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Gerhard Reese
Department of Social, Environmental, and Economic Psychology, Institute of Psychology, University of Koblenz-Landau, 76829 Landau, Germany

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Preprint content
Published: 05 March 2021
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Nature can benefit human well-being and cognitive function. Merely watching images of nature compared to urban scenes, which differ in many lower-level processed properties, can have such effects, suggesting that solely the visual input evokes them. In the current series of studies with well-controlled stimuli, we investigated the role of lower- and higher-level processing on restorative effects evoked by nature and urban environments. Therefore, we used not only nature and urban photographs but also 1) versions that lack spatial information but retain certain image properties including those on regularity (i.e., phase-scrambled images), 2) line drawings that contain spatial information and thus allow for higher-level processing while lacking many diagnostic lower-level processed properties, and 3) words that lack any diagnostic image properties but allow higher cognitive processing and provide a mental image of the environment. We examined restorative effects after participants viewed either original, phase-scrambled, or line drawing versions of nature and urban images (Study 1), or nature- and urban-related words (Study 2). Although nature and urban scenes differed in several image properties, their differences did not lead to differences in perceived restoration when presented with phase-scrambled images. However, higher-level processing (i.e., recognizing the presented environment) led to pronounced restoration effects for nature compared to urban stimuli (original images, line drawings, and words). These findings have implications for current theories in the field (i.e., perceptual fluency account, attention restoration theory, and stress recovery theory).

ACS Style

Claudia Menzel; Gerhard Reese. Seeing nature from low to high levels: Mechanisms underlying the restorative effects of viewing nature images. 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Claudia Menzel, Gerhard Reese. Seeing nature from low to high levels: Mechanisms underlying the restorative effects of viewing nature images. . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Claudia Menzel; Gerhard Reese. 2021. "Seeing nature from low to high levels: Mechanisms underlying the restorative effects of viewing nature images." , no. : 1.

Preprint content
Published: 04 March 2021
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The climate crisis is an unprecedented existential threat that causes disturbing emotions, such as anxiety. However, relatively little is known about how people cope with climate anxiety, how it influences mental health and well-being, and whether it is relevant for climate (in)action. Recently, Clayton and Karazsia measured climate anxiety as a “clinically significant anxious response to climate change” (2020, p. 9) that may impair human well-being and functioning. To gain a more nuanced understanding of the phenomenon from an empirical psychological perspective, we translated the Climate Anxiety Scale into German and assessed potential correlates in a large German-speaking quota sample (N=1011, stratified by age and gender). Overall, people reported low levels of climate anxiety. Climate anxiety correlated positively with anxiety and depressiveness, avoidance of climate change in everyday life, and the frustration of basic psychological needs. It correlated negatively with climate-relevant self-protective strategies and denial. While unrelated to ideological beliefs, stronger climate anxiety was associated with pro-environmental intentions and support for climate policies. We were not able to replicate the scale’s original factor structure. Thus, we encourage researchers to rework the scale and include an emotional factor in future research efforts.

ACS Style

Marlis Wullenkord; Josephine Tröger; Karen R.S. Hamann; Laura Loy; Gerhard Reese. Anxiety and Climate Change: A Validation of the Climate Anxiety Scale in a German-Speaking Quota Sample and an Investigation of Psychological Correlates. 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Marlis Wullenkord, Josephine Tröger, Karen R.S. Hamann, Laura Loy, Gerhard Reese. Anxiety and Climate Change: A Validation of the Climate Anxiety Scale in a German-Speaking Quota Sample and an Investigation of Psychological Correlates. . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marlis Wullenkord; Josephine Tröger; Karen R.S. Hamann; Laura Loy; Gerhard Reese. 2021. "Anxiety and Climate Change: A Validation of the Climate Anxiety Scale in a German-Speaking Quota Sample and an Investigation of Psychological Correlates." , no. : 1.

Journal article
Published: 12 February 2021 in Sustainability
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Virtual nature experiences can improve physiological and psychological well-being. Although there is ample research on the positive effects of nature, both in virtual and physical settings, we know little about potential moderators of restoration effects in virtual reality settings. According to theories of needs and control beliefs, it is plausible to assume that control over one’s actions affects how people respond to nature experiences. In this virtual reality (VR) experiment, 64 participants either actively navigated through a VR landscape or they were navigated by the experimenter. We measured their perceived stress, mood, and vitality before and after the VR experience as well as the subjective restoration outcome and the perceived restorativeness of the landscape afterwards. Results revealed that participants’ positive affective states increased after the VR experience, regardless of control. There was a main effect such that participants reported lower stress after the VR experience; however, this was qualified by an interaction showing that this result was only the case in the no control condition. These results unexpectedly suggest that active VR experiences may be more stressful than passive ones, opening pathways for future research on how handling of and navigating in VR can attenuate the effects of virtual nature.

ACS Style

Gerhard Reese; Elias Kohler; Claudia Menzel. Restore or Get Restored: The Effect of Control on Stress Reduction and Restoration in Virtual Nature Settings. Sustainability 2021, 13, 1995 .

AMA Style

Gerhard Reese, Elias Kohler, Claudia Menzel. Restore or Get Restored: The Effect of Control on Stress Reduction and Restoration in Virtual Nature Settings. Sustainability. 2021; 13 (4):1995.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerhard Reese; Elias Kohler; Claudia Menzel. 2021. "Restore or Get Restored: The Effect of Control on Stress Reduction and Restoration in Virtual Nature Settings." Sustainability 13, no. 4: 1995.

Preprint content
Published: 20 January 2021
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Virtual nature experiences can improve physiological and psychological well-being. While there is ample research on the positive effects of nature, both in virtual and physical settings, we know little about potential moderators of restoration effects in virtual reality settings. According to theories of needs and control beliefs, it is plausible to assume that control over one’s actions affects how people respond to nature experiences. In this Virtual Reality (VR) experiment, 64 participants could either actively navigate through a VR landscape or they were navigated by the experimenter. We measured their perceived stress, mood, and vitality before and after the VR experience, as well as subjective restoration outcome and perceived restorativeness of the landscape afterwards. Results revealed that participants’ positive affective states increased after the VR experience, regardless of control. There was also a main effect such that participants reported lower stress after the VR experience – however, qualified by an interaction showing that this was only the case in the “no control” condition. These results suggest that - unexpectedly - active VR experiences may be more stressful than passive ones, opening pathways for future research on how handling of and navigating in VR can attenuate effects of virtual nature.

ACS Style

Gerhard Reese; Elias Kohler; Claudia Menzel. Restore or get restored: The effect of control on stress reduction and restoration in virtual nature settings. 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerhard Reese, Elias Kohler, Claudia Menzel. Restore or get restored: The effect of control on stress reduction and restoration in virtual nature settings. . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerhard Reese; Elias Kohler; Claudia Menzel. 2021. "Restore or get restored: The effect of control on stress reduction and restoration in virtual nature settings." , no. : 1.

Preprint content
Published: 20 January 2021
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Shinrin-yoku or forest bathing refers to a therapeutic, immersive nature experience that aids to improve well-being. The goal of the current research was to compare the effects of a physical versus virtual nature experience on stress, affect, vitality, and restoration. Previous research suggested that an immersive nature experience – such as shinrin-yoku – can be beneficial for health, but direct comparisons between physical and virtual reality (VR) experiences are scarce. In the current study, fifty participants navigated self-paced through a forest scene that was either a physical forest or an immersive VR forest with the same characteristics as the physical one. Before and after the intervention, we measured positive and negative affect, subjective vitality, and perceived daily stress. After the intervention, we measured perceived restorative outcomes. Results revealed that both VR and physical nature experience resulted in expected effects on well-being indicators: Affect was more positive and less negative, subjective vitality increased slightly, and stress decreased slightly after both interventions. There were no significant differences between the two settings on any of the variables, but slightly stronger effect sizes over time within the physical condition. Overall, these findings suggest that immersive VR nature experiences can have restoration effects similar to physical nature experiences, suggesting intervention strategies when physical nature options are scarce.

ACS Style

Gerhard Reese; Jasmin Stahlberg; Claudia Menzel. Digital shinrin-yoku: Do nature experiences in virtual reality reduce stress and increase well-being as strongly as similar experiences in a physical forest? 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Gerhard Reese, Jasmin Stahlberg, Claudia Menzel. Digital shinrin-yoku: Do nature experiences in virtual reality reduce stress and increase well-being as strongly as similar experiences in a physical forest? . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerhard Reese; Jasmin Stahlberg; Claudia Menzel. 2021. "Digital shinrin-yoku: Do nature experiences in virtual reality reduce stress and increase well-being as strongly as similar experiences in a physical forest?" , no. : 1.

Preprint content
Published: 09 January 2021
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Nature experiences usually lead to restorative effects, such as positive affective states and reduced stress. Even watching nature compared to urban images, which are known to differ in several image properties that were processed at early stages, can lead to such effects. One potential pathway explaining how the visual input alone evokes restoration is that image properties processed at early stages in the visual system evoke positive associations. To study these automatic bottom-up processes and the role of lower-level visual processing involved in the restoring effects of nature, we conducted two studies. First, we analysed nature and urban stimuli for a comprehensive set of image properties. Second, we investigated implicit associations in a dichotomous set of nature and urban images in three domains, namely valence, mood, and stress restoration. To examine the role of lower-level processing in these associations, we also used stimuli that lacked the spatial information but retained certain image properties of the original photographs (i.e., phase-scrambled images). While original nature images were associated with ‘good’, ‘positive mood’, and ‘restoration’, urban images were associated with ‘bad’ and ‘stress’. The results also showed that image properties differ between our nature and urban images, and that they contribute to the implicit associations with valence, although spatial information and therefore recognition of the environment remained necessary for positive associations. Moreover, lower-level processed image properties seem to play no or only minor roles for associations with mood and stress restoration.

ACS Style

Claudia Menzel; Gerhard Reese. Implicit associations with nature and urban environments: Effects of lower-level processed image properties. 2021, 1 .

AMA Style

Claudia Menzel, Gerhard Reese. Implicit associations with nature and urban environments: Effects of lower-level processed image properties. . 2021; ():1.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Claudia Menzel; Gerhard Reese. 2021. "Implicit associations with nature and urban environments: Effects of lower-level processed image properties." , no. : 1.

Article
Published: 25 November 2020 in Climatic Change
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Climate change is a complex issue and understanding it is not an easy endeavour. An abundance of information is available through media and a lot of research has dealt with the question of how to best communicate this issue to the public. However, uncertainty and scepticism remain. In this paper, we argue that the subjective capability of informing oneself satisfactorily about climate change (i.e. informational self-efficacy) to reach goals like forming an opinion, evaluating political decisions regarding climate change, or behaving in a climate protective manner might be a crucial determinant of people’s engagement with the issue. In an online survey with a quota sample of German residents (N = 498), informational self-efficacy positively predicted people’s exposure to climate change communication in the media, their knowledge about the climate system and climate protective behaviours, and the extent to which they actually engaged in climate protective actions. Moreover, informational self-efficacy positively predicted climate protective behaviour and climate system knowledge indirectly through media exposure—but not behavioural knowledge. Hence, next to optimising the provided climate change communication, we suggest to strengthen people’s confidence in dealing with it through media literacy trainings and examine the causal effect of these trainings on informational self-efficacy and climate change engagement. Furthermore, the impact of different behaviours on climate change should be more often and more concretely discussed in media coverage.

ACS Style

Laura S. Loy; Karen R. S. Hamann; Gerhard Reese. Navigating through the jungle of information. Informational self-efficacy predicts climate change-related media exposure, knowledge, and behaviour. Climatic Change 2020, 163, 2097 -2116.

AMA Style

Laura S. Loy, Karen R. S. Hamann, Gerhard Reese. Navigating through the jungle of information. Informational self-efficacy predicts climate change-related media exposure, knowledge, and behaviour. Climatic Change. 2020; 163 (4):2097-2116.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Laura S. Loy; Karen R. S. Hamann; Gerhard Reese. 2020. "Navigating through the jungle of information. Informational self-efficacy predicts climate change-related media exposure, knowledge, and behaviour." Climatic Change 163, no. 4: 2097-2116.

Journal article
Published: 17 November 2020 in International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health
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Natural environments, compared to urban environments, usually lead to reduced stress and positive body appreciation. We assumed that walks through nature and urban environments affect self- and other-perceived stress and attractiveness levels. Therefore, we collected questionnaire data and took photographs of male participants’ faces before and after they took walks. In a second step, female participants rated the photographs. As expected, participants felt more restored and attractive, and less stressed after they walked in nature compared to an urban environment. A significant interaction of environment (nature, urban) and time (pre, post) indicated that the men were rated by the women as being more stressed after the urban walk. Other-rated attractiveness levels, however, were similar for both walks and time points. In sum, we showed that the rather stressful experience of a short-term urban walk mirrors in the face of men and is detectable by women.

ACS Style

Claudia Menzel; Fiona Dennenmoser; Gerhard Reese. Feeling Stressed and Ugly? Leave the City and Visit Nature! An Experiment on Self-and Other-Perceived Stress and Attractiveness Levels. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 2020, 17, 8519 .

AMA Style

Claudia Menzel, Fiona Dennenmoser, Gerhard Reese. Feeling Stressed and Ugly? Leave the City and Visit Nature! An Experiment on Self-and Other-Perceived Stress and Attractiveness Levels. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health. 2020; 17 (22):8519.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Claudia Menzel; Fiona Dennenmoser; Gerhard Reese. 2020. "Feeling Stressed and Ugly? Leave the City and Visit Nature! An Experiment on Self-and Other-Perceived Stress and Attractiveness Levels." International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 17, no. 22: 8519.

Journal article
Published: 03 June 2020 in Journal of Environmental Psychology
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While the virus SARS-CoV-2 spreads all over the world, most countries have taken severe measures to protect their citizens and slow down the further spread of the disease COVID-19. These measures affect individuals, communities, cities, countries, and the entire planet. In this paper, we propose that the tremendous consequences of the corona crisis invite environmental psychology to focus more strongly on research questions that address major societal challenges from a collective psychology perspective. In particular, we stress that the corona crisis may affect how people appraise – and potentially respond to – the looming climate crisis. By consistently pointing out systemic links and their human factor, environmental psychology can become central to a scientific agenda of a sustainable ‘post-corona society’. In order to provide a framework for future research towards a sustainable societal transformation, we build on the Social Identity Model of Pro-Environmental Action (SIMPEA) and extend its scope to understand people's responses following the corona crisis. The model allows predictions of previously not explicitly included concepts of place attachment, nature connectedness, basic psychological needs, and systems thinking. It may serve as a guiding framework for a better understanding of the transformation towards a sustainable future.

ACS Style

Gerhard Reese; Karen Hamann; Lea M. Heidbreder; Laura S. Loy; Claudia Menzel; Sebastian Neubert; Josephine Tröger; Marlis C. Wullenkord. SARS-Cov-2 and environmental protection: A collective psychology agenda for environmental psychology research. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2020, 70, 101444 .

AMA Style

Gerhard Reese, Karen Hamann, Lea M. Heidbreder, Laura S. Loy, Claudia Menzel, Sebastian Neubert, Josephine Tröger, Marlis C. Wullenkord. SARS-Cov-2 and environmental protection: A collective psychology agenda for environmental psychology research. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2020; 70 ():101444.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerhard Reese; Karen Hamann; Lea M. Heidbreder; Laura S. Loy; Claudia Menzel; Sebastian Neubert; Josephine Tröger; Marlis C. Wullenkord. 2020. "SARS-Cov-2 and environmental protection: A collective psychology agenda for environmental psychology research." Journal of Environmental Psychology 70, no. : 101444.

Journal article
Published: 29 February 2020 in Public Health Forum
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Zusammenfassung Der Klimawandel stellt die Menschheit vor noch nicht da gewesene Herausforderungen. Wegen des schieren Ausmaßes der bevorstehenden Konsequenzen des Klimawandels ist es gerade jetzt notwendig zu handeln statt zu hadern. Der Beitrag zeigt auf, unter welchen Bedingungen kollektives Handeln gelingen kann. Hier werden sowohl aktuelle soziale Bewegungen aber auch gesundheitsrelevante Aspekte betrachtet, die mit dem Schutz von Natur und Umwelt einhergehen.

ACS Style

Gerhard Reese; Claudia Menzel. Klimawandel und psychische Gesundheit – Handeln, nicht hadern! Public Health Forum 2020, 28, 68 -71.

AMA Style

Gerhard Reese, Claudia Menzel. Klimawandel und psychische Gesundheit – Handeln, nicht hadern! Public Health Forum. 2020; 28 (1):68-71.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerhard Reese; Claudia Menzel. 2020. "Klimawandel und psychische Gesundheit – Handeln, nicht hadern!" Public Health Forum 28, no. 1: 68-71.

Journal article
Published: 29 August 2019 in Journal of Environmental Psychology
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Humanity is facing global environmental challenges and a global identity has been found to predict pro-environmental engagement. As the origins of a global identity are not broadly understood, we aimed to contribute to investigating its predictors. One way to cultivate a global identity might be through the mind-body practices of yoga and meditation that an increasing number of people pursue, as it is one traditional goal of these practices to evoke a sense of connectedness with all humans. In our online survey study, we compared 113 mind-body practitioners with 145 non-practitioners and found that mind-body practice positively predicted one of two dimensions of a global identity – namely global self-definition –, pro-environmental behaviour, and climate policy support. Moreover, mind-body practice positively and indirectly predicted pro-environmental behaviour as well as climate policy support through a stronger global self-definition. We thus suggest that mind-body practices might bear the potential for contributing to a sustainable society and that their causal effects on global identity should be examined in future research.

ACS Style

Laura S. Loy; Gerhard Reese. Hype and hope? Mind-body practice predicts pro-environmental engagement through global identity. Journal of Environmental Psychology 2019, 66, 101340 .

AMA Style

Laura S. Loy, Gerhard Reese. Hype and hope? Mind-body practice predicts pro-environmental engagement through global identity. Journal of Environmental Psychology. 2019; 66 ():101340.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Laura S. Loy; Gerhard Reese. 2019. "Hype and hope? Mind-body practice predicts pro-environmental engagement through global identity." Journal of Environmental Psychology 66, no. : 101340.

Journal article
Published: 25 June 2019 in Sustainability
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(1) Background: global citizenship is often associated with pro-social and pro-environmental attitudes, beliefs and behaviors. Much of this research relies on questionnaire studies, whereas studies drawing on naturally occurring daily communications are under-used. In this paper, we analyse the content that users publish on Twitter related to the issue of global identity and citizenship. (2) Methods: we assessed word frequencies and associated hashtags of 35,237 tweets marked with the hashtag #globalcitizen. A sentiment analysis was conducted to investigate the moods and emotions of the tweets. (3) Results: in line with expectations derived from social identity theory, we found that associated words and hashtags were more often linked to themes of common good/disadvantaged groups than they were to the topic of nature and environment. Providing evidence for an empowerment function of global citizenship, the sentiment analysis suggests that global citizenship is related to rather positive emotions. (4) Conclusion: these findings reveal how identity constructions in social media predict associated contents and possibly pathways to social change.

ACS Style

Marie Merle; Gerhard Reese; Stefan Drews. #Globalcitizen: An Explorative Twitter Analysis of Global Identity and Sustainability Communication. Sustainability 2019, 11, 3472 .

AMA Style

Marie Merle, Gerhard Reese, Stefan Drews. #Globalcitizen: An Explorative Twitter Analysis of Global Identity and Sustainability Communication. Sustainability. 2019; 11 (12):3472.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Marie Merle; Gerhard Reese; Stefan Drews. 2019. "#Globalcitizen: An Explorative Twitter Analysis of Global Identity and Sustainability Communication." Sustainability 11, no. 12: 3472.

Journal article
Published: 24 October 2018 in Personality and Individual Differences
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Previous research consistently showed that Openness to Experience is positively linked to pro-environmental behavior. However, this does not appear to hold whenever pro-environmental behavior is mutually exclusive with cooperation. The present study aimed to replicate this null effect of Openness and to test political orientation as explanatory variable: Openness is associated with a left-wing/liberal political orientation, which, in turn, is associated with both cooperation and pro-environmental behavior, thus creating a decision conflict whenever the latter are mutually exclusive. In an online study (N = 355) participants played the Greater Good Game, a social dilemma involving choice conflict between pro-environmental behavior and cooperation. Results both replicated prior findings and suggested that political orientation could indeed account for the null effect of Openness.

ACS Style

Sina A. Klein; Daniel W. Heck; Gerhard Reese; Benjamin E. Hilbig. On the relationship between Openness to Experience, political orientation, and pro-environmental behavior. Personality and Individual Differences 2018, 138, 344 -348.

AMA Style

Sina A. Klein, Daniel W. Heck, Gerhard Reese, Benjamin E. Hilbig. On the relationship between Openness to Experience, political orientation, and pro-environmental behavior. Personality and Individual Differences. 2018; 138 ():344-348.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Sina A. Klein; Daniel W. Heck; Gerhard Reese; Benjamin E. Hilbig. 2018. "On the relationship between Openness to Experience, political orientation, and pro-environmental behavior." Personality and Individual Differences 138, no. : 344-348.

Chapter
Published: 02 June 2018 in Psychologie und Nachhaltigkeit
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Nachhaltige Entwicklung ist per Definition eine Gruppenangelegenheit, da Nachhaltigkeit nur durch gemeinsame Anstrengungen erreicht werden kann. In diesem Beitrag wird beschrieben, welchen Einfluss soziale Identität – das „Wir“ in jeder und jedem von uns – auf nachhaltiges Verhalten hat. Konkret beschreiben die AutorInnen Grundlagen der Theorie der sozialen Identität und erläutern anhand dieser, inwiefern unsere Fähigkeit, uns in Gruppen zu organisieren, zu nachhaltigem Verhalten beitragen kann. Sie fokussieren dabei unter anderem darauf, wie wir als Gruppen wirksam agieren können und legen damit dar, wie soziale Gruppen als Vehikel für sozialen und ökologischen Wandel genutzt werden können.

ACS Style

Gerhard Reese; Karen Hamann; Claudia Menzel; Stefan Drews. Soziale Identität und nachhaltiges Verhalten. Psychologie und Nachhaltigkeit 2018, 47 -54.

AMA Style

Gerhard Reese, Karen Hamann, Claudia Menzel, Stefan Drews. Soziale Identität und nachhaltiges Verhalten. Psychologie und Nachhaltigkeit. 2018; ():47-54.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Gerhard Reese; Karen Hamann; Claudia Menzel; Stefan Drews. 2018. "Soziale Identität und nachhaltiges Verhalten." Psychologie und Nachhaltigkeit , no. : 47-54.

Research articles
Published: 23 May 2018 in Environmental Communication
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Questioning the compatibility of economic growth and environmental sustainability, some scholars and activists call for a degrowth strategy. This idea presents an attack on the economic growth paradigm, and it has thus raised considerable attention. Yet, although many agree with questioning economic growth, a debate continues as to whether the term “degrowth” is (dis)advantageous in wider public communications. This debate, however, lacks empirical evidence. Here, we present two studies on how “degrowth” is perceived compared to other relevant terms. In Study 1, we show that “degrowth” elicits more negative affective and emotional reactions compared to “post-growth” and “prosperity without growth.” In Study 2, we find that the effects of labeling on attitudes and voting intentions toward a sustainable economy are relatively small. These initial results suggest that “degrowth” may evoke somewhat more negative emotional reactions than similar terms, but this may not have significant consequences. We discuss the results and draw implications for communication and further research.

ACS Style

Stefan Drews; Gerhard Reese. “Degrowth” vs. Other Types of Growth: Labeling Affects Emotions but Not Attitudes. Environmental Communication 2018, 12, 763 -772.

AMA Style

Stefan Drews, Gerhard Reese. “Degrowth” vs. Other Types of Growth: Labeling Affects Emotions but Not Attitudes. Environmental Communication. 2018; 12 (6):763-772.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Stefan Drews; Gerhard Reese. 2018. "“Degrowth” vs. Other Types of Growth: Labeling Affects Emotions but Not Attitudes." Environmental Communication 12, no. 6: 763-772.

Article
Published: 09 May 2018 in European Journal of Social Psychology
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When and how do social movements form to mobilize action across national boundaries? In the context of the 2015 movement to support Syrian refugees, we develop an integrative model of transnational social movement formation shaped by pre-existing world-views (SDO and RWA) and social media exposure to iconic events, resulting in an emergent group consciousness (“we are”, “we believe”, “we feel”). Group consciousness is, in turn, the proximal predictor of solidarity with refugees. Participants were from six countries: Hungary (N=267), Romania (N=163), Germany (N=190), the United Kingdom (N=159), the United States (N=244) and Australia (N=344). Multi-group structural equation models confirmed that group consciousness, shaped by individual differences and exposure to events through social media, was the proximal predictor of solidarity. The subjective meaning of group consciousness varied across samples, reflecting national differences. Results support the importance of considering individual and national differences, and group processes in understanding emergent social movements.

ACS Style

Emma F. Thomas; Laura G.E. Smith; Craig McGarty; Gerhard Reese; Anna Kende; Ana-Maria Bliuc; Nicola Curtin; Russell Spears. When and how social movements mobilize action within and across nations to promote solidarity with refugees. European Journal of Social Psychology 2018, 49, 213 -229.

AMA Style

Emma F. Thomas, Laura G.E. Smith, Craig McGarty, Gerhard Reese, Anna Kende, Ana-Maria Bliuc, Nicola Curtin, Russell Spears. When and how social movements mobilize action within and across nations to promote solidarity with refugees. European Journal of Social Psychology. 2018; 49 (2):213-229.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Emma F. Thomas; Laura G.E. Smith; Craig McGarty; Gerhard Reese; Anna Kende; Ana-Maria Bliuc; Nicola Curtin; Russell Spears. 2018. "When and how social movements mobilize action within and across nations to promote solidarity with refugees." European Journal of Social Psychology 49, no. 2: 213-229.

Journal article
Published: 01 March 2018 in Psychological Review
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Large-scale environmental crises are genuinely collective phenomena: they usually result from collective, rather than personal, behavior and how they are cognitively represented and appraised is determined by collectively shared interpretations (e.g., differing across ideological groups) and based on concern for collectives (e.g., humankind, future generations) rather than for individuals. Nevertheless, pro-environmental action has been primarily investigated as a personal decision-making process. We complement this research with a social identity perspective on pro-environmental action. Social identity is the human capacity to define the self in terms of "We" instead of "I," enabling people to think and act as collectives, which should be crucial given personal insufficiency to appraise and effectively respond to environmental crises. We propose a Social Identity Model of Pro-Environmental Action (SIMPEA) of how social identity processes affect both appraisal of and behavioral responses to large-scale environmental crises. We review related and pertinent research providing initial evidence for the role of 4 social identity processes hypothesized in SIMPEA. Specifically, we propose that ingroup identification, ingroup norms and goals, and collective efficacy determine environmental appraisals as well as both private and public sphere environmental action. These processes are driven by personal and collective emotions and motivations that arise from environmental appraisal and operate on both a deliberate and automatic processing level. Finally, we discuss SIMPEA's implications for the research agenda in environmental and social psychology and for interventions fostering pro-environmental action. (PsycINFO Database Record

ACS Style

Immo Fritsche; Markus Barth; Philipp Jugert; Torsten Masson; Gerhard Reese. A Social Identity Model of Pro-Environmental Action (SIMPEA). Psychological Review 2018, 125, 245 -269.

AMA Style

Immo Fritsche, Markus Barth, Philipp Jugert, Torsten Masson, Gerhard Reese. A Social Identity Model of Pro-Environmental Action (SIMPEA). Psychological Review. 2018; 125 (2):245-269.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Immo Fritsche; Markus Barth; Philipp Jugert; Torsten Masson; Gerhard Reese. 2018. "A Social Identity Model of Pro-Environmental Action (SIMPEA)." Psychological Review 125, no. 2: 245-269.

Research article
Published: 05 June 2017 in PLOS ONE
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The question how intergroup bias can be alleviated is of much theoretical and practical interest. Whereas diversity training and the multiculturalism ideology are two approaches prominent in practice, most theoretical models on reducing intergroup bias are based on social-identity theory and self-categorization theory. This social-identity perspective assumes that similar processes lead to intergroup bias in very different intergroup contexts if people identify with the respective social groups. A recent prominent model based on these theories is the ingroup-projection model. As this model assumes, an ingroup’s norms and standards are applied to outgroups included in a common superordinate category (this is called ingroup projection). Intergroup bias results because the outgroup fulfils these norms and standards less than the ingroup. Importantly, if the diversity of the superordinate category is induced as the norm, ingroup projection and thus intergroup bias should be reduced. The present research delineates and tests how general this process is. We propose that ingroup prototypicality is not only an outcome variable, as the ingroup-projection model originally assumes, but can also be an important moderator. We hypothesize that for members considering their ingroup highly prototypical (“pars pro toto”, large majorities), the superordinate group’s diversity may question their ingroup’s position and thus elicit threat and intergroup bias. In contrast, for members who consider their group as less prototypical (one among several, or “una inter pares” groups), activating diversity should, as originally assumed in the ingroup-projection model, reduce intergroup bias. Three experiments (total N = 345) supported these predictions in the contexts of groups defined by gender or nationality. Taken together, the ingroup-projection model can explain under which conditions activating superordinate-category diversity induces tolerance, and when it may backfire. We discuss in how far the ingroup-projection model can integrate conflicting findings on the multiculturalism ideology.

ACS Style

Melanie C. Steffens; Gerhard Reese; Franziska Ehrke; Kai Jonas. When does activating diversity alleviate, when does it increase intergroup bias? An ingroup projection perspective. PLOS ONE 2017, 12, e0178738 .

AMA Style

Melanie C. Steffens, Gerhard Reese, Franziska Ehrke, Kai Jonas. When does activating diversity alleviate, when does it increase intergroup bias? An ingroup projection perspective. PLOS ONE. 2017; 12 (6):e0178738.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Melanie C. Steffens; Gerhard Reese; Franziska Ehrke; Kai Jonas. 2017. "When does activating diversity alleviate, when does it increase intergroup bias? An ingroup projection perspective." PLOS ONE 12, no. 6: e0178738.

Journal article
Published: 25 May 2017 in British Journal of Social Psychology
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Economic inequality is increasing both globally and in various countries around the world, and such inequality has been linked to worsening health, well-being, and social cohesion. A key predictor for whether people take action against inequality is the extent to which they perceive it as illegitimate. We investigate how two variables jointly predict the legitimization of inequality, namely the perceived magnitude of differences in economic outcomes and the way these differences are described. Two experiments (total N = 190) tested whether framing the same difference in outcomes as an advantaged group having more or as a disadvantaged group having less moderates whether higher inequality is perceived as less legitimate. Participants perceived bigger differences as less legitimate when these differences were framed as the disadvantaged group having less. When they were framed as the advantaged group having more, the perceived magnitude of differences and legitimacy beliefs were unrelated. Together, this research highlights the importance of language for how people perceive and respond to inequality.

ACS Style

Susanne Bruckmüller; Gerhard Reese; Sarah E. Martiny. Is higher inequality less legitimate? Depends on how you frame it! British Journal of Social Psychology 2017, 56, 766 -781.

AMA Style

Susanne Bruckmüller, Gerhard Reese, Sarah E. Martiny. Is higher inequality less legitimate? Depends on how you frame it! British Journal of Social Psychology. 2017; 56 (4):766-781.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Susanne Bruckmüller; Gerhard Reese; Sarah E. Martiny. 2017. "Is higher inequality less legitimate? Depends on how you frame it!" British Journal of Social Psychology 56, no. 4: 766-781.

Article
Published: 19 May 2017 in European Journal of Social Psychology
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Recent research showed that individuals are perceived as more attractive when presented with the color red. We seek to extend these findings by studying the effects of red color on individuals' perception of self-attractiveness, rather than the attractiveness of others. Based on the color-in-context theory, we hypothesized that individuals would perceive themselves as more attractive under red chromatic conditions. In three experiments, participants were asked to wear a red or a blue shirt and rated their own attractiveness. As expected, participants in the red shirt condition indicated a higher level of self-attractiveness than participants in the blue condition. Moreover, the results showed that the self-perception red effect was mediated by the individuals' self-perceived sexual receptivity and self-perceived status.

ACS Style

Anne Berthold; Gerhard Reese; Judith Martin. The effect of red color on perceived self-attractiveness. European Journal of Social Psychology 2017, 47, 645 -652.

AMA Style

Anne Berthold, Gerhard Reese, Judith Martin. The effect of red color on perceived self-attractiveness. European Journal of Social Psychology. 2017; 47 (5):645-652.

Chicago/Turabian Style

Anne Berthold; Gerhard Reese; Judith Martin. 2017. "The effect of red color on perceived self-attractiveness." European Journal of Social Psychology 47, no. 5: 645-652.