Interesting thread! It should also highlight the major methodological weaknesses (Env Psy): measures of behavior (stop to use PEB scales), reproducibility, iterative intervention development (n-of-1, ITW...), WEIRD samples, research effort on low impact behaviors (ex.recycling >> meat reduction)

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 5d ago

🎯 What should we expect from behavior change interventions? Growing evidence suggests that most behavior change interventions have small effects on behavior. I regularly hear fellow behavioral scientists understandably feeling discouraged by this. But should we be discouraged? Not necessarily.🧵

An important point. Small effects may reflect what was tested, not the limits of behaviour change interventions. We also need to examine whether the selected methods were appropriate, their conditions for effectiveness were preserved and the intervention was implemented as intended.

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 5d ago

🎯 What should we expect from behavior change interventions? Growing evidence suggests that most behavior change interventions have small effects on behavior. I regularly hear fellow behavioral scientists understandably feeling discouraged by this. But should we be discouraged? Not necessarily.🧵

Good thread on essentially being realistic about the strength of behaviour change arising from interventions that are themselves small changes. The analogy with the $1/ton carbon tax is a good one. Though also worrying as am in middle of designing an intervention. Hopefully not marginal.

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 5d ago

🎯 What should we expect from behavior change interventions? Growing evidence suggests that most behavior change interventions have small effects on behavior. I regularly hear fellow behavioral scientists understandably feeling discouraged by this. But should we be discouraged? Not necessarily.🧵

Good thread. But worth noting that one reason this field got so much attention was the idea that 'one little trick' (nudges) could have outsize impacts - very attractive to cash-strapped decision makers. It's healthy if we are settling into a more realistic view of behaviour change interventions.

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 5d ago

🎯 What should we expect from behavior change interventions? Growing evidence suggests that most behavior change interventions have small effects on behavior. I regularly hear fellow behavioral scientists understandably feeling discouraged by this. But should we be discouraged? Not necessarily.🧵

Could behavioral change interventions be more effective if they were more ambitious? Maybe. But, Kraft (2020) studied 747 educational interventions and found avg d = .16 Studies with n > 2000, d = .05. These are targeted, designed, effortful interventions. Change/learning is hard. That’s ok

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 5d ago

🎯 What should we expect from behavior change interventions? Growing evidence suggests that most behavior change interventions have small effects on behavior. I regularly hear fellow behavioral scientists understandably feeling discouraged by this. But should we be discouraged? Not necessarily.🧵

🎯 What should we expect from behavior change interventions? Growing evidence suggests that most behavior change interventions have small effects on behavior. I regularly hear fellow behavioral scientists understandably feeling discouraged by this. But should we be discouraged? Not necessarily.🧵

This year has been brutal, and like most people you probably want to do more about climate change. But what, and how? Great news – I’ve written just the book for you! It’s called What One Person Can Do and it’s a clear and simple how-to guide, a roadmap to help you make influential changes...

Yes you're right. ✅Our research shows that leading by example on climate change increases trust, credibility and popularity of leaders. ✅It also increases other's willingness to change ⛔Unnecessary high-carbon behaviour undermines all those things.

There's some great academic writing on the role of leaders in tackling climate change. Here are few, first from @kristiansn89.bsky.social @kimberlynicholas.bsky.social and colleagues... www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The role of high-socioeconomic-status people in locking in or rapidly reducing energy-driven greenhouse gas emissions - Nature Energy

High-socioeconomic-status individuals have a disproportionate effect on greenhouse gas emissions as consumers and through four other key roles they play in society. This Perspective examines the effec...

nature.com

🧵CO₂ removal (CDR) is back in the news, but just because the UNEP report says we need CDR, it doesn't mean we'll have CDR. Many challenges will take decades of research and negotiation to solve. Here are some examples: Technological: We currently don't have any durable CDR method that scales.

Agree with this thread. Ultimately it is system change that matters, but human systems are made up of individuals, and so individual actions—especially in countries and among populations with high per capita emissions—do matter. Signed, An individual posting at other individuals

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4w ago

🌍 A defense of the personal carbon footprint 🌱 I often hear people, including in the climate community, dismiss the concept of a personal carbon footprint. I believe this is a mistake. Here are three reasons why👇🧵

🌍 A defense of the personal carbon footprint 🌱 I often hear people, including in the climate community, dismiss the concept of a personal carbon footprint. I believe this is a mistake. Here are three reasons why👇🧵

Did you know your bank might be funding fossil fuels? 🏦 I recently spoke to Matt, who didn't, until a friend mentioned it. In #ClimateActually, we cover how to check (bank.green), and how to make the switch to a fossil-free bank easy. Subscribe and watch: www.youtube.com/watch?v=irux...

⭐ Some reflections on behavioral science and climate policy ⭐ For a few years, I've reflected critically on the purpose of my research and how we can improve behavioral research on climate change to achieve real societal change. 🧵

Individual & systemic change are 2 sides of same coin. “…We suggest that social change arises from individuals’ agency within their roles in societal systems, and that this agency should be actively leveraged to achieve meaningful climate change mitigation.” www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Leveraging agency for climate change mitigation - Nature Climate Change

Climate debates often frame individual behaviour and systems change as distinct pathways to action. We suggest that social change arises from individuals’ agency within their roles in societal systems...

nature.com

As I mentioned recently, this graphics by @steveclimate.bsky.social is a great illustration to the article:

The ongoing heatwave in Europe shows us that we need climate action now more than ever. The good news is that each of us has the agency to do something in our lives. I spoke with @charlotte-kukowski.bsky.social about a new climate action framework she and her colleagues have developed.

How to use your agency for impactful climate action

Although modern life makes many of us feel powerless, we all have agency to act and stop the climate crisis.

sower.world

It is obviously true that systemic change is what matters. The big question is whether individual or social change can help bring that about. I think there are good arguments for that :) interesting article: bsky.app/profile/kris...

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🔥 Individual or system change?🔥 This debate has been at the center of much of my social media engagement for years (causing a fair bit of frustration). Yet I have never published research directly addressing it. Until now. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

In my work, I often come across the "individual" vs "system" level change debate. Here we introduce the *A-frame*. We argue that social change arises from individuals’ Agency within their many roles in societal systems, & that this agency should be leveraged. www.nature.com/articles/s41...

Leveraging agency for climate change mitigation - Nature Climate Change

Climate debates often frame individual behaviour and systems change as distinct pathways to action. We suggest that social change arises from individuals’ agency within their roles in societal systems...

nature.com

1/ The sustainability transition doesn’t just advance from the top down and the bottom up – change also happens in the middle, and that’s where most of us can make a real difference Quick thread on a great new paper showing how *everyone* has an influential role to play 🧵

#AGW #mitigation Famous abstract: "No one is too small to make a difference." (Gift link to the paper in the 🧵)

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🔥 Individual or system change?🔥 This debate has been at the center of much of my social media engagement for years (causing a fair bit of frustration). Yet I have never published research directly addressing it. Until now. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

This sounds like an interesting and important article about agency for climate change mitigation, which I look forward to reading.

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🔥 Individual or system change?🔥 This debate has been at the center of much of my social media engagement for years (causing a fair bit of frustration). Yet I have never published research directly addressing it. Until now. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

The paper is excellent, thank you for providing access to it. "...treating these as mutually exclusive is conceptually and strategically flawed. Individuals act within systems, and systems are shaped and sustained by individual and collective behaviour." Exactly. bsky.app/profile/kris...

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

Here we go: www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🌍 Feeling paralyzed about climate action? We just published an article in @theconversation.com that talks about how to find your biggest potential climate impact - which may well be greater than you think. 💪 Our framework walks you through the process step-by-step: (1/n)

This feels like it could potentially be a useful framework for thinking about system change for other types of things besides climate change

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

3/ Systems are enacted and reproduced through behavior, while also shaping the possibilities for action. Rather than treating individual and system change as opposing pathways, we focus on how people can exercise agency through the social roles they occupy.

“Rather than treating individual and system change as opposing pathways, we focus on how people can exercise agency through the social roles they occupy.” 👏

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🔥 Individual or system change?🔥 This debate has been at the center of much of my social media engagement for years (causing a fair bit of frustration). Yet I have never published research directly addressing it. Until now. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

It was always a false binary. Always glad to see it recognized as such.

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🔥 Individual or system change?🔥 This debate has been at the center of much of my social media engagement for years (causing a fair bit of frustration). Yet I have never published research directly addressing it. Until now. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...

🚨Fed up with the "individual vs. system change" debate?🚨 We've got you covered. 🙌 In our new paper in Nature Climate Change, we endeavour to move beyond that binary by introducing the agency frame (a-frame), a practical lens for identifying and intervening on high-impact climate behaviours. (1/n)

🧵

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

3/ Systems are enacted and reproduced through behavior, while also shaping the possibilities for action. Rather than treating individual and system change as opposing pathways, we focus on how people can exercise agency through the social roles they occupy.

Excellent work from @charlotte-kukowski.bsky.social including@kristiansn89.bsky.social@lwhitmarsh.bsky.social@profsanderlinden.bsky.social & others. I think they're on the money regarding how some people are better placed to shape society, but everyone has at least some agency to shape behaviour 1/n

Kristian Steensen Nielsen@kristiansn89.bsky.social · 4mo ago

🔥 Individual or system change?🔥 This debate has been at the center of much of my social media engagement for years (causing a fair bit of frustration). Yet I have never published research directly addressing it. Until now. 🧵 www.nature.com/articles/s41...