Psychological parameters to understand and manage the NIMBY effect

Decision making in environmental intervention and management usually displeases someone. Public administration entities and private organisations must pinpoint and manage certain environmental and social services that though deemed necessary and essential, often carry a negative image that creates social rejection. This is known as the NIMBY effect (Not In My Backyard). This phenomenon, which to a certain extent can be considered normal, is related to social perception of risk, to the complex process of attribution of causes, and to perceived inequity. It addresses the issue of life quality in terms of the potential alteration of people's well-being that generates self-defence behaviour. This paper reviews previous literature, analyses and compares the most relevant environmental conflicts in Catalonia between 1988 and 2003, and shows that not every conflict should be considered a NIMBY effect. It then suggests some management recommendations for NIMBY conflict management from the standpoint of classical social psychology theories.