For a quick introduction to this research, see the post below.

Full working paper/pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...

Pre-print:
osf.io/preprints/ps...

Abstract and key figure summarizing the main effect across our three experiments: See below.

As always: Feedback is most welcome.

Abstract: See below.

Working paper/pre-print:
papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers....

As always:
Feedback is most welcome!

In future work, we recommend that psychological research on sustainability & climate change should start paying more attention to actual behavior, including the long-term impact of system-level interventions.

For those interested:

Please see the abstract & link to our WP in the final post.

However, in combination, the social norm-nudge seemed to make the climate incentive more acceptable to the public:

We observed no drop in customer satisfaction in the combined condition, unlike the pure incentive condition.

Our study (with Mathias Ekström & Kjetil Bjorvatn) is based on a large-scale field experiment in Bergen, following about 2,000 households over two years.

We find a large effect of a small incentive on both the quantity (kg) & quality (correct sorting) of recycling, but no effect of the norm-nudge.

Anxiety: What if something incredibly stupid goes wrong?

Curiosity: What will we find? What will the data look like? What can we learn from it? Will this be interesting for other people too? etc.

Even the weather played along! Spring in Bergen 🌞

For those interested in an overview:

1: Social media and morality: An updated review (Van Bavel, Robertson, del Rosario, Rasmussen & Rathje 2024).
www.annualreviews.org/content/jour...

2: The MAD Model of Moral Contagion (Brady, Crockett & Van Bavel, 2020).
pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32511060/

For those interested:

Some reflections below on the background, idea, and main findings.

Relevant work:

-Karmic forecasts: psycnet.apa.org/record/2019-...
-Vicarious optimism: psycnet.apa.org/record/2018-... @mjcrockett.bsky.social
-Self-deceptive happiness judgments: psycnet.apa.org/record/1999-...
-The best-case heuristic:
journals.sagepub.com/doi/abs/10.1... @jayvanbavel.bsky.social

By focusing on substantive strategies and actionable guidance, rather than the flashiest new phrase, climate communicators may see greater success mobilizing the public.

It’s not about what we call it, but likely how we encourage people to tackle it. jayvanbavellab.substack.com/p/climate-te...

For those interested: A bit more about the background, general idea, and main findings below.