How can psychology help us understand and solve environmental and energy-related problems?

Newsfeed

Symposium: The roles of different actors in addressing societal challenges

What roles can - and should - different societal actors play in addressing complex societal challenges?

A fossil-fuel advertising ban is symbolic, and symbols really matter

The proliferation of ads for cheap air holidays and cruises can lull us into thinking that everyone does it, and can leave people who are trying to live more sustainably feeling like their efforts won’t amount to much against that critical mass of high emissions behavior.

Circling back to behavior change

Policies that make it easier and cheaper for people to engage in circular behavior and using our voices to advocate for systems change becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy.

Meet the team: Yongzhang Li

Learn more about our colleague post doc Yongzhang Li's research

Housing for well-being with minimal energy and material demand

In this Review, we discuss high well-being with low demand (HwL) housing, aiming to reduce energy and material consumption while maintaining — or enhancing — individual and community well-being.

Meet the team: Gonzalo Palomo

Learn more about our colleague post doc Gonzalo Palomo's research

Climate policy feasibility across Europe relies on the conditional middle

The preferences of conditionals hinge upon specific policy instruments and the perceived cost–benefit balances but less on fixed ideology or demographics.

Climate action and the coalition: betting on technology without changing demand or getting citizens involved is a missed opportunity

Insights from environmental psychology research can set up the coalition’s plans for greater acceptability and success, and set up The Netherlands for a more sustainable and just future free from fossil fuels.

Climate policies: The swing group that decides their fate

The political fate of climate policy proposals is determined not by the loudest but rather by a large group in between.

What is it like to study in our master’s programme?

What do current and former students from the behavioral and social science master's programme have to say about their experience?

Engage with behavior change: making sustainable and adaptation behavior the norm

The Dutch Scientific Climate Council advises the government that the time is now to engage with more effective and integral behavioural policy, and make sustainable choices the norm.

Public perceptions and acceptability of sustainable transitions depend on who is developing them, how they’re developing and when the public is involved

Professor Goda Perlaviciute shares her research insights on public acceptability of sustainable projects, and how public trust depends on who is the developer is, how it is being developed, and how (and how soon) the general public is involved in the decision-making process.

The behavioral dimension of transport decarbonization

Drawing on an interdisciplinary workshop, this paper emphasizes integrating behavioral insights into climate policy design to ensure technical effectiveness, social acceptability, and equity.

Circular citizenship behaviours to promote systemic change: Influences of values, beliefs, norms, and personal agency

Our findings highlight much untapped potential for systemic change through citizen action and offer insights into how engagement in Circular Citizenship Behaviours (CCBs) might be promoted.

A world without fossil fuels

Research from our department and a consensus from international scholars finds time and again that most people worldwide want fossil fuels and their associated harms to be significantly reduced.

Who we are and what we do

The Environmental Psychology Groningen expertise group investigates how willing people are to make a personal contribution to the cause of combating climate change and which policies can effectively encourage sustainable behaviour.

Read our most recent publications

Got questions?
Contact us!