Intrinsically Motivating Social Influence:When social influence strengthens intrinsic motivation and sustainable energy behaviour

Realising the energy transition from fossil fuels to renewables is a challenge, as it requires both technological innovation and a lasting behavioural change—the latter topic being the focus of this dissertation. A novel approach to promote sustainable energy behaviour are local energy initiatives, in which people strive to locally produce and consume solar power. Such initiatives inspire behavioural change through social influence—when people influence each other to adopt new norms and behaviours. Social influence is usually thought of as being extrinsically motivating—behaviour performed for the sake of attaining others’ approval—whereas intrinsically motivated behaviour is performed for its own sake. A behavioural change based on extrinsic motivation is temporary, requiring constant reinforcement to keep going. This dissertation focuses on this issue and asks: can social influence produce a self-sustained behavioural change based on intrinsic motivation? We discovered that the key difference between social influence producing intrinsic or extrinsic motivation is the underlying group context. As long as people positively identify with a group, social influence from that group can have positive effects on intrinsic motivation and inspire a lasting behavioural change. While within groups that people do not identify with, social influence is more likely to produce an extrinsic motivation and a temporary behavioural change. We also found that certain social influence strategies, such as setting group goals and making their importance explicit, can have stronger positive effects on intrinsic motivation and a lasting behavioural change, particularly for people who strongly identify with their group

The role of adoption norms and perceived product attributes in the adoption of Dutch electric vehicles and smart energy systems

We studied to what extent perceived adoption norms affect the likelihood of adopting sustainable innovations, next to evaluations of the instrumental, environmental and symbolic attributes of these innovations. As hypothesised, results showed that people are more likely to adopt a sustainable innovation the more they evaluate the attributes of these sustainable innovations favourably and the more they think significant others would consider adoption (i.e., when adoption norms are strong). Moreover, we hypothesised and found that positive evaluations of the symbolic attributes are more likely to promote the adoption of sustainable innovations when people expect that few significant others would consider adoption. These findings suggest that weak adoption norms that are typical in the early adoption stage may both inhibit and promote adoption of sustainable innovations, via different routes

CALIBRATION OF AC INDUCTION MAGNETOMETER

The aim of this paper is to describe a procedure and experimental setup for calibration of AC induction magnetometer. The paper presents an overview of the previous research and results of measurement of magnetic flux density inside large-diameter multilayer solenoid. This solenoid is magnetising coil of the magnetometer. The paper also describes a system of five smaller coils of the magnetometer which are placed inside the large solenoid. Three small coils are pickup coils, accompanied with two compensation coils, of which one is an empty coil for magnetic field measurement. The experimental results of calibration of this coil system have been presented. A proper discussion of all the results presented has been also given in the paper

Moral hypocrisy and the hedonic shift:A goal-framing approach

The most investigated form of moral hypocrisy is pragmatic hypocrisy in which people fake moral commitment for their own advantage. Yet there is also a different form of hypocrisy in which people take a moral stance with regard to norms they endorse without thereby also expressing a commitment to act morally. Rather they do it in order to feel good. We call this hedonic moral hypocrisy. In our research, we posit that this kind of hypocrisy comes about when people's overarching goals are shifted in a hedonic direction, that is, in the direction of focusing on the way one feels, rather than on moral obligation. Hedonic shifts come about by cues in the environment. People are sometimes sincere when expressing a moral stance (i.e. they mean it and also act on it), and sometimes, when they are subject to a hedonic shift, they express a moral stance just to make them feel good. This also implies that they then decline to do things that make them feel bad, such as behaving morally when it takes unrewarded effort to do so. In two experimental studies, we find that there is such a thing as hedonic moral hypocrisy and that it is indeed brought about by hedonic shifts from cues in the environment. This seriously undermines the meaning of a normative consensus for norm conformity. Seemingly, for norm conformity without close social control, it is not enough that people endorse the same norms, they also have to be exposed to situational cues that counteract hedonic shifts. In the discussion, it is suggested that societal arrangements that foster the focus on the way one feels and nurture a chronic wish to make oneself feel better (for example, in the fun direction through advertisements and entertainment opportunities, or in the fear direction by populist politicians, social media, economic uncertainties, crises, or wars and displacements) are likely to increase hedonic hypocrisy in society

Long-term treatment with olanzapine in hospital conditions: Prevalence and predictors of the metabolic syndrome

© 2015, Serbia Medical Society. All rights reserved. Introduction The risk of metabolic abnormalities is greatly increased in schizophrenic patients started on an atypical antipsychotic medication. Patients with psychiatric disorders exceed mortality ranges resulting from, among others, increased risk of cardiovascular events. Other factors contributing to the development of metabolic syndrome include prolonged duration of illness, increasing age, female sex and lifestyle factors. Objective This cross-sectional study was taken up to assess the prevalence of the metabolic syndrome (MetS) in schizophrenic patients receiving olanzapine monotherapy for at least six months and to determine the most important risk factors associated with metabolic syndrome presence in these patients. Methods A total of 93 long term hospitalized schizophrenic patients (71 men, 22 women), had a screening of the following: case-history data, psychiatric scales, anthropometric measures, blood (fasting glucose, lipid status, C-reactive protein – CRP) and urine samples (microalbuminuria). Results Prevalence of MetS according to International Diabetes Federation criteria in our study was 34.4%. The multivariate analysis distinguished the following significant predictors of MetS presence (in order of appearance): data about diabetes mellitus in family history (p=0.002), body mass index >25 kg/m2 (p=0.002), hyperlipidemia in family history (p=0.008), and elevated CRP value (p=0.042). Conclusion High rate of MetS in patients treated with olanzapine in this study exceeds MetS prevalence in general population. Among observed parameters, our study pointed to several “high risk” predictors associated with MetS presence. Regular monitoring of cardiometabolic risk factors is highly recommended. Positive heredity distress mentioned above may direct a psychiatrist to prescribe some other drug than olanzapine in the long term treatment of schizophrenia