness can be contagious,  I started to wonder if maybe Scrooge isn’t entirely to blame.  After all, Scrooge had a very “scroogey” friend, Jacob Marley.  Maybe Jacob is somewhat responsible for Scrooge’s bad behavior.  Jacob was probably just infecting Scrooge with his unhappiness as if it were the common cold.

According to the study that Wired reported, “One lonely friend makes you 40 to 65 percent more likely to be lonely, but a lonely friend-of-a-friend increases your chances of loneliness by 14 to 36 percent. A friend-of-a-friend-of-a-friend adds between 6 and 26 percent….”  If such a negative emotion can be passed around so rapidly, what about positive ones?  Even further, what about our habits?  Are they just as contagious as loneliness seems to be?

I have certainly seen evidence of contagious habits in my own life.   A few years ago, Summit created Summit CARES, an initiative focused on environmental stewardship and energy efficiency projects such as dual-side printing policies,  washable cups and utensils, and cardboard and aluminum recycling.  As I monitored where I deposited my empty Diet Coke cans, I realized how even the slightest increase in awareness caused me to modify my behavior.  The Summit CARES program, combined with some friends of mine who had recently begun recycling , encouraged me to begin a sustainability strategy of my own.  I contacted my local waste management company and signed up for recycling.  Now, almost a year later, recycling is part of my everyday life without much extra effort on my part.

So, the question is: Were these good habits really contagious?  Or am I just another victim of peer pressure?

The New York Times reported on its Green blog that certain utility companies are finding that peer pressure is an effective way to cause energy consumers to change their habits and use less energy.  You would think the opportunity for energy cost reduction would be enough of a motivator, but it turns out that’s just not the case.  The study showed, “Utility customers reduced their energy use more when they learned that a majority of their neighbors were conserving, relative to simply being told about environmental benefits or personal cost savings.”  Classic peer pressure at its finest!

Although we will never know if Marley infected Scrooge with his “Bah Humbug” compulsion, I know that I’ve changed my habits based on the habits of those around me.   No matter what happened to Scrooge, maybe you should start recycling if you haven’t already … I did.