How can psychology help us understand and solve environmental and energy-related problems?
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Our most significant environmental psychology research insights from 2024
We asked all of the senior researchers in our group what they felt was the most significant scientific breakthrough from within our department and among our former colleagues from the past 12 months. Here’s what they had to say.
Good intentions, limited action: when do farmers’ intentions to adopt sustainable farming practices turn into actual behaviour?
Past use and knowledge of cover crops, perceived need for adaptation, being risk seeking in farming, and using advisory services predicted intentions, whereas only past use of cover crops predicted both intention and actual adoption. Moreover, only the strongest level of reported intentions had some value in predicting actual behaviour.
2024 in review: check out our scientific publications
The researchers have contributed to 17 scientific journal publications over the course of 2024, with insights on many facets of environmental behavior, ranging from acceptance of technology, climate anxiety, climate change as a voting issue, social tipping, citizen assemblies, community energy initiatives, and public trust.
Goda Perlaviciute among new Aletta Jacobs professors at University of Groningen
Our colleague Goda Perlaviciute is one of four new professors appointed in the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences through the Aletta Jacobs professorship initiative of the University of Groningen.
‘Yes, we care’: pro-environmental social identity framing to promote acceptance of decentralized wastewater treatment systems
Decentralized wastewater treatment systems can help mitigate the water crisis. Their successful implementation depends not only on their technological design but also on the level of public support.
The climate anxiety compass: A framework to map the solution space for coping with climate anxiety
We introduce the Climate Anxiety Compass: a framework that classifies strategies individuals can use to cope with climate anxiety along three dimensions: (a) problem-focused or emotion-focused, (b) mitigation or adaptation, and (c) individually oriented or collectively oriented.
Podcast episode: social norms (with Fernanda Reintgen Kamphuisen)
What has to happen for certain actions (like buying an electric vehicle) to be adopted by the majority in society? What makes new (green) behavior more widely accepted? What are the different kinds of norms and tipping points?
Social Tipping Games: Experimental Paradigms for Studying Consumer Movements
We introduce a collection of experimental paradigms that allow researchers to examine when and how consumer movements can provoke a change across a social network over time: social tipping paradigms grounded in game theory.
Unveiling citizens’ perspective on citizen assemblies among participants and non-participants of a citizen assembly on energy
In contrast to conventional wisdom, decision-making power was not the key driver of public acceptability of the Dutch Citizen Assembly on Energy — engaging in dialogue and deliberation might be more important to citizens than having more power per se.
Professor Linda Steg to serve as co-lead on 2.9 million euro research project ChangeAble
Our colleague professor Linda Steg will serve as one of the co-leads on the ChangeAble research project, which identifies the relationship between climate policy, behaviour, and other critical factors needed for successful government action on system transitions.
Podcast episode: climate change responsibility (with Xinran Wang)
Why do group norms matter when it comes to pro-environmental behavior? Why might certain societal actors (like government or business) underestimate their own capacity to make meaningful change? How can we explain the difference between how people see their own roles as individuals versus what we think about the role of groups and collective action?
Who we are and what we do
The Environmental Psychology Groningen expertise group investigates how willing people are to make a personal contribution to the cause of combating climate change and which policies can effectively encourage sustainable behaviour.