From believing in climate change to adapting to climate change: The role of risk perception and efficacy beliefs.

Are people more inclined to adapt to climate change if they believe that climate change is real, caused by human behavior, and/or brings negative consequences? Previous studies provided inconclusive results on the relationship between climate change perceptions and adaptation behavior. Using a longitudinal approach, we examined whether risk perception, self-efficacy, and outcome efficacy play a role in how and when climate change perceptions are associated with adaptation to pluvial flooding and heat stress in the Netherlands. As expected, stronger climate change perceptions were associated with stronger perceptions of climate-related risks, which in turn lead to stronger intentions to implement adaptation measures.

When others control risks: Others-focused coping with risks from energy projects.

Energy projects can cause various risks over which people have little control, because they are usually developed, implemented, and managed by external parties, such as governments and industry. This study aims to examine how people cope with such externally controlled risks from energy projects, in particular earthquakes induced by gas extraction in their region. Specifically, we studied which factors influence people's intentions to engage in emotion-focused coping aimed at reducing negative emotions, and problem-focused coping aimed at reducing the risks and/or their negative consequences.

To select effective interventions for pro-environmental behaviour change, we need to consider determinants of behaviour.

Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour is necessary to reduce CO emissions and limit global climate change. Many reviews and meta-analyses have been published examining the effectiveness of interventions to promote pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, it remains unclear which interventions are most effective, when and why.

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.

When You Choose but Not Lose: Decreasing People's Desire for Options on Technological Appliances.

The appliances people adopt, and the way they use them, can critically influence the sustainable energy transition. People are often attracted to appliances with many setting options that offer them more control. Yet, operating many setting options can have negative consequences for users (e.

The Role of Community in Understanding Involvement in Community Energy Initiatives.

Community energy initiatives are set up by volunteers in local communities to promote sustainable energy behaviors and help to facilitate a sustainable energy transition. A key question is what motivates people to be involved in such initiatives. We propose that next to a stronger personal motivation for sustainable energy, people's perception that their community is motivated to engage in sustainable energy and their involvement in the community (i.

The impact of COVID-19 related regulations and restrictions on mobility and potential for sustained climate mitigation across the Netherlands, Sweden and the UK: a data-based commentary.

Human behaviour change is necessary to meet targets set by the Paris Agreement to mitigate climate change. Restrictions and regulations put in place globally to mitigate the spread of COVID-19 during 2020 have had a substantial impact on everyday life, including many carbon-intensive behaviours such as transportation. Changes to transportation behaviour may reduce carbon emissions.

Worrying about the Consequences of COVID-19 for Distant Others Relates to Mitigative Actions.

To mitigate the impacts and spread of COVID-19, drastic mitigative actions are demanded from individuals worldwide, including social distancing, health behaviors, and self-quarantining. A key question is what motivates individuals to take and support such actions. Early in the COVID-19 crisis, we hypothesized and found in two studies (in the Netherlands and United States) that stronger worries about potential consequences of COVID-19 for oneself and close others (i.

Emotions Toward Sustainable Innovations: A Matter of Value Congruence.

Public resistance to sustainable innovations is oftentimes accompanied by strong negative emotions. Therefore, it is essential to better understand the underlying factors of emotions toward sustainable innovations to facilitate their successful implementation. Based on the Value-Innovation-Congruence model of Emotional responses (VICE model), we argue that positive and negative emotions toward innovations reflect whether innovations are congruent or incongruent with (i.

A Research Agenda to Better Understand the Human Dimensions of Energy Transitions.

The Social Sciences and Humanities (SSH) have a key role to play in understanding which factors and policies would motivate, encourage and enable different actors to adopt a wide range of sustainable energy behaviours and support the required system changes and policies. The SSH can provide critical insights into how consumers could be empowered to consistently engage in sustainable energy behaviour, support and adopt new technologies, and support policies and changes in energy systems. Furthermore, they can increase our understanding of how organisations such as private and public institutions, and groups and associations of people can play a key role in the sustainable energy transition.

From values to climate action.

To mitigate anthropogenic climate change, it is important to know what motivates individuals to support and take climate action. Values reflect universal, general, desirable goals which guide individuals' preferences and actions. Stronger biospheric values (caring about the environment), in particular, predict stronger engagement in climate action.

From toilet to table: value-tailored messages influence emotional responses to wastewater products.

Background: Products made from recycled organic materials are an important part of a circular economy, but the question is whether they will be adopted by the public. Such products can elicit strong emotional responses and public resistance. As a case in point, we studied products made from sewage waste, such as recycled toilet paper, which can serve as material alternative to wood and plastic when making household items (e.

I Am vs. We Are: How Biospheric Values and Environmental Identity of Individuals and Groups Can Influence Pro-environmental Behaviour.

Most research in environmental psychology is conducted in individualistic countries and focuses on factors pertaining to individuals. It is yet unclear whether these findings also apply to more collectivistic countries, in which group factors might play a prominent role. In the current paper, we test the individual-focused value-identity-behaviour pathway, in which personal biospheric values relate to pro-environmental actions via environmental self-identity, in an individualistic and a collectivistic country.

Convince Yourself to Do the Right Thing: The Effects of Provided Versus Self-Generated Arguments on Rule Compliance and Perceived Importance of Socially Desirable Behavior.

One way to enhance rule compliance is to provide people with arguments explaining why the desired behavior is important. We argue that there might be another, potentially more effective way to enhance rule compliance: ask people to generate arguments in favor of the rule themselves, which can trigger a process of self-persuasion. We compared the effects of providing arguments, asking respondents to generate arguments themselves, and a combination of both approaches on rule compliance and the perceived importance of the rule.

The Relationship Between Sociodemographics and Environmental Values Across Seven European Countries.

Given the importance of environmental values (altruistic, biospheric, and egoistic) to pro-environmental behavior, it would be useful to segment the population - an approach known as market segmentation - to tailor pro-environmental messages more effectively. Sociodemographic variables are popular targets for segmentation, as such variables are often knowable in the absence of more nuanced information about individuals. However, evidence for the relationship between sociodemographics and environmental values is sparse, and contradictory.

The Relationship Between People's Environmental Considerations and Pro-environmental Behavior in Lithuania.

Given the need for global action on climate change, it is crucial to comprehend which factors motivate people in different countries to act more pro-environmentally. Lithuania is a post-socialist country that has recently increased commitment to foster pro-environmental behavior of individuals, by implementing interventions that target mainly the personal costs and benefits of relevant behaviors. Yet, research suggests that people's general environmental considerations, namely biospheric values and environmental self-identity, can drive people' pro-environmental behavior and may be important targets for interventions.

Mind the Gap: The Implications of Not Acting in Line With Your Planned Actions After Installing Solar Photovoltaics.

To realize the full potential of solar photovoltaics (PV), PV adopters need to adapt their energy demand to the production of self-generated solar energy as much as possible (i.e., use their PV sustainably).

Using a Gaussian Graphical Model to Explore Relationships Between Items and Variables in Environmental Psychology Research.

Exploratory analyses are an important first step in psychological research, particularly in problem-based research where various variables are often included from multiple theoretical perspectives not studied together in combination before. Notably, exploratory analyses aim to give first insights into how items and variables included in a study relate to each other. Typically, exploratory analyses involve computing bivariate correlations between items and variables and presenting them in a table.

Spillover Benefits: Emphasizing Different Benefits of Environmental Behavior and Its Effects on Spillover.

To reduce environmental problems, people need to consistently engage in pro-environmental behaviors. Many environmentally friendly actions not only benefit the environment, but can also save money. Research suggests that emphasizing monetary benefits of pro-environmental behavior may hinder positive spillover to other pro-environmental behaviors.

Values Versus Environmental Knowledge as Triggers of a Process of Activation of Personal Norms for Eco-Driving.

Eco-driving can be an effective strategy to save fuel and reduce CO emissions on the road. In the current study, we reason that personal norms are important predictors of eco-driving, and that they are activated when people are aware of environmental problems caused by behavior (problem awareness) and believe that they can contribute to the solution of the problem by changing behavior (outcome efficacy). Extending previous research, we aim at testing two antecedents of this norm activation process: values and environmental knowledge.

Measuring Values in Environmental Research: A Test of an Environmental Portrait Value Questionnaire.

Four human values are considered to underlie individuals' environmental beliefs and behaviors: biospheric (i.e., concern for environment), altruistic (i.

Psychologists and the problem of population growth: Reply to Bridgeman (2017).

Bridgeman (2017) describes the important role of population growth in contributing to environmental problems. The present essay argues that population is an important component of human impact on the environment, but it must be considered in combination with consumption rates. A place-based approach, examining the local context for reproductive decisions, is necessary to assess population growth as a contributor to environmental impact and to develop appropriate behavioral interventions.

Why Acting Environmentally-Friendly Feels Good: Exploring the Role of Self-Image.

Recent research suggests that engagement in environmentally-friendly behavior can feel good. Current explanations for such a link do not focus on the nature of environmentally-friendly behavior itself, but rather propose well-being is more or less a side-benefit; behaviors that benefit environmental quality (e.g.

When complex is easy on the mind: Internal repetition of visual information in complex objects is a source of perceptual fluency.

Across 3 studies, we investigated whether visual complexity deriving from internally repeating visual information over many scale levels is a source of perceptual fluency. Such continuous repetition of visual information is formalized in fractal geometry and is a key-property of natural structures. In the first 2 studies, we exposed participants to 3-dimensional high-fractal versus low-fractal stimuli, respectively characterized by a relatively high versus low degree of internal repetition of visual information.