Whom to Punish? How observers sanction norm-violating behavior in ostracism situations

When observing ostracism, individuals can either side with the target or the sources of ostracism. Here we demonstrate that side-taking depends on whether the target previously acted in adherence to or in violation of perceived social norms. In four studies, a target behaved either norm-consistently or violated a social norm, and was subsequently either excluded by the sources or was not. Next, participants could sanction the behavior of the observed persons by refraining to assign money (Studies 1 and 2), or by subtracting money from a bonus (Studies 3 and 4). Observers assigned less money to the sources when these excluded a norm-consistent target. However, when the target had violated a social norm before, participants assigned less money to the target instead. These results have far-reaching implications because the (in)actions of neutral individuals can legitimize the sources' behavior, or help a target under attack

Pair research: Matching people for collaboration, learning, and productivity

To increase productivity, informal learning, and collaborations within and across research groups, we have been experimenting with a new kind of interaction that we call {em pair research}, in which members are paired up weekly to work together on each other's projects. In this paper, we present a system for making pairings and present results from two deployments. Results show that members used pair research in a wide variety of ways including pair programming, user testing, brainstorming, and data collection and analysis. Pair research helped members get things done and share their expertise with others.National Science Foundation (U.S.) (SOCS-1111124)National Science Foundation (U.S.) (IIS-1217225

The Influence of Early Respondents: Information Cascade Effects in Online Event Scheduling

Sequential group decision-making processes, such as online event scheduling, can be subject to social influence if the decisions involve individuals’ subjective preferences and values. Indeed, prior work has shown that scheduling polls that allow respondents to see others’ answers are more likely to succeed than polls that hide other responses, suggesting the impact of social influence and coordination. In this paper, we investigate whether this difference is due to information cascade effects in which later respondents adopt the decisions of earlier respondents. Analyzing more than 1.3 million Doodle polls, we found evidence that cascading effects take place during event scheduling, and in particular, that early respondents have a larger influence on the outcome of a poll than people who come late. Drawing on simulations of an event scheduling model, we compare possible interventions to mitigate this bias and show that we can optimize the success of polls by hiding the responses of a small percentage of low availability respondents.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/134703/1/Romero et al 2017 (WSDM).pd

Buildings behaving badly:A behavioral experiment on how different motivational frames influence residential energy label adoption in the Netherlands

Heating buildings contributes to approximately 36% of Europe’s energy demand and several EU member states have adopted mandatory energy labels to improve energy efficiency by promoting home weatherization investments. This paper focuses on the perception of the energy label for residential buildings in the Netherlands and the role of different frames (egoistic, biospheric and social norms and neutral frames) in motivating adoption of energy labels for housing. We used a behavioral email experiment and an online survey to investigate these motivational factors. We find that biospheric frames are weaker than the other three motivational frames in terms of engaging interest in the energy label, but that the biospheric frame results in higher willingness to pay (WTP) for the energy label. We also find that age (rather than income) correlates with higher willingness to pay for home energy labels

Making the user more efficient: Design for sustainable behaviour

User behaviour is a significant determinant of a product’s environmental impact; while engineering advances permit increased efficiency of product operation, the user’s decisions and habits ultimately have a major effect on the energy or other resources used by the product. There is thus a need to change users’ behaviour. A range of design techniques developed in diverse contexts suggest opportunities for engineers, designers and other stakeholders working in the field of sustainable innovation to affect users’ behaviour at the point of interaction with the product or system, in effect ‘making the user more efficient’. Approaches to changing users’ behaviour from a number of fields are reviewed and discussed, including: strategic design of affordances and behaviour-shaping constraints to control or affect energyor other resource-using interactions; the use of different kinds of feedback and persuasive technology techniques to encourage or guide users to reduce their environmental impact; and context-based systems which use feedback to adjust their behaviour to run at optimum efficiency and reduce the opportunity for user-affected inefficiency. Example implementations in the sustainable engineering and ecodesign field are suggested and discussed

Applying social influence insights to encourage climate resilient domestic water behaviour: Bridging the theory-practice gap

Water scarcity is one of the most pressing issues of our time and it is projected to increase as global demand surges and climate change limits fresh water availability. If we are to reduce water demand, it is essential that we draw on every tool in the box, including one that is underestimated and underutilised: social influence. Research from the psychological sciences demonstrates that behaviour is strongly influenced by the behaviour of others, and that social influence can be harnessed to develop cost-effective strategies to encourage climate resilient behaviour. Far less attention has been paid to investigating water-related interventions in comparison to interventions surrounding energy. In this paper we consider the application of three social influence strategies to encourage water conservation: social norms; social identity; and socially-comparative feedback. We not only review their empirical evidence base, but also offer an example of their application in the residential sector with the aim of highlighting how theoretical insights can be translated into practice. We argue that collaborations between researchers and industry are essential if we are to maximise the potential of behaviour change interventions to encourage climate resilient water behaviour

Now or never: perceptions of uniqueness induce acceptance of price increases for experiences more than for objects

Seven studies test and support the prediction that consumers are more willing to accept a price increase for an experiential versus a material purchase; an effect explained by the greater uniqueness of experiences. Critically, the uniqueness model advanced here is found to be independent of the happiness consumers derive from the purchase. To gain a deeper understanding of the uniqueness mechanism, this investigation then advances and tests a four-facet framework of uniqueness (unique opportunity, unique purchase, unique identity, and counterconformity). Together, the findings converge on the conclusion that consumers perceive the opportunity to have a particular experience (vs. object) as more unique, and this unique opportunity increases their willingness to accept a price increase. Overall, this work extends the experiential versus material purchases literature into a new domain—that of pricing; identifies the dimension—uniqueness—and its precise facet responsible for the effect—unique opportunity; and demonstrates that this model unfolds in a pattern distinct from the oft researched model centered on consumer happiness. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.info:eu-repo/semantics/acceptedVersio

Staying true with the help of others: doxastic self-control through interpersonal commitment

I explore the possibility and rationality of interpersonal mechanisms of doxastic self-control, that is, ways in which individuals can make use of other people in order to get themselves to stick to their beliefs. I look, in particular, at two ways in which people can make interpersonal epistemic commitments, and thereby willingly undertake accountability to others, in order to get themselves to maintain their beliefs in the face of anticipated “epistemic temptations”. The first way is through the avowal of belief, and the second is through the establishment of collective belief. I argue that both of these forms of interpersonal epistemic commitment can function as effective tools for doxastic self-control, and, moreover, that the control they facilitate should not be dismissed as irrational from an epistemic perspective

A test of the automaticity assumption of compliance tactics: discouraging undergraduate binge drinking by appealing to consistency and reciprocity

The mindfulness of compliance with requests making use of the commitment/consistency or the reciprocity principle was investigated. Participants (N = 129) received a foot-in-the-door (FITD) request (commitment/consistency application), a door-in-the-face (DITF) request (reciprocity application), or no request. Next, participants read either a weak or neutral message about the importance of moderate alcohol consumption then reported the likelihood of not drinking excessively for one week (target request). When accompanied by a weak message, the target request elicited less compliance if preceded by the DITF or FITD requests than by no initial request, suggesting compliance tactics sometimes increase thoughtfulness

Doing what others do: norms, science, and collective action on global warming

Does rhetoric highlighting social norms or mentioning science in a communication affect individuals’ beliefs about global warming and/or willingness to take action? We draw from framing theory and collective-interest models of action to motivate hypotheses that are tested in two large web-based survey-experiments using convenience samples. Our results show that attitudes about global warming, support for policies that would reduce carbon emissions, and behavioral intentions to take voluntary action are strongly affected by norm- and science-based interventions. This has implications for information campaigns targeting voluntary efforts to promote lifestyle changes that would reduce greenhouse gas emissions