Lise Jans, Ph.D.

Senior Researcher/Lecturer

l.jans@rug.nl
+31 50 36336567

Grote Kruisstraat 2/1
9712 TS Groningen
the Netherlands

Room H 439

Summary of work:

I am interested in the interplay between individuals and groups. I explore how groups (and group identities) are formed and changed, how they become shared identities, and how they affect both individual and collective outcomes. Currently, I am applying these insights to the context of communities, examining how communities can influence pro-environmental and sustainable energy behaviours.

Research Projects

Smart Farmer Grid 2.0

This project aims to study the optimal design of a smart grid infrastructure in rural argicultural areas. We will study techonological, rural, social and behavioural aspects that promote the efficiency of rural smart energy infrastructures. The project is funded by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

The power of the neighbourhood: the success and spreading of bottom-up initiatives at the energy market

This project aims to examine individual and social factors influencing the success and spreading of local sustainable energy initiatives that encourage local residents to reduce their CO2 emissions by adopting renewable energy sources and engaging in energy saving behaviours. The project is funded by the Netherlands Enterprise Agency (RVO).

Reconciling individuality with social solidarity: Forming social identity from the bottom up

During the last decades, Western societies have become increasingly individualistic. Many people fear that this gain in individual freedom threatens solidarity in society. The individual and the collective are assumed to be in opposition. But is this assumption always correct? Or is it possible to form groups in which individual distinctiveness and group membership can come into agreement? We propose that individual group members can actively contribute to the formation of shared group identity—a bottom-up (inductive) process that involves each group member as an individual. While being a distinctive individual can be difficult when group identity is formed on the basis of commonalities (a mechanical or deductive process) as might be the case in the army or the police, my dissertation shows that individuality can be reconciled more easily with strong social solidarity when group identity is formed inductively (or organically) out of individuals’ contributions. This project was funded by the Graduate School of Behavioural and Social Sciences, University of Groningen

Teaching

Supervising PhDs and junior researchers:

Daniel Sloot (Ph.D. student)
Sara van der Par (Junior researcher)

Coordination tasks

Coordinator Master’s programme Environmental Psychology

Supervision of theses

Master theses
Bachelor theses

Individual Courses

Working in interdisciplinary teams

Environmental challenges are complex and require expertise from multiple disciplines. Social scientists, humanities scholars, physical scientists, and engineers need to collaborate to be able to understand and tackle major challenges. Consequently, there is growing interest in interdisciplinary environmental research that integrates the insights from various disciplines. In this interactive course, you will become familiar with how different disciplines study environmental problems, and their main contributions. You will communicate with scholars outside the field of environmental psychology, and in groups develop an integrative research idea. In the process, you will learn tools to better work in interdisciplinary teams.

Scientific Publications

Jans, L. & Fielding, K. (forthcoming). The role of group processes in environmental issues, attitudes, and behaviours. In: L. Steg, A.F. van den Berg, & J.IM. de Groot (eds.), Environmental Psychology. BPS Blackwell

Jans, L., Leach, C. W., Garcia, R., & Postmes, T. (2015). The Development of Group Influence on In-Group Identification: A Multi-Level Approach. Group Processes and Intergroup Relations. doi: 10.1177/1368430214540757

Jansen, W.S., Otten, S., Van der Zee, K.I., & Jans, L. (2014). Inclusion: Conceptualisation and measurement. European Journal of Social Psychology. doi: 10.1002/ejsp.2011 (won the Snijders-Kouwer Award for best international scientific article of a PhD student of the Heymans Institute)

Haslam, S. A., Adarves-Yorno, I., Postmes, T., & Jans, L. (2013). The collective origins of valued originality: A social identity approach to creativity. Personality and Social Psychology Review. 17(4), 384-401. doi: 10.1177/1088868313498001.

Postmes, T., Haslam, S. A., & Jans, L (2013). A single-item measure of social identification: Reliability, validity and utility. British Journal of Social Psychology. 52(4), 597-617. doi:10.1111/bjso.12006.

Jans, L., Postmes, T., & Van der Zee, K. I. (2012). Sharing differences: The inductive route to social identity formation. Journal of Experimental and Social Psychology. 48(5), 1145-1149. doi:10.1016/j.jesp.2012.04.013.

Jans, L., Postmes, T., & Van der Zee, K. I. (2011). The Induction of a shared identity: The positive role of individual distinctiveness for groups. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin. 37, 1130-1141. doi: 10.1177/0146167211407342.

Other Publications

Sloot, D., Jans, L., & Steg, L. (2017). The potential of environmental community initiatives – a social psychological perspective. In: A. Römpke, G. Reese, I. Fritsche, N. Wiersbinski, & A. Mues (ed.), Outlooks on Applying Environmental Psychology Research (p. 27-34). BfN-Skripten. DOI:10.19217/skr460.

Jans, L. (2016). Ikke, ikke, ikke, dus de rest kan stikken?[Me, me, me, so how about the others?]. The Inquisitive Mind, 3, Published on nl.in-mind.org

Steg, E., Hindriks, F., & Jans, L. (2016). Grenzen van regels. In Dromen over Groningen 2050: Vriendenboek Max van den Berg. (pp. 75-77). Rijksuniversiteit Groningen.

Jans, L. (2013). Individualiteit en solidariteit gaan prima samen. [Individuality and Solidarity go hand in hand] Sociale Vraagstukken, Published on http://www.socialevraagstukken.nl

Ad hoc reviewer for:

Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin; Group Processes and Intergroup Relations; British Journal of Social Psychology; European Journal of Social Psychology; Sage Open; Social Psychological and Personality Science; Cultural Diversity and Ethnic Minority Psychology; Swiss Journal of Psychology; Journal of Applied Social Psychology; International Journal of Psychology; Jaarboek Sociale Psychologie