dc.contributor.author | Jachimowicz, JM | |
dc.contributor.author | Hauser, OP | |
dc.contributor.author | O'Brien, JD | |
dc.contributor.author | Sherman, E | |
dc.contributor.author | Galinsky, AD | |
dc.date.accessioned | 2018-09-25T09:25:43Z | |
dc.date.issued | 2018-09-17 | |
dc.description.abstract | Sustaining large-scale public goods requires individuals to make environmentally friendly decisions today to benefit future generations. Recent research suggests that second-order normative beliefs are more powerful predictors of behaviour than first-order personal beliefs. We explored the role that second-order normative beliefs—the belief that community members think that saving energy helps the environment—play in curbing energy use. We first analysed a data set of 211 independent, randomized controlled trials conducted in 27 US states by Opower, a company that uses comparative information about energy consumption to reduce household energy usage (pooled N = 16,198,595). Building off the finding that the energy savings varied between 0.81% and 2.55% across states, we matched this energy use data with a survey that we conducted of over 2,000 individuals in those same states on their first-order personal and second-order normative beliefs. We found that second-order normative beliefs predicted energy savings but first-order personal beliefs did not. A subsequent pre-registered experiment provides causal evidence for the role of second-order normative beliefs in predicting energy conservation above first-order personal beliefs. Our results suggest that second-order normative beliefs play a critical role in promoting energy conservation and have important implications for policymakers concerned with curbing the detrimental consequences of climate change. | en_GB |
dc.identifier.citation | Published online 17 September 2018 | en_GB |
dc.identifier.doi | 10.1038/s41562-018-0434-0 | |
dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/10871/34099 | |
dc.language.iso | en | en_GB |
dc.publisher | Springer Nature | en_GB |
dc.rights.embargoreason | Under embargo until 17 March 2019 in compliance with publisher policy | en_GB |
dc.rights | © 2018 Springer Nature | en_GB |
dc.title | The critical role of second-order normative beliefs in predicting energy conservation | en_GB |
dc.type | Article | en_GB |
dc.identifier.issn | 2397-3374 | |
dc.description | This is the author accepted manuscript. The final version is available from Springer Nature via the DOI in this record | en_GB |
dc.identifier.journal | Nature Human Behaviour | en_GB |