social psychology
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How commuting can ruin your marriage
At least in Sweden, people who have a long-distance commute are 40 percent more likely to separate or divorce. That’s the finding of Erika Sandow, a Swedish social geographer who studied more than two million partnered commuters for her dissertation work. Sandow acknowledges that there are career benefits to long commutes — people who are […]
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Behavioral nudges on electric bills could save three coal plants worth of emissions
Smarter electric bills make smarter consumers.Over the years, I’ve written quite a bit about social psychology, behavioral research, and how they can be used to encourage energy efficiency and conservation. I’ve also written quite a bit about Opower, a company that uses behavioral insights to help utilities communicate more effectively with their customers. (See links […]
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Behavior change: we’re already doing it [VIDEO]
Last week, my enormous head and I did a video interview with the energy-focused cable news show EnergyNow! (which incidentally just got a national distribution deal through Bloomberg TV). The topic was behavior change. They’ve split the video in two. Here’s the first bit: And the second bit: As always, I find my performance on […]
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What's the real potential for behavior-change programs?
We haven't yet seen even a fraction of the potential for electric utility programs designed to influence customers to use less energy.
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Smart readers weigh in on behavior change
A couple weeks ago, I wrote a post on behavior change that prompted a lot of great feedback and discussion. I've picked out a few interesting bits and pieces from the thread to highlight and respond to.
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On habits and how to change them
If you want to change what people think, you need to change what they do. That's the painstaking work of building a more sustainable society.
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Brian Baird: ‘This is not government mind control’
Representative Baird. There aren’t many psychologists in Congress (though many members could probably use one), so Rep. Brian Baird (D) brings a unique perspective. He has a PhD in clinical psychology and published two books in the field before coming to D.C. to deal with dysfunctions of a different sort. He has represented Washington’s 3rd […]
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Using behavioral science to make smarter energy policy
On Friday, journalist John Fleck made a great point, comparing coverage of two new pieces in Science. One is about the latest potential climate disaster: methane venting from the seafloor in the Arctic. The second is about a promising new climate solution: using behavioral science to influence energy use. Not surprisingly, the disaster got tons […]
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Does Facebook deserve the hell it’s catching from Greenpeace?
Social networking giant Facebook has been taking heat from enviros recently for its decision to site a massive new data center in Prineville, Ore. The issue? Pacific Power, the utility that serves Prineville, gets most of its power from coal, the enemy of the human race. Greenpeace International has started a Facebook group opposing the […]