Cynthia (Cindy) Frantz

  • Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies
  • Chair of Psychology

Areas of Study

Education

  • BA, Williams College, 1991
  • MS, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 1996
  • PhD, University of Massachusetts Amherst, 2000

Biography

I am a social and environmental psychologist with a strong interest in statistics. I teach social psychology, and an advanced seminar on the psychology of social conflict. My research focuses broadly on humans’ relationship with the natural world, with an emphasis on promoting sustainable behavior.

Past research in collaboration with Steve Mayer suggests that both individuals and the environment benefit when people feel connected to the natural world. With Professors John Petersen, Rumi Shammin, and Deborah Roose, I study the potential for feedback technology (www.oberlindashboard.org ) to encourage conservation behavior, connect humans back to the natural world, and promote systems thinking. I also direct the Community-Based Social Marketing Research Project, a collaborative research program among faculty, students, and staff to develop, test, and promote behavior change programs that reduce Oberlin College’s carbon emissions.

  • Frantz, C. M., Petersen, J.E., & *Lucaites, K. (2021). Novel approach to delivering pro-environmental messages significantly shifts norms and motivation, but children are not more effective spokespeople than adults. PLoS ONE 16(9): e0255457. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0255457
  • Petersen, J.E., C.M. Frantz, *E. Tincknell, *C. Canning (2018). Systems thinking is enhanced in response to an animated visual representation of real-time resource flows through a community. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 35(6),718 – 737. DOI: 10.1002/sres.2514.
  • Clark S, Petersen J.E., Frantz C.M., Roose D., *Ginn J., Rosenberg Daneri D. (2017) Teaching systems thinking to 4th and 5th graders using Environmental Dashboard display technology. PLoS ONE 12(4): e0176322. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0176322
  • Thibodeau, P., Frantz, C. M., & *Berretta, M. (2017). The earth is our home: systemic metaphors to redefine our relationship with nature. Climatic Change, 142, 287–300. DOI:10.1007/s10584-017-1926-z
  • Petersen, J. E., Rosenberg Daneri, D., Frantz, C. M., & Shammin, Md. R. (2017). Environmental Dashboards: Fostering pro-environmental and pro-community thought and action through feedback. In W. Leal Filho et al. (eds.), Handbook of Theory and Practice of Sustainable Development in Higher Education, World Sustainability Series, 149-168. DOI: 10.1007/978-3-319-47895-1_10.
  • Thibodeau, P. H., *Winneg, A., Frantz, C. M, & Flusberg, S. J. (2016). The mind is an ecosystem: Systemic metaphors promote systems thinking. Metaphor & The Social World, 6(2), 225 – 242.
  • Thibodeau, P.H., Frantz, C.M., Stroink, M.L. (2016). Situating a measure of systems thinking in a landscape of psychological constructs. Systems Research and Behavioral Science, 33(6),.  753-769
  • Frantz, C.M., Flynn, B., *Atwood, S., *Mostow, D., *Lang, C. & *Kahl, S. (2016). Changing Energy Behavior Through Community Based Social Marketing. In W. L. Filho & M. Zint (Eds.), The Contribution of Social Sciences to Sustainable Development at Universities (259 – 272). NY, NY: Springer.
  • Petersen, J. E., Frantz, C. M., Shammin, Md. R., *Yanisch, T., *Tincknell, E., & *Myers, N. (2015). Electricity and water use savings on college and university campuses in response to national competitions among dormitories: quantifying relationships between behavior, strategies and psychological metrics. PLOS ONE.
  • Frantz, C. M. (2014). Tapping into core social motives to drive sustainability transformation. The Solutions Journal, 5,31 – 34.

Fall 2024

Research Methods II — PSYC 300

Advanced Methods in Community-Based Social Marketing — PSYC 308

Teaching Assistant — PSYC 500

Practicum in Psychology — PSYC 501

Supervised Research in Psychology - Full — PSYC 510F

Supervised Research in Psychology - Half — PSYC 510H

Senior Portfolio — PSYC 599

Spring 2025

Seminar in Social Conflict — PSYC 430

Teaching Assistant — PSYC 500

Practicum in Psychology — PSYC 501

Supervised Research in Psychology - Full — PSYC 510F

Supervised Research in Psychology - Half — PSYC 510H

Senior Portfolio — PSYC 599

Notes

Cindy Frantz Coauthored Article Published in "BMC Psychology"

November 13, 2024

Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies Cindy Frantz recently published "Evaluating the usefulness of Protection Motivation Theory for predicting climate change mitigation behavioral intentions among a US sample of climate change deniers and acknowledgers" for BMC Psychology with coauthors Luca Bushkin ’23 and Devlin O'Keefe ’22.

Cindy Frantz Interviewed on NPR

August 21, 2024

Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies Cindy Frantz was interviewed for a National Public Radio story about popular music and environmental activism that aired August 17. Frantz addressed the power of group settings such as rock concerts to encourage participation in championing environmental causes.

Cindy Frantz and John Petersen Receive Award from the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency

August 6, 2024

Environmental studies professors Cindy Frantz and John Petersen were honored with an Outstanding Project Award by the Ohio Environmental Protection Agency for their ongoing work on two grant-funded projects related to the “Environmental Dashboard,” a digital tool used to promote environmental sustainability among schoolchildren. The projects, which incorporate real-time resource usage feedback and community voices, have involved numerous Oberlin students over the past decade.

 

American Psychological Association Presents Cindy Frantz with Fellow Status

December 6, 2021

Professor of Psychology and Environmental Studies Cindy Frantz has been named a Fellow of the American Psychological Association.  Fellow status is an honor bestowed upon APA members who have shown evidence of unusual and outstanding contributions or performance in the field of psychology and requires that a person's work has had a national impact on the field of psychology beyond a local, state, or regional level.

Frantz served as an expert panelist for the Solutions Session at the Behavior, Energy, and Climate Change conference (virtual) on November 9.  The session focused on the question:  How can rural landowners be encouraged to embrace, welcome, and even demand new solar installations, as opposed to protest them?

Frantz presented the talk “Yes we can! How to talk about climate change to inspire action and fight despair” on November 17 to the Lorain County Commmunity College Psi Beta Club.

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