Normative social influence is underdetected

Pro-environmental behaviour is undermined by disgust sensitivity: The case of excessive laundering

The amount of laundry washed by European consumers has grown excessively for reasons that cannot be explained by demographics alone. Initiatives trying to curb this trend have repeatedly failed. Previous studies have largely overlooked the psychological dimensions of laundering behaviour. In three separate studies we investigate how disgust, shame, cleanliness norms and environmental identity, mediated through a set of preceding behaviours, affect washing frequency. Our results highlight how conflicting psychological goals between disgust sensitivity and pro-environmental identity can undermine willingness to change laundry behaviour. Policy recommendations are suggested, and future research challenges are discussed.

Autonomous communication with normative information facilitates positive spillover: promoting pro-environmental behaviors in a local setting

A pro-environmental behavior (PEB) intervention may increase the adoption of other PEBs that were not targeted by the intervention, leading to a positive spillover effect. Communication that both support autonomy, as defined by self-determination theory, and compliance with descriptive norms may promote the targeted PEBs and positive spillover effect. Such communication may enhance autonomous motivation to adopt PEBs. A pilot study (N = 350) about waste management in a university campus found that autonomous communication supplemented by normative information influenced both targeted and non-targeted behavioral intentions, compared to autonomous-only and controlling communication. Findings were replicated in a main study (N = 629). An intervention combining autonomy support and descriptive norms increased the likelihood of a positive spillover effect in contrast to an intervention combining controlling communication and descriptive norms. In both studies, autonomous motivation mediated the positive spillover effect. Results suggest that communication that promotes autonomous motivation by fulfilling basic self-determination needs may have a broader effect on a wider range of PEBs.

Beyond Gender and Race: The Representation of Concealable Identities Among College Science Instructors at Research Institutions

Concealable stigmatized identities (CSIs) are identities that can be kept hidden and carry negative stereotypes. To understand the potential influence instructors have as role models, we must first explore the identities instructors have and whether they disclose those identities to undergraduates. We surveyed national samples of science instructors (n = 1248) and undergraduates (n = 2428) at research institutions to assess the extent to which instructors hold CSIs, whether they reveal those identities to undergraduates, how the prevalence of CSIs among instructors compares to their prevalence among undergraduates, and the reasons instructors reveal or conceal their CSIs. The most common CSIs instructors reported were having anxiety (35%) and being a first-generation college student (29%). Relatively few instructors revealed CSIs to students. The largest mismatches of CSI prevalence were for struggling academically in college (-30%) and having anxiety (-25%); all mismatches grew when accounting for instructor CSI disclosure, highlighting that students perceive fewer role models of scientists with CSIs than actually exist.

Learning about successfully implemented sustainability policies abroad increases support for sustainable domestic policies

Anthropogenic climate change poses an existential threat to life on Earth, hastening the need to generate support for sustainability policies. Four preregistered studies (total N = 2524) tested whether informing United States citizens about the successful implementation of sustainability policies abroad increased support for similar domestic policies. Studies 1 and 2 found that learning about the successful implementation of sustainability policies (reducing automobile use, using wind energy) abroad increased (1) support for similar domestic policies, (2) intentions to modify behavior to facilitate the adoption of sustainability policies, and (3) behavioral support for sustainability policies. Study 3 found that learning about sustainability policies in both WEIRD (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, Democratic) (France) and non-WEIRD (Colombia) countries increased support for similar domestic policies. Study 4 found that learning about sustainability policies abroad increased support for domestic policy proposals that would impact participants' city of residence. Overall, these findings suggest that educating citizens about the implementation of sustainability policies abroad can bolster support for domestic policies that combat climate change.

A cascading model for nudging employees towards energy-efficient behaviour in tertiary buildings

Energy-related occupant behaviour in the built environment is considered crucial when aiming towards Energy Efficiency (EE), especially given the notion that people are most often unaware and disengaged regarding the impacts of energy-consuming habits. In order to affect such energy-related behaviour, various approaches have been employed, being the most common the provision of recommendations towards more energy-efficient actions. In this work, the authors extend prior research findings in an effort to automatically identify the optimal Persuasion Strategy (PS), out of ten pre-selected by experts, tailored to a user (i.e., the context to trigger a message, allocate a task or providing cues to enact an action). This process aims to successfully influence the employees' decisions about EE in tertiary buildings. The framework presented in this study utilizes cultural traits and socio-economic information. It is based on one of the largest survey datasets on this subject, comprising responses from 743 users collected through an online survey in four countries across Europe (Spain, Greece, Austria and the UK). The resulting framework was designed as a cascade of sequential data-driven prediction models. The first step employs a particular case of matrix factorisation to rank the ten PP in terms of preference for each user, followed by a random forest regression model that uses these rankings as a filtering step to compute scores for each PP and conclude with the best selection for each user. An ex-post assessment of the individual steps and the combined ensemble revealed increased accuracy over baseline non-personalised methods. Furthermore, the analysis also sheds light on important user characteristics to take into account for future interventions related to EE and the most effective persuasion strategies to adopt based on user data. Discussion and implications of the reported results are provided in the text regarding the flourishing field of personalisation to motivate pro-environmental behaviour change in tertiary buildings.

A socially interdependent choice framework for social influences in healthcare decision-making: a study protocol

OBJECTIVES

Current choice models in healthcare (and beyond) can provide suboptimal predictions of healthcare users' decisions. One reason for such inaccuracy is that standard microeconomic theory assumes that decisions of healthcare users are made in a social vacuum. Healthcare choices, however, can in fact be (entirely) socially determined. To achieve more accurate choice predictions within healthcare and therefore better policy decisions, the social influences that affect healthcare user decision-making need to be identified and explicitly integrated into choice models. The purpose of this study is to develop a socially interdependent choice framework of healthcare user decision-making.

DESIGN

A mixed-methods approach will be used. A systematic literature review will be conducted that identifies the social influences on healthcare user decision-making. Based on the outcomes of a systematic literature review, an interview guide will be developed that assesses which, and how, social influences affect healthcare user decision-making in four different medical fields. This guide will be used during two exploratory focus groups to assess the engagement of participants and clarity of questions and probes. The refined interview guide will be used to conduct the semistructured interviews with healthcare professionals and users. These interviews will explore in detail which, and how, social influences affect healthcare user decision-making. Focus group and interview transcripts will be analysed iteratively using a constant comparative approach based on a mix of inductive and deductive coding. Based on the outcomes, a social influence independent choice framework for healthcare user decision-making will be drafted. Finally, the Delphi technique will be employed to achieve consensus about the final version of this choice framework.

ETHICS AND DISSEMINATION

This study was approved by the Erasmus School of Health Policy and Management Research Ethics Review Committee (ESHPM, Rotterdam, The Netherlands; reference ETH2122-0666).

The Mentors in Violence Prevention programme: impact on students' knowledge and attitudes related to violence, prejudice, and abuse, and willingness to intervene as a bystander in secondary schools in England

BACKGROUND

Violence is a leading cause of death and disability for young people and has serious impacts on prospects across the lifecourse. The education sector is a crucial setting for preventing youth violence through incorporating programmes that address attitudes and behaviours. The Mentors in Violence Prevention (MVP) programme aims to change harmful attitudes and norms, and increase non-violent bystander intervention, through a peer mentoring approach. To date there is limited evidence on the effectiveness of the intervention in UK school settings. The aim of the current study was to evaluate the impact of the programme on students' attitudes and knowledge related to violence prevention.

METHODS

The study employed a mixed methods design. Pre and post surveys measured changes in students' (aged 11-18) attitudes and knowledge related to violence prevention and bystander behaviour, gender stereotyping, acceptability of violence, and perceptions of others' willingness to intervene. Interviews/focus groups with programme delivers and students, and anonymised programme data were used to explore and supplement survey findings.

RESULTS

Overall, perceptions of the programme content and delivery were positive. Several beneficial impacts of the programme were found for mentors (students delivering the programme), including significant positive changes on measures of knowledge and attitudes towards violence prevention and the bystander approach, acceptability of violence perpetration, and perceptions of other students' willingness to intervene (effect sizes were small-medium). However, the study found no significant change on any of the outcomes amongst mentees (younger students receiving the programme from mentors). Despite this, qualitative evidence suggested mentees enjoyed the content of the programme and the peer-led delivery, and this built relationships with older students. Qualitative evidence also identified additional benefits of the programme for mentors, including leadership and communication skills, and increased confidence and supportive relationships.

CONCLUSIONS

Evidence from this study suggests MVP is effective as a targeted programme for mentors, but no significant evidence was found to demonstrate its effectiveness as a universal bystander and violence prevention programme for mentees. Whilst further research with more robust study design is needed, developing mentors as leaders in violence prevention is a valuable impact of the programme in its own right.

Using Behavioral Economics to Reduce Low-Value Care Among Older Adults: A Cluster Randomized Clinical Trial

Importance

Use of low-value care is common among older adults. It is unclear how to best engage clinicians and older patients to decrease use of low-value services.

Objective

To test whether the Committing to Choose Wisely behavioral economic intervention could engage primary care clinicians and older patients to reduce low-value care.

Design, Setting, and Participants

Stepped-wedge cluster randomized clinical trial conducted at 8 primary care clinics of an academic health system and a private group practice between December 12, 2017, and September 4, 2019. Participants were primary care clinicians and older adult patients who had diabetes, insomnia, or anxiety or were eligible for prostate cancer screening. Data analysis was performed from October 2019 to November 2023.

Intervention

Clinicians were invited to commit in writing to Choosing Wisely recommendations for older patients to avoid use of hypoglycemic medications to achieve tight glycemic control, sedative-hypnotic medications for insomnia or anxiety, and prostate-specific antigen tests to screen for prostate cancer. Committed clinicians had their photographs displayed on clinic posters and received weekly emails with alternatives to these low-value services. Educational handouts were mailed to applicable patients before scheduled visits and available at the point of care.

Main Outcomes and Measures

Patient-months with a low-value service across conditions (primary outcome) and separately for each condition (secondary outcomes). For patients with diabetes, or insomnia or anxiety, secondary outcomes were patient-months in which targeted medications were decreased or stopped (ie, deintensified).

Results

The study included 81 primary care clinicians and 8030 older adult patients (mean [SD] age, 75.1 [7.2] years; 4076 men [50.8%] and 3954 women [49.2%]). Across conditions, a low-value service was used in 7627 of the 37 116 control patient-months (20.5%) and 7416 of the 46 381 intervention patient-months (16.0%) (adjusted odds ratio, 0.79; 95% CI, 0.65-0.97). For each individual condition, there were no significant differences between the control and intervention periods in the odds of patient-months with a low-value service. The intervention increased the odds of deintensification of hypoglycemic medications for diabetes (adjusted odds ratio, 1.85; 95% CI, 1.06-3.24) but not sedative-hypnotic medications for insomnia or anxiety.

Conclusions and Relevance

In this stepped-wedge cluster randomized clinical trial, the Committing to Choose Wisely behavioral economic intervention reduced low-value care across 3 common clinical situations and increased deintensification of hypoglycemic medications for diabetes. Use of scalable interventions that nudge patients and clinicians to achieve greater value while preserving autonomy in decision-making should be explored more broadly.

Trial Registration

ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT03411525.

Review on clinician bias and its impact on racial and socioeconomic disparities in pediatric heart transplantation

This expert review seeks to highlight implicit bias in health care, transplant medicine, and pediatric heart transplantation to focus attention on the role these biases may play in the racial/ethnic and socioeconomic disparities noted in pediatric heart transplantation. This review breaks down the transplant decision making process to highlight points at which implicit bias may affect outcomes and discuss how the science of human decision making may help understand these complex processes.

Effectiveness of conservation messages to reduce households' GHG emissions: A serious-gaming experiment

Households play a critical role in reducing greenhouse gas emissions. However, there have been few studies of household conservation from the perspective of the nexus of food, energy, and water (FEW) consumption. This study's objective is to understand the effects of different types of intervention messages for inducing conservation of FEW resources and reducing carbon emissions at the household level in the U.S. Employing a serious-gaming approach, we developed the HomeRUN (Home Role-play for Understanding the Nexus) game, which allows players to act as homeowners and take behavioral and technological upgrade actions in a computer-simulation setting. The types of messages tested include social comparisons and resource-reduction measures across FEW sectors as well as information about the health, economic, and environmental impacts of FEW consumption. A game experiment with U.S. university students finds that social-comparison messages on food and energy consumption, but not on water, lead to significant reductions in household carbon emissions. In addition, messages associated with each type of FEW resource tend to lead to an immediate action corresponding to the particular FEW domain. These insights support a prioritization of intervention messaging for coordinated FEW conservation efforts at a household level.

A Phenomenological Divide: Reference Group Consequences for Existential Isolation

An apparent phenomenological divide between majority and minoritized groups exists in contemporary America in terms of feelings of social connection. Drawing on recent findings relating to existential isolation (i.e., the sense that one is alone in one's subjective experience), three studies compare these feelings toward one's in-group and out-group. Study 1 assesses whether Black and White participants vary in their self-reported existential isolation when referencing their own or another racial group. Results reveal Black Americans feel as though other Black Americans share their perceptions more than do White Americans. In contrast, White Americans report similarly shared perceptions by both racial groups. Study 2 (preregistered) assessed these effects with a concealable identity: sexual orientation. Study 3 further replicates these effects and finds effects among Black Americans to significantly differ from a neutral control condition. Implications and future directions for epistemic (in)validation are discussed.

Did Descriptive and Prescriptive Norms About Gender Equality at Home Change During the COVID-19 Pandemic? A Cross-National Investigation

Using data from 15 countries, this article investigates whether descriptive and prescriptive gender norms concerning housework and child care (domestic work) changed after the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic. Results of a total of 8,343 participants (M = 19.95, SD = 1.68) from two comparable student samples suggest that descriptive norms about unpaid domestic work have been affected by the pandemic, with individuals seeing mothers' relative to fathers' share of housework and child care as even larger. Moderation analyses revealed that the effect of the pandemic on descriptive norms about child care decreased with countries' increasing levels of gender equality; countries with stronger gender inequality showed a larger difference between pre- and post-pandemic. This study documents a shift in descriptive norms and discusses implications for gender equality-emphasizing the importance of addressing the additional challenges that mothers face during health-related crises.

Use of human behaviour change models to investigate horse owner intention to adopt emergency colic recommendations

BACKGROUND

Behavioural models are widely used within human medicine to understand beliefs and intention associated with major health interventions.

OBJECTIVES

To investigate horse-owner beliefs and practices associated with emergency colic planning.

STUDY DESIGN

Cross-sectional study.

METHODS

An online survey incorporating the Trans-Theoretical Model of behaviour change and the Theory of Planned Behaviour was developed to assess owner intention to adopt three areas of emergency colic planning: (1) prevention/recognition, (2) involvement of others and (3) personal preparation. Participants were recruited using a snowball sampling strategy; multivariable logistic regression of data was performed.

RESULTS

There were 701 horse-owners who completed the survey. Respondents fell into one of two categories: no intention to adopt or already implementing emergency planning recommendations. Most agreed that emergency colic plans would improve their horse's welfare (68%) and aid in decision making (78%). Most disagreed that colic was inevitable (66%) and that treatment options were not within their control (69%). Multivariable analysis showed that those who believed emergency plans were worth creating were more likely to adopt preventive (OR: 2.33, 95% CI: 1.27-4.30, p = 0.007) and personal preparation (OR: 1.61, 95% CI: 1.31-1.97, p < 0.001) recommendations. Preventive recommendations were also associated with 'REACT' campaign awareness (OR 2.36, 95% CI: 1.40-3.97, p = 0.001). Favourable behavioural beliefs, such as the acknowledgement of welfare and decision-making benefits, were linked to the involvement of others in planning (OR: 2.93, 95% CI: 1.78-4.81, p < 0.001).

MAIN LIMITATIONS

Potential response bias and small sample size.

CONCLUSIONS

The majority of owners were either unwilling to adopt suggested recommendations or believed that their approach was currently sufficient. Most owners perceived veterinary professionals as most influential on their decision to plan for a colic emergency, highlighting their importance in any educational campaign.

Descriptive Norms and eHealth Use Among Older Adults: A Cross-Country Comparative Study

eHealth use enables older adults to access and manage healthcare resources, and benefits their health; however, older adults' uptake of eHealth remains low across societies. Social influences such as descriptive norms may be of critical importance in promoting the elderly's usage of eHealth. Based on the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction, this study investigates how descriptive norms relate to eHealth use among the elderly in China and the United States. Analysis of the combined sample (N = 1,070) showed that descriptive norms were positively related to eHealth use. Also, descriptive norms were indirectly associated with eHealth use via injunctive norms, attitudes and self-efficacy. Moderated mediation analysis indicated that these direct and indirect relationships differed across the two countries. This study highlights the important role of descriptive norms in promoting older adults' eHealth use behavior and addresses potential country differences in how the elderly respond to descriptive norms. Several important theoretical and practical implications are also discussed.

Make a difference: Choose artificial reefs over natural reefs to compensate for the environmental impacts of dive tourism

In the marine environment, natural reef habitats are amongst the most threatened by human activities. Although reef-based ecotourism can benefit local economies, dive tourism can damage sensitive habitats. One solution to managing conflicts between the economic value of diving and its ecological threats is the deployment of artificial reefs near popular dive sites. We surveyed recreational divers to assess divers' use, preference, and perceptions of diving artificial versus natural sites. We found that more divers prefer to dive in natural than artificial habitats, with associated biodiversity the most popular reason for preferring natural habitats, and appreciating shipwrecks the most popular reason for preferring artificial ones. Despite our sample population being highly educated and experienced, predominantly European divers, only 49 % of them perceived artificial reefs as important or somewhat important for diverting pressure from sensitive natural habitats. Similarly, only 13 % of respondents exhibited preference to avoid coral reefs to protect them. These results highlight the fact that more needs to be done to educate divers about the potential importance of artificial habitats in diverting divers from natural reefs. We suggest encouraging divers to switch out a proportion of their dives in vulnerable natural sites for artificial reefs. This is not only true for coral reefs, but should be applied to other natural reef habitats that are popular with divers such as kelp forests, sponge gardens and serpulid and coralligenous reefs. We hope that this study will provide a platform to stimulate a diver-led discussion and campaign for increased uptake of artificial reef use, resulting in reduced impacts on natural reefs.

Examining the Context and Content of Organizational Solidarity Statements on Black Americans' Expectations of Identity Safety

Despite the increasing use of organizational solidarity statements following instances of social injustice, little-to-no research has examined whether these statements signal inclusion for minoritized groups. The present work investigates how different types of solidarity statements affect Black Americans' sense of identity safety and assesses mechanisms underlying their responses. Across three online experiments, Black Americans recruited from Prolific Academic (N = 1,668) saw solidarity statements from a fictional organization that were either written in response to a race-related event at the societal level (e.g., George Floyd's murder; Studies 1-2) or an instance of racism occurring at the organizational level (Study 3). The statements were manipulated on three dimensions: acknowledgment of systemic racism, acknowledgment of organizational racism, and inclusion of concrete actions to address racism (Study 2). Findings showed that statements which acknowledged systemic racism or included actions to address racism were more likely to increase identity safety, whereas statements acknowledging racist organizational practices were relatively less effective at promoting identity safety. Feelings of identity safety emerged via decreased perceptions that the organization was engaging in performative allyship and/or increased perceptions of procedural fairness. Collectively, findings elucidate features of organizational solidarity statements that are more (versus less) effective for promoting identity safety among Black Americans.

Experiences of decisional conflict related to epidural labour analgesia among women during late pregnancy in a tertiary hospital in China: a mixed methods study

BACKGROUND

Research has indicated some women were in a state of uncertainty about pharmacological pain management decisions, which may lead to maternal anxiety and decisional regret. However, little is known about decisional conflict in the choice of epidural labour analgesia amongst Chinese women.

AIM

This study aimed to investigate the level of and reasons underlying decisional conflict in Chinese women during their late pregnancy when making a decision on the use of epidural analgesia in labour.

METHODS

A convergent parallel mixed methods study was undertaken, that included a quantitative survey (n = 323) and qualitative interviews (n = 17) with women recruited from a tertiary general hospital in Hangzhou, China. The quantitative survey assessed the level of and its influencing factors of women's decisional conflict, while the qualitative interview further explored experiences of and reasons underlying the conflict.

FINDINGS

Participants reported a high level of decisional conflict (mean±SD, 39.59±15.92), which related to decision delay and/or negative perceptions about the decision. Multiple stepwise linear regression analysis identified that highest level of education and knowledge of epidural were negatively associated with decisional conflict (p<0.05). Four decision-making styles (rational, dependant, intuitive and avoidant decision-making) associated with different levels of decisional conflict, and four underlying reasons (personal characteristics, informational provision, emotional support and participation in decision-making) of the conflict were thematized.

CONCLUSION

Decisional conflict related to epidural labour analgesia is a noteworthy issue amongst women during their late pregnancy. This study suggests a need for provision of family-centred shared decision-making practice about the use of epidural analgesia in labour.

Exploring factors of e-waste recycling intention: The case of generation Y

The seriousness of the e-waste crisis stems from the fact that consumers do not participate much in ensuring the proper disposal of electronic materials. In this context, millennials are the largest segment of consumers of electronic products who are not yet motivated to get sustainably rid of them. However, to inspire consumers to recycle e-waste, it is necessary to investigate consumers' behavioral intentions towards e-waste thoroughly. This study integrates the theory of planned behavior, social influence theory, and personality traits to examine how consumers gauge their choice to recycle e-waste. Data were collected from randomly surveying 300 Lithuanians through a structured questionnaire. Using the PLS-SEM approach, results show that attitude, subjective norms, and perceived behavioral control significantly influence consumers' e-waste recycling intention. Regarding personality traits, only openness to experience significantly affects consumers' e-waste recycling intention. In contrast, other traits such as agreeableness, conscientiousness, extraversion, and neuroticism have a non-significant influence on consumers' e-waste recycling intention. In addition, normative and informational social influence affects consumers' e-waste recycling intention. The current study advances our understanding of e-waste recycling behavior by examining how TPB, personality factors, and social influence theory influence intentions. It provides valuable insights for policymakers and marketers on understanding and encouraging the e-waste behavior of Lithuanian Y-generation consumers.

Promoting Low-Carbon Purchase from Social Norms Perspective

The importance of individual consumption behavior in a low-carbon economy is gradually recognized. Social norms have a significant effect on individual purchase behavior. However, the influence mechanism of social norms still needs more research. We conducted two behavioral experiments to explore the specific factors: first, the effect of descriptive norms on personal low-carbon consumption behavior through feedback information, and second, a comparison with injunctive norms, focusing on the impact of the normative focus shift brought by punishment represented by the policy implementation. The results show that social norms can effectively promote individual low-carbon consumption through feedback and high policy implementation efficiency. In particular, after effective policy implementation becomes an inherent element of injunctive norms, injunctive norms are activated and become the focus of norms, significantly improving the purchase rate of low-carbon goods.

Fostering public climate change discussions from a social interaction perspective

Public discussions on climate change, as a form of social interaction, are widely recognized as effective tools for promoting collective action. However, there is limited research on examining the factors that influence climate change discussions from a social interaction perspective. In the present study, we conducted a large sample (N = 1,169) survey to investigate personal (such as self-efficacy and personal response efficacy) and others' (such as perceived others' response efficacy and social norms) factors influencing climate change discussions from a social interaction perspective. The results showed that (i) for people with high climate change perceptions, personal response efficacy, self-efficacy, and social norms have positive effects on climate change discussions, but the effect of perceived others' response efficacy on climate change discussion is not significant; (ii) for people with low climate change perceptions, self-efficacy and social norms have positive effects on climate change discussions, but the effects of personal response efficacy and perceived others' response efficacy on climate change discussion are not significant; (iii) irrespective of individuals' high or low perceptions of climate change, social norm remains the most important predictor of climate change discussions. These findings make valuable contributions to the theoretical literature and intervention efforts regarding climate change discussions from a social interaction perspective.

The Effect of Individual or Study-Wide Report-Back on Knowledge, Concern, and Exposure-Reducing Behaviors Related to Endocrine-Disrupting Chemicals

BACKGROUND

To make informed decisions about endocrine-disrupting chemicals (EDCs), people need functional understanding of exposures and health and an ability to act on their knowledge. The return of biomonitoring results is an opportunity to educate people about EDCs and motivate exposure reduction.

OBJECTIVES

This study investigates environmental health knowledge about EDCs, concerns about health effects, and exposure-reducing behaviors before and after the return of individual-level exposure results or only study-wide results.

METHODS

Women in the Child Health and Development Studies who were biomonitored for 42 EDCs were randomly assigned to receive a report with personal chemical results or only study-wide findings. We interviewed participants before and after report-back about their knowledge and concerns about EDCs and how frequently they performed exposure-related behaviors. We investigated baseline differences by education and race and examined changes after report-back by race and report type.

RESULTS

Participants (n = 135 ) demonstrated general understanding of exposure pathways and health impacts of EDCs. For 9 out of 20 knowledge questions, more than 90% of participants (n ≥ 124 ) gave correct responses at baseline, including for questions about chemicals' persistence in the body and effects of early-life exposure. Most participants held two misconceptions-about chemical safety testing in the United States and what doctors can infer from EDC results-although errors decreased after report-back. Initially, concern was higher for legacy pollutants, but report-back increased concern for consumer product chemicals. After report-back, participants took some actions to reduce exposures, particularly to per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances, and total behavior was associated with knowledge and concern but not race, education, or report type.

DISCUSSION

This study demonstrated that participants had foundational knowledge about EDCs and that report-back further built their environmental health literacy. We conclude that future communications should target misconceptions about chemicals regulation in the United States, because information about regulations is crucial for people to evaluate risks posed by consumer product chemicals and decide whether to engage with public policy. https://doi.org/10.1289/EHP12565.

Social influence makes outlier opinions in online reviews offer more helpful information

Identifying helpful information from large-scale online reviews has become a core issue in studies on harnessing wisdom-of-crowds. We investigated whether online reviews expressing dissenting opinions (i.e., outlier reviews) can provide helpful information. Using statistical and simulation methods with a large-scale dataset, we found that, compared with other online reviews, outlier reviews were deemed more helpful because they provided more sufficient, neutral, and concise information. To interpret these results, we considered that in collective behaviours, a prevalent social psychological process-conformity (i.e., changing one's behaviour in response to pressure from others)-pressured reviewers expressing dissenting opinions. This motivated them to provide more convincing evidence (i.e., sufficient, neutral, and concise information). This study offers a simple yet effective approach for eliciting helpful information from many online reviews and deepens the understanding of the mechanism underlying collective online behaviour. Specifically, conformity was considered to cause biases in the collective behaviour of humans; however, this study revealed that conformity can elicit valuable outcomes in collective behaviour.

Applying customer commitments to natural gas utility energy conservation

Previous energy conservation research highlights the importance of behavior, customer commitments, and energy efficiency programs. Much has been written on the impact of behavior energy efficiency savings documented through home energy report programs. This research expands upon utility efforts to offer behavior utility programs and documents the impact of utility customer commitment research through a formalized utility pilot program. In this pilot program in Utah, the ThermWise® (ThermWise is the company related branding for Dominion Energy's energy efficiency programs in Utah.) Energy Pledge, natural gas utility residential customers agreed to a 2-year customer energy pledge pilot program (2019-2021). By enrolling in the pilot, customers set a goal for energy reduction. Customers received monthly text messages in the program with energy-saving tips, a monthly goal status email, cold winter text alerts, and annual emailed program reports. Initially, in 2019, over 2000 customers enrolled in the pilot program. Following the program, an evaluation revealed significant energy savings. Most compelling in those findings discovered that customers who agreed to allow their name to be published on a corporate website had over double the savings of other program participants. The pledge program confirms the impact of customer commitments on their energy use and offers promise for future utility programs encompassing commitments. Further research is warranted on identifying how further incorporate commitments into utility programs.

Supplementary information

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s12053-023-10122-8.

Goodbye materialism: exploring antecedents of minimalism and its impact on millennials well-being

The purpose of the study is to explore the antecedents of minimalism and, further, to study the impact of minimalism on millennials' well-being via a sense of fulfilment. To understand the origins of minimalism and its following effects on well-being, a theoretical framework is created. An online survey with a structured questionnaire was created to collect the necessary data from respondents. SMART PLS was used to analyse the suggested framework. This research establishes the mediating role of a sense of fulfilment in the interactions between minimalism and well-being and shows how environmental awareness, contemporary aesthetics, voluntary simplicity, normative influence, and resource sharing positively lead to minimalism. A minimalist lifestyle will help to preserve precious resources, reduce waste, and lower carbon emissions, all of which will have a significant positive influence on the environment. Additionally, clearing up clutter will give them more room and time, which will improve their well-being because they will have more time for their family and interests. The study suggests a thorough model to comprehend the origins of minimalism. Additionally, it established a connection between well-being and minimalism.

The Role of Social Norms and Personal Costs on Pro-Environmental Behavior: The Mediating Role of Personal Norms

Background

Pro-environmental behavior necessitates individuals to make personal sacrifices, such as spending more money on environmentally-friendly products to benefit the environment. Realistically, individuals may not be willing to engage in pro-environmental behavior based self-interest. The increase in personal pro-environmental behavior has become an urgent issue in the field of environmental psychology.

Purpose

The present study adopted green consumption paradigm to explore the internal mechanisms of pro-environmental behavior at different personal costs, the role of social and personal norms on pro-environmental behavior, which can promote individual pro-environmental behavior.

Methods

In our experiment, participants first were instructed to read texts unrelated and related to social norms in sequence. Participants subsequently completed the product choice task, which involved making choices between buying green (eco-friendly) products or cheaper (self-interested) common products, a method to measure pro-environment behavior. Finally, the participants completed the personal norms scale and social norms check.

Results

The findings of present study indicated that pro-environmental behavior decreased as personal costs increased. However, social norms effectively promoted individuals' pro-environmental behavior, and personal norms played a mediating role at high personal costs.

Conclusion

Our findings indicate that individuals tend to choose cheaper common products that are harmful to the natural environment in self-interest. However, we discuss the implications for the use of social norms as a social marketing technique, which extends the Norm Activation Model.

Individual-Community Misalignment in Partisan Identity Predicts Distancing From Norms During the COVID-19 Pandemic

This study investigated whether misalignment between an individual and their community in partisan identity predicted psychological and behavioral distancing from local COVID-19 norms. A nationally representative sample of Republicans and Democrats provided longitudinal data in April (N = 3,492) and June 2020 (N = 2,649). Democrats in Republican communities reported especially heightened better-than-average estimates, perceiving themselves as more adherent to and approving of non-pharmaceutical interventions (NPI; e.g., mask wearing) than their community. Democrats'better-than-average estimates reflected high approval and behavior in Republican communities and substantial norm underestimation. Republicans in Democratic communities did not evidence worse-than-average estimates. In longitudinal models, injunctive norms only predicted NPI behavior when individual and community partisan identity were aligned. The strong personal approval-behavior association did not depend on misalignment; there were no effects of descriptive norms. Normative messages may have limited efficacy for a sizable subpopulation in politically polarized contexts, such as the COVID-19 pandemic.

Norm Perceptions about Rumor Sharing on Genetically Modified Foods: The Interaction between Facebook Likes and a Refuting Comment

This study investigated how normative information on Facebook (i.e., the number of Likes on a Facebook post and a refuting comment) influences one's intention to share a rumor post regarding genetically modified foods. The results of an online experiment with 630 Facebook users showed that a high number of Likes increased the intention to share the post through perceived descriptive and injunctive norms of sharing behavior. The number of Likes on the post and a refuting comment interacted to influence perceived injunctive norms about rumor sharing. A comment stating that the post is a rumor increased injunctive norm perceptions about rumor sharing when the number of Likes on the post is low.

Fostering mask-wearing with virality metrics and social media literacy: evidence from the U.S. and Korea

Although social media can pose threats to the public health by spreading misinformation and causing confusion, they can also provide wider access to health information and opportunities for health surveillance. The current study investigates the ways in which preventive health behaviors and norms can be promoted on social media by analyzing data from surveys and experiments conducted in the U.S. and South Korea. Survey results suggest that the pathway from social media use for COVID-19 information to mask-wearing behavior through mask-wearing norms emerges only among individuals with strong perceived social media literacy in the U.S. Experimental findings show that wear-a-mask campaign posts on social media foster mask-wearing norms and behavioral intention when they come with large (vs. small) virality metrics (e.g., Likes, shares) in both the U.S. and South Korea. Additionally, American users are more willing to engage with posts that come with supportive (vs. mixed) comments by Liking, sharing and commenting. The results highlight the need to cultivate social media literacy and opportunities for exploiting social media virality metrics for promoting public health norms and behaviors.

Cross-Theoretical Compliance: An Integrative Compliance Analysis of COVID-19 Mitigation Responses in Israel

To understand the question why people obey or break rules, different approaches have focused on different theories and subsets of variables. The present research develops a cross-theoretical approach that integrates these perspectives. We apply this in a survey of compliance with COVID-19 pandemic mitigation rules in Israel. The data reveal that compliance in this setting was shaped by a combination of variables originating from legitimacy, capacity, and opportunity theories (but not rational choice or social theories). This demonstrates the importance of moving beyond narrow theoretical perspectives of compliance, to a cross-theoretical understanding-in which different theoretical approaches are systematically integrated.

The Other Invisible Hand: How Markets—as Institutions—Propagate Conformity and Valuation Errors

The institutionalized status of markets is undoubtedly due to their presumed ability to aggregate individual bids into a single unbiased estimate of value. While not denying this emergent property of market processes, we propose and test an alternative perspective that explains how market processes can also generate the propagation of individual valuation errors that aggregate into price bubbles. Theoretically, we advance a microinstitutional perspective that draws from social and evolutionary psychology linking market processes to a more general process of institutionalization, whereby individuals seeking the adaptive benefits of conformity may—due to bounded and socially biased rationality—instead generate maladaptive individual and collective outcomes. Empirically, we craft an efficient experimental market and find three sets of evidence consistent with our microinstitutionalization perspective. We first show—at the individual level—that market participants exhibit a social bias toward conformity with the market’s collective valuation, even when the emergent market valuation is demonstrably incorrect. We then show—at the market level—that the range of valuations over time also decreases in a conforming direction, again independent of valuation accuracy. Last, we provide the first experimental test of the long-assumed effect of social ambiguity on institutionalization, finding that market participants’ over-attention to the collective valuation is indeed sensitive to variation in social ambiguity. We conclude by highlighting the relevance of our theoretical perspective, method, and findings for future research on institutions and institutionalization processes, as well as future studies on social influence and conformity-based errors.

Funding: S. S. Levine acknowledges research grants from Singapore Management University; the University of Texas at Dallas; and the European Research Council (agreement 695256).

Supplemental Material: The online appendix is available at https://doi.org/10.1287/stsc.2022.0173 .

Heterogeneous effects of other-regarding interventions on household recycling: A field experimental study

Behavioral interventions that address other-regarding motivations (i.e., other-regarding interventions) are gaining momentum as promising tools to stimulate household recycling. However, previous studies have shown considerable variability in the impact of such strategies, and the factors that moderate treatment effects remain poorly studied. Using a field experiment with 7195 households in Quzhou, China, this study investigated treatment effect heterogeneity systematically based on intervention types, treatment durations, personal motivations, and social networks. Three strategies were examined, including biospheric and altruistic appeals and personalized normative feedback. We found that normative feedback outperformed other strategies in inducing household participation in recycling, that the influences of all strategies attenuated over time, and that the feedback effect was greater among recipients with weaker biospheric or altruistic concerns and those embedded within stronger neighbor networks. However, no significant treatment effects were found on the amount of waste recycled. These findings improve the understanding of the heterogeneous impact of other-regarding interventions, with important implications for the design of recycling policies. Future studies need to explore additional moderators and the effects of treatment combinations.

Cognitive bias and how to improve sustainable decision making

The rapid advances of science and technology have provided a large part of the world with all conceivable needs and comfort. However, this welfare comes with serious threats to the planet and many of its inhabitants. An enormous amount of scientific evidence points at global warming, mass destruction of bio-diversity, scarce resources, health risks, and pollution all over the world. These facts are generally acknowledged nowadays, not only by scientists, but also by the majority of politicians and citizens. Nevertheless, this understanding has caused insufficient changes in our decision making and behavior to preserve our natural resources and to prevent upcoming (natural) disasters. In the present study, we try to explain how systematic tendencies or distortions in human judgment and decision-making, known as “cognitive biases,” contribute to this situation. A large body of literature shows how cognitive biases affect the outcome of our deliberations. In natural and primordial situations, they may lead to quick, practical, and satisfying decisions, but these decisions may be poor and risky in a broad range of modern, complex, and long-term challenges, like climate change or pandemic prevention. We first briefly present the social-psychological characteristics that are inherent to (or typical for) most sustainability issues. These are: experiential vagueness, long-term effects, complexity and uncertainty, threat of the status quo, threat of social status, personal vs. community interest, and group pressure. For each of these characteristics, we describe how this relates to cognitive biases, from a neuro-evolutionary point of view, and how these evolved biases may affect sustainable choices or behaviors of people. Finally, based on this knowledge, we describe influence techniques (interventions, nudges, incentives) to mitigate or capitalize on these biases in order to foster more sustainable choices and behaviors.

Implementing PERFECT-ER with Plan-Do-Study-Act on acute orthopaedic hospital wards: Building knowledge from an implementation study using Normalization Process Theory

BACKGROUND

Delivering care to growing numbers of patients with increasingly 'complex' needs is currently compromised by a system designed to treat patients within organizational clinical specialties, making this difficult to reconfigure to fit care to needs. Problematic experiences of people with cognitive impairment(s) admitted to hospitals with a hip fracture, exemplify the complex challenges that result if their care is not tailored. This study explored whether a flexible, multicomponent intervention, adapting services to the needs of this patient group, could be implemented in acute hospital settings.

METHODS

We used action research with case study design to introduce the intervention using a Plan-Do-Study-Act (PDSA) model to three different hospital sites (cases) across England. The qualitative data for this paper was researcher-generated (notes from observations and teleconference meetings) and change agent-generated (action plans and weekly reflective reports of change agents' activities). Normalization Process Theory (NPT) was used to analyze and explain the work of interacting actors in implementing and then normalizing (embedding) the intervention across contexts and times. Data analysis was abductive, generating inductive codes then identified with NPT constructs. Across the three cases, change agents had to work through numerous implementation challenges: needing to make sense of the intervention package, the PDSA model as implementation method, and their own role as change agents and to orientate these within their action context (coherence). They had to work to encourage colleagues to invest in these changes (cognitive participation) and find ways to implement the intervention by mobilising changes (collective action). Finally, they created strategies for clinical routines to continue to self-review, reconfiguring actions and future plans to enable the intervention to be sustained (reflexive monitoring).

CONCLUSIONS

Successful implementation of the (PERFECT-ER) intervention requires change agents to recognize and engage with local values, and then to enable its fit with practice and wider contextual goals. A context of constant change fragments normalization. Thus, sustaining practice change over time is fragile and requires change agents to continue a recursive two-way sense-making process. This enables implementation and normalization to re-energize and overcome barriers to change.

Evaluating Whether and How Public Health Event Information Frameworks Promote Pro-Environmental Behavior

The major public health emergencies (PHEs) represented by the COVID-19 pandemic, while posing a serious threat to human health, have led people to rethink about the harmonious relationship between humans and nature. It is worthy to explore whether and how the framework effect of event information can be used to turn crises into opportunities to promote public pro-environmental behavior (PEB). Through a pre-and post-test control experiment, this study took the COVID-19 pandemic as a case, to explore the effects of four PHE information frameworks on promoting PEB, coupled with two information loss-gain frameworks and two information content frameworks. The results showed that all four information frameworks contribute to the public PEB. However, there are differences: only the environmental gain information effect is significant for PEB in the private sphere. The environmental loss and health gain information are effective for PEB in organizations. However, in the public sphere, all four information frameworks significantly motivate PEB. Further factorial analysis revealed that the interaction between the information content and loss-gain framework was not significant, with the latter playing the dominant role. These findings provide a new approach to how to develop the information framework effect and turn crises into opportunities to promote public PEB in the context of major PHEs.

Predicting COVID-19 vaccination intentions: the roles of threat appraisal, coping appraisal, subjective norms, and negative affect

BACKGROUND

As a new disease, communities possess little natural immunity to COVID-19 and vaccines are considered critical to preventing and reducing the incidence of severe illness. This study, inspired by Protection Motivation Theory (PMT), examines the relationship between citizens' threat appraisal, coping appraisal, subjective norms, negative affect, and their COVID-19 vaccination intentions.

METHODS

A sample of 340 citizens from two main cities in Mainland China, Xi'an and Wuxi, was used for data analysis. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) was employed with latent and observed variables to test hypotheses. Data were analyzed using AMOS 24.0.

RESULTS

Several findings extend current understanding. Firstly, our proposed model explains 73% of the variance in vaccination intentions. Secondly, perceived severity only indirectly shapes COVID-19 vaccination intentions through negative affect. Thirdly, negative affect and response costs are negatively related to COVID-19 vaccination intentions. Finally, Perceived probability, subjective norms, response efficacy and self-efficacy are positively related to COVID-19 vaccination intentions; among them, self-efficacy contributes the most, followed by response efficacy and subjective norms, and lastly perceived probability.

CONCLUSION

Theoretically, this study increases current understanding about subjective norms and affective responses. We provoke a certain amount of thought about the role of affect response in relation to threat appraisal and vaccination intentions. Specifically, governments must be vigilant that citizens' negative affect, such as fear, may cause vaccine hesitation.

Applying persuasive messages to reduce public outdoor smoking: A pseudo-randomized controlled trial

Despite efforts to create dedicated smoking areas and no-smoking signs, many smokers continue to light their cigarettes in front of public building entrances-leading to concerns over health consequences for non-smokers passing by. To increase compliance with no-smoking requests, behavioral interventions that tap into habitual and automatic processes seem promising. A pseudo-randomized controlled trial was conducted to assess the differential impact of seven behavioral interventions based on Cialdini's principles of persuasion. Over a period of 9 weeks, the number of smokers was counted (total n = 17,930 observations) in front of a German University Medical Center. Relative to a baseline and a control condition, interventions based on the principles of reciprocity, scarcity, and authority were most effective in reducing the number of observed smokers in front of the building entrance (41.5%, 45.7%, and 52.1% reduction rates, respectively). Having observed smokers' behavior in vivo, this study provides substantial evidence for the impact of persuasive strategies on outdoor smoking. In the future, this knowledge should be used to protect non-smokers from second-hand smoke by increasing the use of designated smoking areas, leave to another place to smoke, or not smoke at all.

Hope and climate-change engagement from a psychological perspective

This article reviews recent research about climate-change hope and engagement. Cognitive climate-change hope is consistently positively related to engagement, while the results are less consistent regarding hope as an emotion. It is argued that when conducting research about hope as an emotion sources of hope need to be considered, since they can be both constructive and less constructive seen from a climate-change engagement perspective. Additionally, collective climate-change action can lead to constructive hope. The conclusion is that in future research there is a need to go beyond the dichotomy between cognition and emotion and in interventions to go beyond optimistic messages and take into account preconditions for constructive hope.

Psychology of Climate Change

Human behavior plays a critical role in causing global climate change as well as in responding to it. In this article, I review important insights on the psychology of climate change. I first discuss factors that affect the likelihood that individuals engage in a wide range of climate actions. Next, I review the processes through which values affect climate actions and reflect on how to motivate climate actions among people who do not strongly care about nature, the environment, and climate change. Then I explain that even people who may be motivated to engage in climate actions may not do so when they face major barriers to act. This implies that to promote wide-scale climate actions, broader system changes are needed. I discuss relevant factors that affect public support for system changes that facilitate and enable climate action. Finally, I summarize key lessons learned and identify important questions for future research.

Do Social Norms Influence Young People's Willingness to Take the COVID-19 Vaccine?

Although young adults are not at great risk of becoming severely ill with COVID-19, their willingness to get vaccinated affects the whole community. Vaccine hesitancy has increased during recent years, and more research is needed on its situational determinants. This paper reports a preregistered experiment (N = 654) that examined whether communicating descriptive social norms - information about what most people do - is an effective way of influencing young people's intentions and reducing their hesitancy to take the COVID-19 vaccine. We found weak support for our main hypothesis that conveying strong (compared to weak) norms leads to reduced hesitancy and stronger intentions. Furthermore, norms did not produce significantly different effects compared to standard vaccine information from the authorities. Moreover, no support was found for the hypothesis that young people are more strongly influenced by norms when the norm reference group consists of other young individuals rather than people in general. These findings suggest that the practical usefulness of signaling descriptive norms is rather limited, and may not be more effective than standard appeals in the quest of encouraging young adults to trust and accept a new vaccine.

Three-in-1,000 and dynamic norms: A mixed-method investigation of novel appeals for influencing organ donor registration

The current research investigated two rarely used appeals for increasing organ donor registration-both with the potential to backfire. The three-in-1000 appeal explains that less than one percent of people will die in such a way that their organs can be donated. This appeal could heighten awareness that donor registration is needed, but it can also convey that registering is futile. The dynamic norms appeal emphasizes the increasing number of people who are becoming registered donors. This appeal could increase the perceived normative nature of registration, but doing so can also lead potential donors to conclude that enough people are already registered. In Studies 1 and 2, participants recruited from Amazon's Mechanical Turk were randomly assigned to either one of these appeals, and their attitudes toward donor registration and intentions to register as a donor were compared to participants in a no-message control group. Study 2 included a qualitative component where participants were asked to describe their perceptions as to why the message was or was not influential. In both experiments, intentions to register were higher for those in both messaging conditions compared to the control group. Positive attitudes toward organ donation were higher in the three-in-1000 condition compared to the control group for both studies. Those in the dynamic norms condition reported more positive attitudes than the control group in Study 1, but not Study 2. In both studies, there was scant evidence of the messages backfiring. In the qualitative component of Study 2, self-reported reasons for the influence of each method provided insight into how and why these appeals were influential, and indicated signs of underdetection for the dynamic norms message.

Understanding consumers' purchase intentions of single-use plastic products

Human health and marine life are facing the hazards and threats of plastic waste. China is the world's largest producer and consumer of disposable plastic products, thus paying more attention to the threats and challenges of single-use plastics products in China is urgent. This study aims to explore the intention to purchase single-use plastic products based on the theory of planned behavior. Data collection using self-reported questionnaires, and 402 valid questionnaires were obtained, thus analyzed using Amos 22.0 and SPSS 18.0 software. Results indicate that attitude, perceived behavioral control, normative social influence, informational social influence, and positive anticipated emotion positively affect intention to purchase single-use plastic products. Meanwhile, positive anticipated emotion positively moderates the relationship between normative social influence and intention to purchase single-use plastic products, but negatively moderates the relationship between informational social influence and intention to purchase single-use plastic products. This research provides some theoretical and policy implications to help relevant agencies design targeted interventions to address environmental issues related to single-use plastic consumption.

Deeds and Words: Farmers' Attitude-Paradox in Collective Action for Small-Scale Irrigation

We explore the mechanisms of the attitude-behavior paradox and how multiple stakeholders strategize to compromise their attitudes and behaviors. Through an instrumental variable probit model, we examine the effect of income heterogeneity and social ties on the farmers' attitude-behavior paradox for collective action. The empirical results demonstrate that weak and strong ties, income heterogeneity, interaction terms, education, community environment, and community rules negatively affect the paradox, whereas water stealing and water use conflicts positively affect it. After dividing the paradox into two forms, we find that weak ties, the interaction terms thereof, negatively affect the paradox for "having negative attitude but do have behavior", while income heterogeneity negatively affects the paradox for "having positive attitude but no behavior". We contribute to the understanding of mechanisms whereby economic incentives and social structures interplay in addressing the above paradox. We conclude by discussing the implications for policies to overcome this social dilemma.

Think About It! Deliberation Reduces the Negative Relation Between Conspiracy Belief and Adherence to Prosocial Norms

People believing in conspiracy theories question mainstream thoughts and behavior, but it is unknown whether it is also linked to lower adherence to the prosocial norms of the broader society. Furthermore, interventions targeting correlates of the belief in conspiracy theories so far are scarce. In four preregistered, mixed-design experiments ( Ntotal = 1,659, Nobservations = 8,902), we tested whether believing in conspiracy theories is related to lower prosocial norm adherence and whether deliberation about the reason for the norms mitigates this relationship. Across four studies with the U.S. samples, we found that believing in conspiracy theories correlated negatively with prosocial norm adherence in the control condition, which was less pronounced after deliberation (effect size of interaction: d = 0.16). Whether the norm was related to the law or not did not moderate this effect. Results point toward possible ways of mitigating negative correlates and potentially also consequences of believing in conspiracy theories.

Follow or not? Descriptive norms and public health compliance: Mediating role of risk perception and moderating effect of behavioral visibility

In a pandemic context, public health events are receiving unprecedented attention, and identifying ways to enhance individual public health compliance behaviors has become an urgent practical problem. Considering that individual decisions are susceptible to group members' behaviors and that descriptive norms provide social information about the typical behaviors of others, we focused on the effects of the properties and reference groups of descriptive norms on public health compliance behaviors. We also investigated the mechanism with risk perception as a mediator and the applicable condition with behavioral visibility as a moderator. Through a 2 × 2 × 2 between-subject survey experiment with 529 subjects, we demonstrated that (1) compared with the negative norm, the positive norm was more effective in promoting public health compliance behaviors; (2) compared with the distal group norm, the proximal group norm more significantly promoted public health compliance behaviors; (3) the effect of the property of descriptive norms on public health compliance behaviors was weakened in the treatment of the proximal group norm; (4) risk perception partially mediated the association between the property of descriptive norms and public health compliance behaviors and fully mediated the effect of the interaction of the property and the reference group of descriptive norms on public health compliance behaviors; in the treatment of the negative-proximal group norm, individuals perceived more risk, thus effectively nudging their public health compliance behaviors; (5) compared with low-visibility behaviors, public health compliance behaviors were significantly stronger for high-visibility behaviors; (6) the property of descriptive norms had a weaker effect on public health compliance behaviors for low-visibility behaviors. In terms of theoretical significance, we refined the study of descriptive norms to promote the application of behavioral public policy. Moreover, the new model of public health compliance behaviors constructed in this study explains the mechanism and applicable conditions of public health compliance behaviors. In practical terms, this study has implications for designing intervention programs to nudge public health compliance behaviors.

Are you prepared for the next storm? Developing social norms messages to motivate community members to perform disaster risk mitigation behaviors

Preparing for natural disasters and adapting to climate change can save lives. Yet, minimal research has examined how governments can motivate community members to prepare for disasters (e.g., purchasing flood insurance or installing water barriers in homes for floods and hurricanes). Instead, studies have focused on how to communicate actions individuals should take during disasters, rather than before disasters. This study develops messages targeting social norms, which are promising approaches to motivate community members to adopt disaster risk preparedness and mitigation behaviors. Specifically, we developed a variety of messages integrating descriptive norms (i.e., what others do), injunctive norms (i.e., what others believe should be done), and a social norms-based fear appeal, or social disapproval rationale (i.e., a negative social result of [not] taking behaviors). Then, we tested these messages through two between-subject factorial online experiments in flood- and hurricane-prone U.S. states with adult samples (N = 2,286). In experiment 1 (i.e., purchasing flood insurance), the injunctive norms message using weather forecasters and the social disapproval rationale message significantly increased social norms perceptions, which in turn influenced behavioral intentions. In experiment 2 (i.e., installing water barriers), the injunctive norms message using weather forecasters, the injunctive norms message using neighbors, and the social disapproval rationale message significantly increased social norms perceptions, which in turn influenced mitigation intentions. However, the descriptive social norms message was not effective in increasing social norms perceptions. We provide some of the first empirical evidence on how organizations' risk communication can empower community members to prepare and mitigate the impact of disasters.

A toolkit for understanding and addressing climate scepticism

Despite over 50 years of messaging about the reality of human-caused climate change, substantial portions of the population remain sceptical. Furthermore, many sceptics remain unmoved by standard science communication strategies, such as myth busting and evidence building. To understand this, we examine psychological and structural reasons why climate change misinformation is prevalent. First, we review research on motivated reasoning: how interpretations of climate science are shaped by vested interests and ideologies. Second, we examine climate scepticism as a form of political followership. Third, we examine infrastructures of disinformation: the funding, lobbying and political operatives that lend climate scepticism its power. Guiding this Review are two principles: (1) to understand scepticism, one must account for the interplay between individual psychologies and structural forces; and (2) global data are required to understand this global problem. In the spirit of optimism, we finish by describing six strategies for reducing the destructive influence of climate scepticism.

Why are they eco-friendly? Attributing eco-friendly descriptive norms to intrinsic motivation increases pro-environmental purchase intention

People perform pro-environmental behaviors not only out of intrinsic motivation, but also due to external factors such as expected social approval or financial gain. To the extent that people use their own motivations to infer the motivation of others, people may view descriptive norms favoring pro-environmental behavior as extrinsically motivated. This may in turn decrease the normative influence of the norm, as conformity can be negatively affected by perceptions that others are conforming mindlessly. While descriptive norms generally promote pro-environmental behavior change, the influential power of descriptive norms varies between studies. One possible explanation for these inconclusive findings is that people interpret others' behavior as either intrinsically- or extrinsically motivated. We propose that pro-environmental descriptive norms will be more influential when attributing others' pro-environmental behavior as intrinsically (e.g., pleasure of contributing to the environment) rather than extrinsically, motivated (e.g., fear of social disapproval). In two experiments (N = 1326), we compared participants' intention to purchase pro-environmental products between four conditions: control condition vs intrinsic norm vs extrinsic norm (Exp. 1) vs injunctive norm (Exp. 2). Results consistently found a significant increase in pro-environmental purchase intention in the intrinsic norm condition compared to both extrinsic norm condition (Exp. 2) and no-information control condition (Exp. 1 & 2). These studies highlight that attribution of behavior is vital for the adoption of pro-environmental norms.

Scaling Up Change: A Critical Review and Practical Guide to Harnessing Social Norms for Climate Action

Anthropogenic carbon emissions have the potential to trigger changes in climate and ecosystems that would be catastrophic for the well-being of humans and other species. Widespread shifts in production and consumption patterns are urgently needed to address climate change. Although transnational agreements and national policy are necessary for a transition to a fully decarbonized global economy, fluctuating political priorities and lobbying by vested interests have slowed these efforts. Against this backdrop, bottom-up pressure from social movements and shifting social norms may offer a complementary path to a more sustainable economy. Furthermore, norm change may be an important component of decarbonization policies by accelerating or strengthening the impacts of other demand-side measures. Individual actions and policy support are social processes—they are intimately linked to expectations about the actions and beliefs of others. Although prevailing social norms often reinforce the status quo and unsustainable development pathways, social dynamics can also create widespread and rapid shifts in cultural values and practices, including increasing pressure on politicians to enact ambitious policy. We synthesize literature on social-norm influence, measurement, and change from the perspectives of psychology, anthropology, sociology, and economics. We discuss the opportunities and challenges for the use of social-norm and social-tipping interventions to promote climate action. Social-norm interventions aimed at addressing climate change or other social dilemmas are promising but no panacea. They require in-depth contextual knowledge, ethical consideration, and situation-specific tailoring and testing to understand whether they can be effectively implemented at scale. Our review aims to provide practitioners with insights and tools to reflect on the promises and pitfalls of such interventions in diverse contexts.