Values and willingness-to-pay for sustainability-certified mobile phones

© 2019 The Author(s). Published by Informa UK Limited, trading as Taylor & Francis Group. This is an Open Access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives License (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/), which permits non-commercial re-use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, and is not altered,transformed, or built upon in any way.This study investigated whether endorsement of personal values is associated with willingness to pay more for mobile phones with an environmental or social sustainability label. Participants were students in Sweden, Norway and Germany. A self-report inventory was used to measure willingness to pay and the importance attached to values of Schwartz’s circular model. In Sweden and Norway, participants were willing to pay, on average, 18% extra for a mobile phone with labels for environmental or social sustainability. In Germany, the corresponding share was 12%. To strive for self-enhancement values, that is, social status and prestige, as well as control and dominance over people and resources, was associated with a lower willingness to pay for mobile phones with labels for environmental or social sustainability in all three countries. Furthermore, women were willing to pay more than men for mobile phones with both kinds of sustainability labels. In Sweden and Norway, participants were, on average, willing to pay more for a mobile phone with a label for social sustainability compared to a mobile phone with a label for environmental sustainability.publishedVersio

The Process of Establishing a Green Climate: Face-To-Face Interaction between Leaders and Employees in the Microsystem

This study explores the processes of establishing a green organizational climate in small-scale companies. Previous studies have primarily focused on factors associated with pro-environmental behaviour in large organizations. The role of a green organizational climate—specifically, the interactional processes involved in the construction of a green climate—has largely been unexplored. Entrepreneurial small companies constitute an ideal arena in which to study the initial phase of greening processes. The present study examined the process of establishing a green organizational climate in seven small-scale Norwegian companies. This article presents a systems model that was developed to analyse how processes at different levels interact in the shaping of the green climate. The design was a longitudinal mixed-methods approach, consisting of focus-group interviews conducted in the field, a questionnaire and follow-up interviews with the leaders. Findings indicate that the construction of a green climate had a strong practise-based approach. The company founders were driven by environmental values; they sparked the initial green measures, influenced the employees—directly and indirectly—and also invited dialogue around and co-construction of the green climate. Frequent face-to-face interactions within the microsystem of the leaders/employees were decisive to the development of the green climate. The present study contributes to the understanding of the process of greening an organization: specifically, how green practice relates to the construction of a shared green climate. Contrary to previous research and theorizing, this study indicates that it is possible to “go green” without a superordinate green strategy

Towards an integration of recovery and restoration theories

The attempts to balance between the actual and preferred states of activation or relaxation has been studied from a recovery and a restoration perspective. There are many noticeable parallels between restoration and recovery. Both traditions depart from understanding the need for the individual to regain finite resources that has been used to meet and handle external demands. There is some disagreement of the phenomena, and the terminology may differ as well as the implied meaning of the underlying concepts. Both traditions although consider resource use on one hand, and the processes to return to a state where these resources are replenished, on the other hand. To integrate the recovery and restoration traditions a tentative model is proposed, recognizing that both traditions departs from an interactive process perspective, where the need to replenish resources are consciously perceived.publishedVersio

Restorative experiences across seasons? Effects of outdoor walking and relaxation exercise during lunch breaks in summer and winter

This study aimed to explore whether a walk outdoors during a lunch break would promote restorative experiences for a sample of office workers (N = 52), compared to following instructions from an online video of progressive muscle relaxation. Furthermore, the study aimed to compare the impact of a walk during winter to a walk in a summer landscape. Compared to baseline measures, walking in winter and summer were both associated with significantly increased subjective vitality and psychological detachment from work, but there were no significant differences in these specific wellbeing indicators between winter and summer conditions. The indoor muscle relaxation exercise had no effect on psychological detachment from work, but participants who had the relaxation session during summer reported a significant increase in subjective vitality. Active outdoor restoration seems to have a beneficial impact on mental wellbeing, while indoor muscle relaxation may also have some benefits.publishedVersio

The Process of Establishing a Green Climate: Face-To-Face Interaction between Leaders and Employees in the Microsystem

This study explores the processes of establishing a green organizational climate in small-scale companies. Previous studies have primarily focused on factors associated with pro-environmental behaviour in large organizations. The role of a green organizational climate—specifically, the interactional processes involved in the construction of a green climate—has largely been unexplored. Entrepreneurial small companies constitute an ideal arena in which to study the initial phase of greening processes. The present study examined the process of establishing a green organizational climate in seven small-scale Norwegian companies. This article presents a systems model that was developed to analyse how processes at different levels interact in the shaping of the green climate. The design was a longitudinal mixed-methods approach, consisting of focus-group interviews conducted in the field, a questionnaire and follow-up interviews with the leaders. Findings indicate that the construction of a green climate had a strong practise-based approach. The company founders were driven by environmental values; they sparked the initial green measures, influenced the employees—directly and indirectly—and also invited dialogue around and co-construction of the green climate. Frequent face-to-face interactions within the microsystem of the leaders/employees were decisive to the development of the green climate. The present study contributes to the understanding of the process of greening an organization: specifically, how green practice relates to the construction of a shared green climate. Contrary to previous research and theorizing, this study indicates that it is possible to “go green” without a superordinate green strategy.publishedVersio

The Meaning of the Physical Environment in Child and Adolescent Therapy: A Qualitative Study of the Outdoor Care Retreat

Research on common factors in therapy largely focuses on qualities in the therapist, relationship, or client, with little attention to the meaning of the physical environment. This study contributes to the literature on common factors, aiming for a qualitative in-depth analysis of the ways place, nature, and natural materials affect therapy with hospitalized chronically ill children. The study compares the experience of therapy in the Outdoor Care Retreat (OCR)—an architect-designed cabin in a natural setting behind the Oslo University Hospital in Norway—with therapy in a traditional hospital setting. The findings are based on two group interviews with seven leaders, six individual interviews with therapists (psychologists, social workers, and medical doctors), and four individual interviews with parents of hospitalized chronically ill children. The qualitative data were analyzed according to reflexive thematic analysis and categorized into eight main themes. The (1) affordances of the OCR positively influenced the therapy. The analysis yielded examples of positive influence from the natural setting and materials on both child and therapist, in terms of (2) natural bodily reactions, (3) multifaceted role activation, (4) situations of opportunities, (5) restorative emotional reactions, (6) stronger alliance, and (7) valuable expectations. The subthemes demonstrate which mechanisms were in play, and how these contribute to (8) therapeutic flow in a holding environment. The case study demonstrates the value of considering place and nature for therapy with children. A model of the meaning of the physical environment in therapy is proposed, to be tested in further research.acceptedVersio

Personality traits in musicians

background Performing music is a complex creative activity which in addition to professional skills requires phantasy, a sense of aesthetics, cognitive involvement, intellectual curiosity, perceptual sensitivity, mental flexibility, but also discipline, motor precision and speed, attention endurance, emotional expression and communication. Many of these characteristics are also reflected in personality traits such as Openness, Extraversion, Conscientiousness and to some degree Neuroticism. Previous research has investigated the differences between personality traits amongst musicians, but there are few studies that compare personality characteristics between musicians and non-musicians.publishedVersio

Terapirommet er ikke et nøytralt rom: om Friluftssykehuset og potensialet i de fysiske omgivelsene for barn og unge i behandling.

The purpose of this article is to demonstrate how we can use nature cabins and their natural surroundings therapeutically. Published research of relevance for this therapeutic practice is discussed in relation to and informed by experiences from practice, collected through conversations with therapists using the Outdoor care retreat at Rikshospitalet in Norway. The literature review demonstrates how therapy in nature cabins can influence cognitive and emotional processes. All physical environments carry symbolic meanings; therefore, no therapy setting is neutral, and the setting will affect the client and therapist. Place attachment may contribute to create a safe foundation for exploration and self-development. The experiences from practice demonstrate how nature and natural objects are rich in potential for the creative application of symbols in therapy and opens for different stories on growth and development. The evidence-based approach of this article supplies a therapeutic rationale to use cabins in natural surroundings more strategically for positive therapeutic outcomes.publishedVersio

Musicians: Larks, Owls or Hummingbirds?

Previous studies have shown an association between morning and evening types and creative thinking. Musicians are creative individuals and the purpose of the current research was to examine whether musicians are significantly more evening types than non-musicians. The total sample included 835 participants (n women = 353; n men = 482), with a mean age of 28.0 years (SD = 10.4). The group of musicians consisted of 600 participants (n women = 168; n men = 432) with a mean age of 29.1 years (SD = 11.2). The group of non-musicians consisted of 233 participants (n women = 184; n men = 49) with a mean age of 25.3 years (SD = 7.4). Participants were recruited via an online forum, and chronotypes were assessed using the self-report Horne & Ostberg’s Morningness-Eveningness Questionnaire (MEQ). We found that performance musicians had significantly lower MEQ scores compared to non-performance musicians, and musicians who composed had the lowest MEQ scores across the whole sample. This indicates that musicians, particularly composing musicians had a tendency towards eveningness. These findings are discussed in relation to theories on chronobiology, creativity, and cognitive psychology.publishedVersio

User perspectives on reuse of construction products in Norway: Results of a national survey

Construction industry is one of the main contributors to the world's emissions and material footprints. Reuse of construction products is one way to lower the sector's embodied emissions and increase resource utilisation. The aim of this study is to identify the main drivers and challenges affecting reuse of construction products as well as assess success factors, reuse potential, and potential measures which should be considered to overcome these obstacles. An online national survey was conducted on reuse of construction products among actors from the Norwegian construction industry. The valid responses obtained from 260 participants show ‘emission reduction’ as the most important driver for reuse of construction products by all user groups. Even if regulatory and economic components were listed under drivers in the survey questions, they were considered as barriers rather than drivers by some of the respondents. All user groups, except suppliers of reused products, rated ‘lack of documentation’ as the most important barrier, and ‘good planning’ as the most important success factor. Suppliers of reused products rated ‘high cost’ and ‘good planning’ as the most challenging and the most important success factor for reuse, respectively. The findings also reveal different perceptions and levels of optimism among actors. Most respondents were optimistic about availability of reusable products (within less than 5 y), but least optimistic about finding cheaper reusable products in the near future (assuming it might take 9 to 17 y). Laws and regulations, testing, documentation and certification, and economic subsidies are mentioned as the top three measures to address the current barriers. Concerning the definition of the term ‘Reuse’, the findings indicate a lack of common understanding – and the need to create a clear description and a harmonised definition. The findings from the study show the need to take several actions to address the current challenges of reuse.publishedVersio