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Promises are voluntary commitments to perform a future action and are often thought to be powerful levers for behavioral change. Here we studied the effectiveness of promises in two preregistered, incentivized field experiments with German students (N = 406) on the premises of a cafeteria. In Experiment 1, the majority of participants (63%) kept their promise to pay back at least half of a € 4-endowment, even though there was no foreseeable cost of breaking the promise, reputational or otherwise. Significantly fewer participants (22%) paid back money in a control group that faced a simple decision to return money or not. In Experiment 2, the majority of participants (54%) kept their promise to add a provided stamp to a postcard and mail it back (anonymously) within a week. We found similar return rates (52%) for a second group for which the word “promise” was omitted from the commitment. Our findings show that participants kept their word outside the laboratory while pursuing everyday activities even when there were no foreseeable negative consequences for breaking them, demonstrating that promises are effective levers for behavioral change.

IntroductionRefugee youth are often faced with the compounding challenges of heightened exposure to traumatic events and acculturating to a new country during a developmental period when their sense of self is still forming. This study investigated whether refugee youth’s acculturation orientation (separation, integration, marginalization, and assimilation) is associated with depressive and posttraumatic stress symptoms and aimed to identify additional indicators of acculturation that may contribute to mental health.MethodsA total of 101 Arabic-speaking refugee youths (aged 14–20 years), who were living with their families and attending school in Germany, took part in the study. They answered questions concerning traumatic exposure and posttraumatic stress symptoms, depressive symptoms, and several indicators of acculturation, including cultural orientation, positive and negative intra- and intergroup contact, language skills and friendship networks. All participants were categorized into one of four acculturation orientations using median splits.ResultsKruskal–Wallis rank sum tests revealed that acculturation orientation was not significantly associated with depressive symptoms [χ2 (3, 97) = 0.519, p = 0.915] or posttraumatic stress symptoms [χ2 (3, 97) = 0.263, p = 0.967]. Regression analysis revealed that German language skills were significantly associated with lower scores of depressive symptoms (p = 0.016) and number of friends in Germany was significantly associated with lower scores of depressive (p = 0.006) and posttraumatic stress symptoms (p = 0.002), respectively.DiscussionPolicies that provide refugee youth with access to language classes and social activities with peers do not only enable them to actively participate in a new society but may also have a positive effect on their mental health.

This document contains additional details about the sample, field sites, experimental methods and protocols, and further analyses.

Verwendung der Begriffe 'Intention' und 'Intentionalität' in verschiedenen Fachdiskursen.

Deep geothermal energy has been recognised as an important contributor to future energy demand. However, the development of renewable energy technologies has seen public disagreement hindering the implementation of such technologies. The present study investigated social dimensions underlying public acceptance of deep geothermal energy. Adopting a social identity approach, the present research consisted of four studies. The first was a qualitative study which aimed to understand which socio-psychological dimensions were relevant in the acceptance of the first deep geothermal energy plant in Cornwall, UK. Based on this study and existing theory, a theoretical framework was developed which identified two possible pathways. The first pathway highlighted the relevance of investigating normative and collective efficacy beliefs in the acceptance of large-scale energy technologies. The second pathway pointed out the relevance of investigating perceived identity support and threat from the technology, autonomy need, fairness perception, and risk perception. Based on these pathways, the other three studies tested a series of pre-registered hypotheses using correlational designs via structural equation modelling. Overall, results demonstrated the importance of considering the two pathways, specifically the role of normative and collective efficacy beliefs, procedural fairness, collective self-determined motivations, and perceived group-level identity support and threat associated with deep geothermal energy. Considering collective processes through a social identity lens contributed to a better understanding of the key drivers underlying both social acceptance and collective action intentions regarding sustainable energy technologies and might be a fruitful source of public engagement. European Regional Development Fund (ERDF)