Suchergebnisse

This paper presents analyses based on data from two H2020 projects coordinated by the author. In ECHOES, energy choices of consumers are studied from a multilevel perspective, including particularly the question, how choices framed as group choices (e.g., choices people living in a particular region, city or country) differ from choices framed as individual choices. Results from a representative multinational survey with more than 18,000 respondents conducted in all EU member states plus Switzerland, Turkey, and Norway are presented. In the survey, an online experiment was conducted manipulating if predictors of energy saving behavior were introduced as a choice with a connection to other people in the region, the country, or the European Union. The analyses show that intentions to support the Energy Transition by energy saving behavior are impacted by the degree a person embraces an environmental identity, the feeling of being morally obliged (personal norms), the feeling of individual efficacy, but also social norms and the degree of identification with the people in the respective geographic entity (municipality, country, EU). Citizens of the different countries differ strongly in the degree they identify with their municipality or the EU in relation to their country and the degree of how strong they perceive the social norms and individual efficacy in their municipality or country in relation to the EU. Whereas identification with the EU is usually rather low in most countries, social norms to save energy are experienced to be stronger on the EU level than on the lower levels. Also, efficacy is perceived to be higher on the EU level. These findings are supplemented by preliminary findings from the SMARTEES project, which studies the diffusion of five types of social innovations in energy (inclusive mobility planning, energy autonomous islands, introducing car-free "superblocks" in cities, city quarter revitalization through energy effectivization, fighting fuel poverty through participatory energy efficiency ...

The present article examines the transmission of energy-saving behaviors in the family on two levels. We investigated the extent to which energy-saving performance differed between adolescents in relation to parental behavior on an aggregated level but also across single behaviors within adolescents. Furthermore, we investigated whether social context (e.g., private areas in a household) interfered with one of the basic mechanisms assumed for this transmission (observation). Correlations between 13 self-reported single energy-saving behaviors from 264 adolescents and their respective parents ( N = 554) were analyzed by combining a path analysis with a multilevel approach. There were strong significant correlations between parents' and adolescents' energy-saving behaviors, mediated by adolescents' perceptions of their parents' behavior. The congruence between parents' self-reports and adolescents' perceptions was lower in private contexts than in shared social contexts in the household. This indicates that differentiated investigations with single behaviors and a focus on the social context (e.g., observability) are needed in transmission research.

Monetary incentives can reduce the performance of pro-environmental behavior, but it remains unclear if they undermine pro-environmental intrinsic motivation. In this longitudinal intervention study, we investigated how monetarily versus environmentally framed behavioral information influences pro-environmental intrinsic motivation, intentions, and behavior. Clients of a local German energy provider ( N = 657) were randomly assigned to receive electricity saving tips, combined with a savings potential in € (monetary framing) or in CO2 (environmental framing). Both types of framed tips positively influenced long-term electricity saving intentions (after 9 months), compared with a control group (receiving no tips), but not behavioral change ( n = 285). Monetarily framed tips did not reduce pro-environmental intrinsic motivation (vs. a control group), but only environmentally framed tips increased pro-environmental intrinsic motivation, which mediated effects on intentions. Hence, environmental framing of behavioral interventions may be preferred when promoting long-term pro-environmental behavior without continuous monetary benefits. Otherwise, both framing strategies can be equally effective.

We adopt a recently introduced incentivized method to elicit widely shared beliefs concerning (a) social norms, (b) environmental effect, and (c) difficulty of a wide range of environmental behaviors. We establish that these characteristics, as reflected in elicited beliefs recorded in one sample, predict (out-of-sample) environmental behaviors in a second separate sample. Pro-environmental behaviors perceived to be more socially appropriate and easier to perform, in particular, are more likely to be chosen. We show that subjective social norms mediate the effect of "global" (widely shared) social norms on behavior, which improves our understanding of the normative processes underlying pro-environmental action. Our use of an incentivized elicitation method might moreover mitigate problems associated with conventional surveys, such as social desirability bias, consistency bias, and inattentive responding, as discussed in the article.

AbstractThis study aims to explore the variation between- and within subgroups of older adults with regard to low, medium, and high levels of self-reported quality of life (QoL) measured by the WHOQOL-BREF scale. The contribution of interacting personal and contextual life conditions to QoL was examined in a sample of 1,910 (sample frame 6,000) Norwegian men and women aged 62 to 99 years. The data collected by a postal questionnaire were analyzed using the Chi-square Automatic Interaction Detection (CHAID) classification method in order to detect unique profiles of groups who shared common characteristics. The CHAID model revealed 15 relatively homogenous groups, but distinct from one another, whose profiles were defined by unique constellations of several interacting variables significantly related to a given QoL level. Mental functioning was predominantly linked to perception of life meaning along with health status, and/or in some cases living arrangement, loneliness, neighborhood quality, and satisfaction with income, and placed an individual at different likelihood levels of reporting low, medium, or high QoL. Socio-demographics had no statistically significant impact on QoL for any subgroup. Through this individual-oriented approach, a periodically ongoing assessment of subjective quality of life (QoL) may be sufficiently powerful to allow detecting and addressing personal concerns and specific needs that detract from quality of life in advancing age.

Der Beitrag fasst Ergebnisse aus der ersten Welle des LBS-Kinderbarometers zusammen, die beispielhaft deutlich machen, welche Aspekte aus der Perspektive der Kinder eine Kindheit zu einer guten Kindheit machen. Folgende Aspekte werden behandelt: (1) politische Veränderungsprioritäten; (2) größte Angst; (3) Wichtigkeit verschiedener Zukunftsaspekte; (4) Verteilung von Stresssymptomen; (5) subjektive Einschätzung des Körpergewichts; (6) Verzehr verschiedener Nahrungsmittel; (7) gesunde Ernährung; (8) Teilnahme am Vereinssport. (ICE2).

Der Beitrag fasst Ergebnisse aus der ersten Welle des LBS-Kinderbarometers zusammen, die beispielhaft deutlich machen, welche Aspekte aus der Perspektive der Kinder eine Kindheit zu einer guten Kindheit machen. Folgende Aspekte werden behandelt: (1) politische Veränderungsprioritäten; (2) größte Angst; (3) Wichtigkeit verschiedener Zukunftsaspekte; (4) Verteilung von Stresssymptomen; (5) subjektive Einschätzung des Körpergewichts; (6) Verzehr verschiedener Nahrungsmittel; (7) gesunde Ernährung; (8) Teilnahme am Vereinssport. (ICE2)

Zusammenfassung. Zur Erklärung von nichtraucherschützendem Verhalten wurde ein erweitertes Normaktivationsmodell angewendet und an einer Stichprobe von 131 rauchenden Studierenden als Strukturgleichungsmodell geprüft. Die Modellgütekriterien zeigen, dass das Modell die empirischen Daten befriedigend beschreibt. Neben den wahrgenommenen Fähigkeiten zum Nichtraucherschutz sind für die Erklärung von selbstberichtetem rücksichtsvollem Rauchverhalten auch persönliche Normen signifikante Prädiktoren. Persönliche Normen werden hauptsächlich durch Problemwahrnehmung und Bewusstheit von Handlungskonsequenzen sowie die wahrgenommenen Verhaltenskosten beeinflusst. Die Ergebnisse werden im Hinblick auf Interventionen diskutiert.

"Dieser Beitrag referiert die Ergebnisse einer mehrjährigen repräsentativen Befragung von Kindern zwischen 9 und 14 Jahren. Die wichtigsten Einflussfaktoren auf das kindliche Wohlbefinden in der Familie sind familiäre Wärme, keine zu starke Kontrolle durch die Mutter, hohe Kommunikationsqualität und geringe Dominanz der Eltern." (Autorenreferat)

This study examines a model of travel mode choice that is able to explain gender differences in the willingness to reduce car use. By means of a survey among 187 inhabitants of a German city, the hypothesis is tested that women are more willing to reduce car use (intention to reduce car use, preference for public transport, and actual travel mode choice for a given trip) because of their stronger ecological norms and weaker car habits. Results confirm women's greater willingness and the mediating role of norm and habit in the intention to reduce car use and in the actual travel mode choice but not with regard to the preference rating. The intention to reduce car use is mainly influenced by the ecological norm, whereas actual travel behavior is more strongly influenced by habit.