T. (Tabea) Hoffmann, MSc

PhD project on pro-environmental change in neighbourhoods, September 2020 - present

The overall PhD project focuses on developing theory and behavioral interventions that recognize the social and collective nature of climate action. The project is composed of six research projects:

Project 1: A book chapter on norm nudges in neighborhoods which details two primary strategies that such nudges can employ: correcting underestimations of others’ sustainability or selectively highlighting information about others’ pro-environmental convictions and behaviour. The chapter offers guidance on the effective design and implementation of norm nudges, highlighting the significance of adapting norm nudges to specific social and physical environments.

Hoffmann, T., Rauws, W., Sparkman, G., & Bolderdijk, J. W. (2023). Norm Nudges in Neighbourhoods: When Do They Work and Why?. In Handbook on Pro-Environmental Behaviour Change (pp. 96-112). Edward Elgar Publishing.

Project 2: An agent-based model, informed by a community survey, simulates strategies to overcome climate inaction. We hypothesize that behavioral change is hampered by a social feedback loop. The agent-based model confirmed that underestimating neighbors’ pro-environmental convictions reinforces the gap between one’s own convictions and action, fostering collective inaction. The lack of communication about environmental issues exacerbates this dynamic. Our simulations suggest that promoting communication about environmental issues or making pro-environmental behavior more visible can realign normative expectations and stimulate pro-environmental change.

Hoffmann, T., Ye, M., Zino, L., Cao, M., Rauws, W., & Bolderdijk, J. W., (in press). Overcoming Inaction: An Agent-Based Modelling Study of Social Interventions that Promote Systematic Pro-Environmental Change. Journal of Environmental Psychology.

Project 3: Online survey studies that examine conversations about environmental issues. We examine why people self-silence on environmental issues. Prior work suggests that various social-psychological factors may encourage people or hinder them from discussing environmental issues. We argue that the mentioned social-psychological barriers may cause people to self-silence in some conversations more than others. Specifically, we propose that individuals are more willing to discuss system-level changes, such as their views on a policy that promotes sustainable practices (e.g., reducing the speed limit on highways), but less willing to discuss individual-level changes, such as personal behaviour changes for a more environmentally-friendly lifestyle (e.g., adopting a vegetarian diet).

This project is a collaboration with Zan Mlakar .

Project 4: A field project that examines the potential of messaging campaigns to promote relational organizing. The project involves a mailing experiment that encourages residents to visually communicate their home energy upgrades with a yard sign. The intervention message seeks to alter perceptions about the efficacy of such relational organizing for pro-environmental change.

This project was initiated during my time as a visiting scholar at Gregg Sparkman's Social Influence and Social Change Lab . We collaborate with the City of Newton, MA.

Project 5: A field project that allows residents to swap concrete tiles in their front yard replaced with greenery for free.

This project is a collaboration with Sandra Geiger , Actium Wonen and the Municipality Assen .

Project 6: A project that uses a spatial-temporal clustering algorithm to investigate the spread of an urban greening initative in the City of Groningen. To create more urban green spaces, the city of Groningen in the Netherlands introduced an initiative in 2010 that offers residents the planting of facade gardens free of charge. With this project we investigate whether social influence plays a role in whether residents request to have a facade garden installed. We use a dataset which contains the geographic location and installation date of N = 1875 facade gardens in response to the initiative.

PhD supervisors: Dr. Jan Willem Bolderdijk (FEB); Dr. Ward Rauws (FSS)