INSTITUT FÜR PSYCHOLOGIE

In einem Interview mit Florian Reiter von FOCUS Online beleuchtet Prof. Florian Kaiser ob und wie sich die Bevölkerung an die Beschränkungen im Rahmen der Coronavirus-Pandemie hält. Hier geht es zum ganzen Artikel.

In einem Interview mit Simone Höhn von der Stuttgarter Zeitung beleuchtet Prof. Florian Kaiser (neben Prof. Andreas Diekmann) das Sozialverhalten in der Coronakrise anlässlich der Atemschutzmaskenpflicht. Der Artikel vom Samstag, 25. April 2020, kann hier eingesehen werden.

Neue Publikation aus dem Bereich "Umweltpsychologie"!

Henn, L., Otto, S., & Kaiser, F. G. (2020). Positive spillover: The result of attitude change. Journal of Environmental Psychology 69, 101429. 

Open access for 50 days: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1ay1QzzKD4ERg

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101429

Abstract:

Behavioral spillover is the phenomenon when a behavior change is accompanied by subsequent changes in other behaviors related to the same goal (e.g., environmental protection). We propose to understand behavioral spillover as the result of attitude change. According to the Campbell Paradigm (see Kaiser, Byrka, & Hartig, 2010), pro-environmental behaviors are an expression of a person's environmental attitude. The higher the person's level of environmental attitude, the more behavioral costs the person will endure to perform pro-environmental behaviors. Thus, if the person's attitude changes, what is commonly called behavioral spillover will occur: For all pro-environmental behaviors, the person's likelihood of engaging in any one of them will increase. We illustrate this argument by presenting a secondary analysis of data showing that an attitude change results in the frequencies of various pro-environmental behaviors increasing by 3.5% on average. Our proposed model of spillover enforces the idea that those who wish to promote sustainable pro-environmental behavior must inspire changes in people's environmental attitudes instead of attempting to change specific behaviors.

Die aktuelle Lage durch das Coronavirus ist für uns neu und herausfordernd. Die damit verbundenen Einschränkungen sind nur schwer zu ertragen. Hinzu kommen unterschiedliche Positionen von Experten. Viele Menschen sind ratlos – und werden ungeduldig. MDR SACHSEN-ANHALT hat mit dem Sozialpsychologen Florian Kaiser gesprochen, der an der Uni Magdeburg zum Verhalten von Menschen in Krisen forscht. Hier geht es zum Interview!

Neue Publikation aus dem Bereich "Umweltpsychologie"!

Kaiser, F. G., Henn, L., & Marschke, B. (in press). Financial rewards for long-term environmental protection. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 

Open access until May 22, 2020: https://authors.elsevier.com/a/1aqpfzzKD4EMD

Available at: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101411

Abstract:

Monetary rewards are effective for promoting environmental protection. But can protecting the environment for financial reasons result in durable increases in people's inherent motivation to protect the environment—that is, their environmental attitude? With this research, we aimed to experimentally test the long-term efficacy of financial incentive/reward interventions. We randomly assigned a sample of 336 (mostly) students to either of two conditions. Participants in the treatment condition were offered a financial reward for choosing vegetarian lunches. As expected, we found that the monetary reward increased the proportion of vegetarian lunches regardless of students' preexisting environmental attitude levels. The following week, after the financial reward was discontinued, environmental attitude continued to account for the proportion of vegetarian meals, whereas the previous receipt of a financial reward no longer had an effect. Thus, the long-term efficacy of monetary rewards, at least under the conditions of this research, seems questionable.