Title: How to motivate
1How to motivate normal people to behave in a
more proenvironmental way?
- Sebastian Bamberg
- University of Applied Science Bielefeld
- Sebastian.bamberg_at_fh-bielefeld.de
2The Problem
- CO2 emissions are the central cause of climate
change. - Contribution of consumers behavior to
CO2-emissions - Transport ca. 20
- Home energy use (heating/cooling) ca. 35
- Nutrition (meat consumption) ca. 20
3The Problem
- With growing insight into the harmful impact on
the earths ecosystems of the lifestyles pursued
in industrialized societies, behavioral change
has become a central focus not only of climate
protection policy but also of environmental
psychology as an applied science.
4The Problem
- How can we persuade people
- to switch transport modes,
- appliance choices,
- and eating habits
- in a way that will reduce their damaging impact
on the environment?
5The Role of Psychology
- It is trivial that problem awareness is a first
precondition for behavioral change. - Does problem awareness (high environmental
consciousness) directly motivates behavioral
change?
6The Role of Psychology
- In Germany about 75 of the population view
climate change as one of the most serious threats
humanity is confronted with. - However, only 9 are willing to personally adopt
behaviors which would effectively contribute to
the reduction of this threat.
7Central Questions
- Obviously, even if people are aware of a problem
it is a long way to actually change own behavior.
8The Role of Psychology
- What motivates a person to critically reevaluate
her/his current behavior? - How does a behavioral change goal develop, how is
it transformed into a concrete behavioral change
strategy? - How do individuals overcome the problems they
encounter when trying to implement this new
behavioral strategy?
9STAGE MODELS
- In psychology stage models provide an interesting
approach for answering these questions. - Stage models explicitly focus on the dynamic,
temporal aspects of behavioral change.
10STAGE MODELS
- The central theoretical assumption underlying all
stage models - Behavioral change could be best modelled as a
persons transition through a sequence of
qualitatively different stages of behavioral
change. - In health psychology the Transtheoretical Modell
(Prochaska Velicer, 1997) is a well known stage
model.
11Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC, Bamberg 2011)
- Construes change as a process involving progress
through a series of four stages - Predecisional stage
- Preactional stage
- Actional stage
- Postactional stage
12Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC)
- These stages of behavioral change reflect
- four
- timely ordered,
- qualitatively different
- TASKS
- people have to solve for turning desired goals
into behavioral practices.
13Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC, Bamberg 2011)
- The formation of the three intention types
- goal-intention
- behavioral intention
- implementation intention
- indicates that a person has successfully solved
the respective stage specific task and can move
on to the next stage.
14Stage Model of Self-regulated Behavioral Change
- Mind set of people in the predecisional stage
- Perform the problem behavior on a regular,
habitual basis. - Are not fully aware of the negative consequences
associated with this behavior, and thus see no
reasons for behavioral change. - Confronting people in this stage with a direct
request to change their behavior runs the risk of
triggering reactance.
15- Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC) -Task of the first PRE-DECISIONAL stage
Preactional Stage
Actional Stage
Predecisional Stage
Postactional Stage
Transition point
Transition point
Transition point
Goal Intention
Behavioral Intention
Implementation Intention
Motivation task Raising doubts
Motivational task Selecting a change strategy
Motivational task Implemention of the change
strategy
Motivational task Habitualising the new behavior
16Stage Model of Self-regulated Behavioral Change
- Mind set of people in the preactional stage
- People already have the general goal of changing
their current behavior (high goal intention). - However, because several actions (e.g. cycling,
walking, public transport) could normally be used
as a means to achieve this goal (e.g. car
reduction), the task confronting them is to
select the personally most suitable behavioral
strategy.
17- Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC)- Task of the second PRE-ACTIONAL stage
Preactional Stage
Actional Stage
Predecisional Stage
Postactional Stage
Transition point
Transition point
Transition point
Goal Intention
Implementation Intention
Behavioral Intention
Motivation task Raising doubts
Motivational task Selecting a change strategy
Motivational task Implemention of the change
strategy
Motivational task Habitualising the new behavior
18Stage Model of Self-regulated Behavioral Change
- Mind set of people in the actional stage
- People not only possess a strong goal intention
but also have formed a strong behavioral
intention that is, they have made a decision on
which new behavioral strategy they want to test
instead of the old one. - However, people often have difficulties to
translate their good behavioral intentions into
real action. That is, people often fail to do the
things that they say they intent to do or fail to
avoid doing things that they do not want to do
(Orbell Sheeran, 1998).
19- Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC)- Task of the third ACTIONAL stage
Preactional Stage
Actional Stage
Predecisional Stage
Postactional Stage
Transition point
Transition point
Transition point
Goal Intention
Behavioral Intention
Implementation Intention
Motivation task Raising doubts
Motivational task Selecting a change strategy
Motivational task Implemention of the change
strategy
Motivational task Habitualising the new behavior
20Stage Model of Self-regulated Behavioral Change
- Mind set of people in the postactional stage
- Persons actually perform the selected new
behavior for some time. - In this stage they reflect on the experiences
they have made with the new behavior and compare
it critically with the old behavior. - As a result, the main intervention task in this
stage is twofold to provide feedback on how
successfully they have achieved their personal
change goal and to help them to cope with the
temptation to relapse to the old behavior.
21- Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC)- Task of the forth POST-ACTIONAL stage
- Evaluating what has achieved and to decide
whether further action is necessary. - Struggling with temptation that is, preventing a
relapse into the old behavior.
Preactional Stage
Actional Stage
Predecisional Stage
Postactional Stage
Transition point
Transition point
Transition point
Goal Intention
Behavioral Intention
Implementation Intention
Motivation task Raising doubts
Motivational task Selecting a change strategy
Motivational task Implemention of the change
strategy
Motivational task Habitualising the new behavior
22- Stage Model of Self-regulated behavioral Change
(SSBC)
- How to explain the formation of the three
critical transition points - For intervention development precise information
is needed concerning the determinants of the
three critical intention types. - These intention determinants are the direct
intervention targets.
23- SSBC - Processes contributing to the formation of
a goal intention
Pre-decisional Stage
Pre-actional Stage
Transition point
24- SSBC - Processes contributing to the formation of
a behavioral intention
Pre-actional stage
Actional Stage
Attitudes toward alternative behavioral strategies
Goal intention
Behavioral intention
Perceived behaviroal control over alternative
behavioral strategies
Perceived goal feasibility
25- SSBC- Processes contributing to the formation of
an implementation intention
Actional Stage
Postactional Stage
Coping and action planning abilities
Behavioral Intention
Implementation Intention
New habit
Maintenance Self-efficacy
Perceived behaviroal control
26- SSBC- Processes contributing to the maintenance
of the new behavior
Postactional Stage
Maintenance Self-efficacy
Implementation Intention
New habit
Recovery Self-efficacy
27- The stage model of self-regulated behavioral
change
28- Model specific focus Developing and testing
action hypotheses for the SSBC.
29Interventions targeting people in the
predecisional stage.
- The SSBC provides clear guidelines on which
strategies interventions targeting people in the
predecisional stage should focus on - enhancing problem awareness
- increasing acceptance of personal responsibility
- making social norms salient
- strengthening perceived ability to change current
behavior and - promoting the formation of a clear and
challenging, but not excessive personal change
goal.
30Interventions targeting people in the
predecisional stage.
- However, because of the aforementioned risk of
eliciting reactance, the intervention should
include not only arguments promoting behavioral
change but also elements trying to reduce
reactance. - Research (e.g., Knowles Riner, 2007) has
indicated that one of the most effective ways to
reduce reactance is to merely acknowledge the
fact that the person might feel some resistance.
31Interventions targeting people in the preactional
stage
- The main task people are confronted with in this
stage is to select the personally most suitable
behavioral strategy. - Consequently, the main intervention goal in this
stage is to provide more knowledge about the pros
and cons as well as the personal feasibility of
behavioral alternatives, and then help people to
select their personally most suitable behavioral
alternative
32Interventions targeting people in the preactional
stage
- Besides promoting arguments, interventions for
people in the preactional stage should also
include arguments targeting potential sources of
reactance/resistance - According to Knowles and Riner (2007), one
effective strategy to deal with concerns about an
offer consists in giving guarantees. - In the mobility case for example, participants
could be offered a possibility to test whether
public transport services fit their purposes with
a free one-week travel pass.
33Interventions targeting people in the actional
stage.
- In this stage the main task people are confronted
with is to translate their good behavioral
intentions into real action. - Gollwitzer (1999 Gollwitzer Sheeran, 2006)
proposed that explicitly motivating people to
plan the when, where, and how to enact the
intended new behavior is a simple and effective
strategy for dealing with this problem.
34Interventions targeting people in the
postactional stage
- In this stage people are reflecting on the
experiences they have made with the new behavior
and are comparing it critically with the old
behavior. - As a result, the main intervention task in this
stage is twofold to provide feedback on how
successfully they have achieved their personal
change goal and to help them to cope with the
temptation to relapse to the old behavior.
35Interventions targeting people in the
postactional stage
- As a consequence, besides repeating and
strengthening the positive consequences
associated with the new behavior and helping them
to overcome barriers, the focus of interventions
should be on providing social support. - This could be done by explicitly thanking and
praising people for their good decision and
offering them a small gift in recognition.
36Interventions targeting people in the
postactional stage
- Besides asking them whether they need additional
information, another intervention element for
this stage group consists in motivating them to
think about buying a permanent monthly or annual
public transport pass. - The idea behind this intervention element is to
increase participants commitment to their
current behavior and to strengthen its habitual
nature.
37From the Model to a Real InterventionThe Berlin
Intervention Study
- General aim
- To test the ability of a stage-based phone
marketing campaign to promote voluntary car use
reduction for daily trips in Berlin. - General logic of the intervention approach
- Using personal contact (a phone call) to
motivate car users - Tailoring the intervention to the persons
current behavioral change stage. - Combining personal contact with supporting print
materials - Repeating the intervention (2 times)
38The Berlin Intervention StudyIntervention
Elements
- Invitation letter contains the stage diagnosis
tool - Specific dialogue modules for the phone contact
with participants in the - pre-decisional stage
- pre-actional stage
- actional stage
- post-actional stage
- Stage specific support print materials
39- Guidelines for Developing Stage-specific
Intervention Modules Aiming to Trigger Stage
Transition
40Intervention Effects
- H1 The stage-based dialogue marketing
intervention has a significant effect on
post-intervention travel behavior. - H2 The effect of the stage-based dialog
marketing intervention is significantly stronger
than the effect of a standardized information
intervention.
41Effect of the Berlin Dialogue Marketing
Campaign on Car Use for Daily Trips ANOVA F (2,
243) 5.31, p lt .01
p .001
p .30
p .01
42Effect of the Berlin Dialogue Marketing
Campaign on PT Use for Daily Trips ANOVA F (2,
243) 3.31, p lt .05
p .02
p .03
p .80
43Identification of four Stage Groups
- H3 With help of the information obtained by a
newly developed stage measure in the total sample
four homogeneous subgroups could be identified
representing the four stage groups of behavioral
change.
44The Stage Measure1. part Six statements
representing the stage typical mind-sets
45The Stage Measure2. part Current behavior
46Empirical Evidence for the Postulated four Stage
Groups Results of a Latent Class Cluster Analysis
(LCCA)
Half Year Test-Re-Test Reliability gamma .74
rank-correlation .66
47Post-intervention Behavioral Profils of the four
Stage Groups
Planned contrasts indicate significant
differences in Car und PT use between the two
earlier and to later stages of behavioral
change Furthermore, there is a significant
decrease in car use and increase in PT use from
actional to postactional stage.
48Testing the role of the three intention types as
stage transition points
- H4a A strong goal intention is significantly
associated with the probability of assignment to
the preactional stage, - H4b A strong behavioral intention significantly
associated with the assignment probability to the
actional stage, - H4c A strong implementation intention
significantly associated with the assignment
probability to the postactional stage.
49Results of a non-proportional ordinal logistic
regression analysis Odds Ratio (OR) Estimates
50Stage Transition as mechanism mediating the
intervention effect on behavior
- H5 The intervention triggers a significantly
stronger transition from earlier to later stages. - H6 The intervention effect on behavior is
mediated by its effect on stage progression
after controlling for the intervention effect on
stage transition, the direct intervention effect
on behavior is no longer significant.
51Mediates Stage Transition the Intervention
Effect?
52Predictive power of the stage-specific variable
sets
- H7 The proposed sets of socio-cognitive
variables are strong predictors of the three
transition points goal-intention, behavioral
intention, and implementation intention.
53Empirical Model TestStructural Equation Model (N
1.055)
Estimator MLRModel Fit Chi-squ. 1.129,163
df 505 CFI 0.94 TLI 0.94 RMSEA 0.034
Probability RMSEA lt .05 is 1.000
54Conclusion
- The presented results provide some evidence that
stage models may be an interesting framework for
intervention development. - Central limitation
- Study provides no evidence that stage-based
interventions are more effective than non-stage
based interventions. - For this purpose other experimental designs are
needed
55What intervention techniques are effective in the
pre-decisional stage (promoting the formation of
a goal intention)?
- Remember
- Comparing current behavior with important
personal standards is viewed as critical in the
pre-decisional stage. - Self-Awareness as the critical psychological
stage.
56The Induced Hypocrisy Techniques
- Theoretical basis Cognitive Dissonance Theory
and Self-Consistency Theory - Assumption
- Rendering salient inconsistencies between actual
behavior and important self-standards raises
negative feelings in a person which motivate
her/him to re-adjust her/his behavior in line
with her/his self-standards.
57The Induced Hypocrisy Techniques
- Procedure
- The IH paradigm relies on a two-stages procedure.
In a first, public commitment, stage
participants are asked to make public statements
that are supportive of the attitudinal object
under study (e.g., they have to make public
statements about the importance of energy
saveing). - In a second, mindfulness, stage they are rendered
mindful of their own behavioral transgressions of
their self-standards (e.g., they have to recall
instances of - behaviors in which they did not perform in a
energy saving way).
58The Induced Hypocrisy Techniques
- Procedure
- People facing such inconsistencies should realize
that they do not behave in agreement with what
they preach for others, that is they behave in a
hypocritical way.
59The Induced Hypocrisy Techniques
- Practical implementation
- A sample of 100 students were unsystematically
approached on the university campus. Using a
randomization procedure half of them were
confronted to a IH procedure (experimental
group). The other half completed only a
questionnaire (control group). - Participants in the IH condition were asked for a
contribution for a planned high school lesson
aiming to promote energy saving behavior. - For this purpose participants were asked to allow
to photograph them. Then they were asked to
complete the phase Energy saving is important
for me, because... with a own statement (public
commitment stage). - After that they were asked to complete a scale
measuring participants actual performance of 10
energy saving behaviors. Half of the items asked
for behaviors which are not performed by the
majority of the German population(e.g., not using
the plane for vacation trips, always switching of
the stand by function). The function of the scale
was to render participants mindful of their own
behavioral transgressions of their self-standards
(mindfullness stage)
60What intervention techniques are effective in the
pre-actional/ actional stage (promoting the
formation of a behavioral/ implementation
intention)?
- Remember
- Reflecting about the pros and cons of alternative
behaviors as well as planning the when, where,
and how of action initiation are viewed as
critical in these stages.
61The MCII - Technique
- In mental contrasting, people (1) name their most
important feasible wish that is directed toward
changing their behavior (e.g., regular physical
activity), (2) name and imagine the most positive
outcome of successfully changing their behavior
(e.g., being in better shape), and (3) name and
imagine the most critical obstacle that stands in
the way of wish fulfillment (e.g., being tired
after work). - If participants expect that they can realize
their wish, mental contrasting leads to strong
behavioral change intention.
62The MCIITechnique
- The thus strengthened behavioral intention is
then supplemented by a procedure aiming to
promote the precise planning when, where and how
to implement this intention (e.g., If the weather
is fine tomorrow morning, then I will bike to
work!) - The combination of mental contrasting and
behavioral planning should have a strong impact
on behavior change because the two strategies
complement each other.
63The MCIITechnique
- Procedure
- In the first step participants write down four
items (1) their most important current wish
regarding physical activity (e.g., biking to
work) (2) the most positive outcome of realizing
their wish (e.g., getting into better shape) and
events and experiences they associated with this
positive outcome (3) the most critical obstacle
(e.g., getting up too late) together with events
and experiences they associated with this
obstacle.
64The MCIITechnique
- Procedure
- In the next step with the following questions
participants are motivated to for three
behavioral plans (1) When and where does the
obstacle occur, and what can I do to overcome or
circumvent the obstacle? - (2) When and where is an opportunity to prevent
the obstacle from occurring, and what can I do to
prevent it from occurring? and - (3)When and where is a good opportunity for me to
act on my wish, and what would this action be?
65The MCIITechnique
- Procedure
- For example, a participant could counter the
obstacle of - getting up too late with the plan If I get up
too late, then Ill skip the morning news!
66Effect of the Induced Hypocrisy Technique
Effekte der Hypercrisy-Intervention getrennt für
beide Stage Gruppen
Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional
Control Group Control Group Experimental Group Experimental Group Control Group Control Group Experimental Group Experimental Group
Variable M SD M SD M SD M SD
Social Norm 1.52 1.18 1.73 1.23 1.43 1.18 1.33 1.06
Personal moral norm 2.67 1.16 3.42 0.64 2.96 0.94 2.84 0.85
Goal Intention 2.87 0.92 3.66 0.46 3.27 0.66 3.06 0.65
Behavioral attitude 3.14 0.66 3.55 0.62 3.27 0.67 3.30 0.48
Behavioral PBC 2.98 0.76 3.05 0.88 2.81 0.83 2.78 0.88
Behavioral Intention 2.54 1.03 3.11 0.98 2.82 0.77 2.76 0.76
Implementation Intention 1.63 1.21 2.44 1.33 1.72 1.20 1.80 1.09
67Effect of the MCII Technique
Effekte der Hypercrisy-Intervention getrennt für
beide Stage Gruppen
Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Predecisional/Preactional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional Decisional/Actional
Control Group Control Group Experimental Group Experimental Group Control Group Control Group Experimental Group Experimental Group
Variable M SD M SD M SD M SD
Social Norm 0.66 0.83 0.49 0.75 0.67 0.77 0.87 1.10
Personal moral norm 0.99 1.01 1.42 1.13 1.99 1.19 2.75 1.01
Goal Intention 1.12 0.98 1.56 1.22 2.27 1.03 3.08 0.86
Behavioral attitude 2.42 0.88 2.46 1.07 3.06 0.69 3.41 0.49
Behavioral PBC 1.57 0.94 1.84 1.15 2.39 1.10 2.94 0.73
Behavioral Intention 1.34 0.90 1.66 1.18 2.34 0.92 3.08 0.63
Implementation Intention 0.79 0.76 1.24 1.30 1.27 1.05 2.11 1.09
Meat Consumption 3.94 3.13 6.00 3.69 3.44 2.69 1.74 2.57
68Effect of the MCII Technique
Hypocrisy Intervention
MCII Intervention
Attitude (Behavior) R2 .35
.19
.10
.06
.31
.23
.08
.30
.28
.28
Social Norm (Goal) R2 .05
Personal Norm (Goal) R2 .18
Goal Intention R2 .64
Behavioral Intention R2 .73
Implementation Intention R2 .44
Behavior (Meat Consumption) R2 .22
.23
.01
.52
.23
.68
.32
.20
-.46
.29
PBC (Behavior) R2 .51
Goal Feasibility R2 .10
.48
.18