Sustainable Judgment and Decision-Making
The evidence base for the damaging effects of anthropogenic climate change is clear. Behavior change towards less carbon intensive lifestyles, however, has been largely insufficient. Reasons for limited actions are manifold, spanning from polarization and politicization of the topic – fueled by systematic climate misinformation – to established habits, misperceptions, and contextual barriers.
We aim to better aim to better understand the psychological mechanisms of sustainable behavior in various environments and societal groups by using a broad methodological spectrum. This includes experimental decision paradigms with real-world consequences, process tracing methods, social media tracking, and system modelling. In light of the global and dynamic nature of climate change, we gather data from diverse countries and across significant societal events such as public elections and societal crises. For instance, in a preregistered report, we provide evidence for the detrimental effects of climate change misinformation on public climate change beliefs and actions in 12 Western and non-Western countries. Extending this research line, we currently examine the factors that drive the active acquisition and integration of climate misinformation on three continents.
In longitudinal research, we examined how policy support, energy literacy, and energy efficiency preferences changed across the 2022/2023 energy crisis winter in Europe. The study shows that public support for climate policies remains stable even in times of low public attention to the topic. In contrast, energy efficiency product preferences declined as public attention toward the energy crisis decreased. Coupling experimental data with real world energy price data showed that this effect was attenuated for those exposed to large real-world energy price increases.
By linking robust psychological research with real-world contexts and events, our research can directly inform targeted and context-specific policies.