Encouraging pro-environmental behaviour at work can result in a significant reduction in environmental problems. Research revealed that general environmental considerations such as biospheric values and environmental self-identity are important antecedents of private pro-environmental behaviour. Yet, the question remains whether such general environmental considerations also predict pro-environmental behaviour at work. We propose a parsimonious theoretical model (the VIP-model) in which biospheric values affect personal norms to behave pro-environmentally at work and pro-environmental actions via the environmental self-identity. A study involving a diverse sample of employees from different European organizations supported the VIP-model, showing that biospheric values and environmental self-identity influence personal norms, and that stronger personal norms encouraged various self-reported pro-environmental behaviours at work to some extent. The VIP-model yields promising, cost-efficient strategies to encourage pro-environmental behaviour at work

In recent years, mindfulness has been considered as a potential source of proenvironmental attitudes and behavior. Present research is aimed at consolidating and expanding previous knowledge by proposing that mindfulness is related to both proenvironmental behavior and belief in global climate change through social dominance orientation (SDO). A first study was conducted on undergraduate students ( n = 279) and found, as expected, that trait mindfulness was related to proenvironmental behavior through SDO. A second study using a known groups approach compared practitioners ( n = 44) and nonpractitioners ( n = 53) of Buddhist meditation, which is known to develop a mindful stance. Moreover, in Study 2, a measure of belief in global climate change was adopted as a further outcome. Again, trait mindfulness was related to both proenvironmental outcomes through SDO. Theoretical and practical implications are discussed.

Smiling individuals are usually perceived more favorably than non-smiling ones—they are judged as happier, more attractive, competent, and friendly. These seemingly clear and obvious consequences of smiling are assumed to be culturally universal, however most of the psychological research is carried out in WEIRD societies (Western, Educated, Industrialized, Rich, and Democratic) and the influence of culture on social perception of nonverbal behavior is still understudied. Here we show that a smiling individual may be judged as less intelligent than the same non-smiling individual in cultures low on the GLOBE’s uncertainty avoidance dimension. Furthermore, we show that corruption at the societal level may undermine the prosocial perception of smiling—in societies with high corruption indicators, trust toward smiling individuals is reduced. This research fosters understanding of the cultural framework surrounding nonverbal communication processes and reveals that in some cultures smiling may lead to negative attributions.

Hand gestures have a close link with speech and with social perception and persuasion processes, however to date no one has experimentally investigated the role of hand gestures alone in persuasive speech. An experiment with undergraduates was conducted using 5 video-messages in which only hand gestures of the speaker were manipulated along five types. ANOVAs reveal effect of gesture type on receivers’ evaluation of message persuasiveness, speaker communication style effectiveness, and speaker's composure and competence. A control study (Experiment 2) confirms that these effects are due to visible gestures. Speech accompanying gestures appear to play a causal role in social perception.

Well-functioning communities provide a range of material and psychological resources that enhance well-being. The degree to which individuals see themselves as part of the local social group, or local social identity, i.e., the social identification with the community of the place where people are living, may play an important role in enhancing happiness and well-being, as well as relationships of people with their own living environment, i.e., place attachment. We hypothesized that local social identity influences well-beingviaspecific components of place attachment to the residential city/town, i.e., place identity, social relations, and lack of resources (which is the opposite of place dependence). We measured local social identity, individual well-being, interdependent happiness, and place attachment in a sample ofN= 375 participants. We tested our hypotheses by conducting a series of mediation analyses with local social identity as an independent variable, individual well-being and interdependent happiness as dependent variables, and place attachment subfactors, i.e., place identity, social relations, and lack of resources, as mediators. Results showed that the relation between local social identity and both individual well-being and interdependent happiness was positively mediated by place identity and social relations, while the lack of resources emerged as a negative mediator only in the relation between local social identity and individual well-being (not for interdependent happiness). Practical implications and future developments are discussed.