[VCEE Seminar] REMINDER: VCEE Seminar with Robert Böhm - Invitation, May 5

[Mailing list of the VCEE seminar series]

Dear All,

You are invited to attend the VCEE seminar on Monday, May 5, 2025, from
11:30 to 13:00 hrs Vienna time. 

The seminar takes place in lecture hall 5 (ground floor) at
Oskar-Morgenstern-Platz 1.

We will have one speaker: Robert Böhm (University of Vienna)

Webpage:  https://robertboehm.info/index.html

Here is more information about the talk:

Title: Psychological reactance to system-level policies before and after
their implementation (with A. Granulo and C. Fuchs)

 

Abstract:

Governments need to develop and implement effective policies to address
pressing societal problems of our time, such as climate change and global
pandemics. While some policies focus on changing individual thoughts and
behaviors (e.g., informational interventions, behavioral nudges), others
involve systemic changes (e.g., car bans, vaccination mandates).
Policymakers may use system-level policies to achieve socially desirable
outcomes yet often refrain from doing so because they anticipate public
opposition. In this article, we propose that people’s psychological
reactance driving this opposition is a transient phenomenon that dissipates
once system-level policies are in place. Using secondary survey data (N =
49,674) and experimental data (six studies; N = 4,628; all preregistered),
we document that psychological reactance to system-level policies is greater
when they are planned (ex ante implementation) than when they are already
implemented (ex post implementation). We further demonstrate that this
effect can be observed across various intervention contexts and provide
insights into its underlying psychological mechanisms. Specifically, ex ante
versus ex post the system-level policy’s implementation, individuals focus
more on the transition-induced personal losses than on the prospective
societal outcome gains. In line with this perspective, we show that the
decline in reactance to system-level policies after their implementation is
mediated and moderated by the salience of personal losses, and that the
initial reactance to such policies is mitigated by the salience of societal
gains. These findings suggest that the public’s negative reactions to
system-level policies are more transient than previously thought and can
help policymakers design effective interventions.

 

If you are interested in meeting after the seminar (meeting slots of 30’)
you can register via this link:

https://nuudel.digitalcourage.de/NSh9AU1QKwKrAUy6

 

Best regards,

Sylvia

 

-------------- next part --------------
An HTML attachment was scrubbed...
URL: <https://lists.univie.ac.at/pipermail/vcee-seminar/attachments/20250429/cef20768/attachment.html>