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Currently, policy within Dutch government often faces issues within implementation, resulting in unsatisfactory governance. Aiming to counter this, RWS WVL-BNUB offers tests of feasibility, which assess feasibility of policy proposed by IenW. However, these tests are insufficiently utilised by policymakers working at IenW. Using the BCW and COM-B Model of Behaviour, a behavioural diagnosis and intervention strategy development aimed to investigate the problem behaviour and to create suitable strategies to help counter this behaviour. Ten policymakers, working at IenW, were interviewed by means of semi-structured interviews. Analysis of their experiences with tests of feasibility led to a behavioural diagnosis in which several barriers within the COMB-B components psychological capability, physical opportunity, and social opportunity were identified. Based on this behavioural diagnosis, four intervention functions, three policy categories, two BCTs, and two modes of delivery were deemed promising in achieving behaviour change. Further development is necessary to transform the intervention strategies into actual interventions, which will be done in collaboration with WVL-BNUB. The objective of these future interventions is to facilitate policymakers in achieving the desired behaviour, using tests of feasibility and to consequently improve policy implementation and results.

With the changing climate, extreme heat will happen more often. To mitigate the effects of this heat, climate adaptation is necessary. This research aims to create a holistic overview of the barriers and facilitators for individual climate adaptive actions to mitigate the effects of heat in an urban context. Research on climate adaptation right now is divided into two strands. One strand focuses on adaptive capacity, or the structural factors enabling adaptation, the other strand focuses on the psychological factors that determine whether someone chooses to adapt. This research uses the COM-B model to combine both strands to create a comprehensive view of adaptation. The research focuses on Katendrecht, a district in Rotterdam. To answer the research question, 14 semi-structured interviews were conducted with residents of Katendrecht. The results were categorized into six main themes: cool spaces outside the house, the house itself, possible measures, choices for measures, measures taken, and heat stress. Both psychological factors and factors from adaptive capacity research come back in the themes. All components of the COM-B model are represented in the themes. Opportunity was the component that was mentioned most often during the interviews and seen as most important. Especially the financial capital and built quality of the house determined whether people took and could take adaptive action. These results have policy implications. Since opportunity was seen as the most important determinant of adaptive behaviour, policies should focus on enablement, legislation, and environmental restructuring to ensure everyone has an opportunity for coolth.

Suicide loss survivors (SLS) face unique challenges when compared to other bereavement types. They are at an increased risk for developing complicated grief (CG); i.e., a response to death that deviates significantly from normal experiences of grief. This may be due to the violent and traumatic nature of suicide, and the stigma that is associated with it. Moreover, avoidance can further complicate the grieving process, with heightened avoidance levels also being linked to SLS. The current study investigates the role of avoidance in the development of CG among SLS. Utilising data from the Measurement Archive of Reactions to Bereavement from Longitudinal European Studies (MARBLES) project, we analysed responses from 256 participants, comparing SLS to individuals who experienced non-traumatic, non-violent bereavement (illness duration <1 month). The Inventory of Complicated Grief-Revised (ICG-R) and the Measure of Avoidance Strategies (MAS) were used to assess CG and avoidance, respectively. Findings reveal that SLS report significantly higher levels of CG and avoidance compared to the control group. Furthermore, avoidance was identified as a significant mediator in the relationship between SLS and CG. These results highlight the importance of addressing avoidance behaviours in therapeutic interventions to alleviate CG symptoms among SLS. This study contributes to the limited research on the mechanisms underlying CG in SLS, highlighting the need for targeted support for this vulnerable population. Further implications and future research directions are discussed.

This study analyses the quality of political discourse on social media by focusing on the Israel-Palestine conflict. It is based on Habermas' (2023) hypothesis, which suggests that individuals who mainly use social media platforms engage in a type of discourse that is semi-public, fragmented, and cyclical. Habermas argues that the shift from a public sphere to semi-public spheres results in what he refers to as “disrupted public spheres”. The research question of this study is: How disrupts the telegramsphere, the political public sphere, and the deliberative discourse by sustaining and disseminating a low-quality discourse inside social media? Does the telegramsphere often spread the correspondent’s opinion-biassed discourse, and if it does, how does it accomplish this? Thus, this study utilises a combination of quantitative machine learning analysis and Critical Discourse Analysis, employing a mixed-methods approach. The data obtained from Telegram channels was analysed in order to categorise and group recurring terms. The findings suggest that Telegram messages often exhibit a lack of high-quality discourse, characterised by emotionally charged narratives, inadequate reasoning, and a disregard for differing opinions. The goal of these research channels and topics is to strengthen group unity and spread biassed information in order to influence public opinion. In summary, the fact that Telegram is only semi-public and lacks qualitative discourse norms distorts political deliberation, which in turn undermines the diversity and quality necessary for effective deliberative democracy.

We examine the price impact of traders on commodity futures markets. Following the framework of De Long et al. (1990), we empirically identify the existence of positive feedback traders, passive investors, and rational speculators in major global commodity futures markets. Our results show that index trader demand is negatively related to past commodity returns and is positively related to future commodity returns, as De Long et al. (1990) model predicts for passive investors. Furthermore, “non-reportable traders,” who are not obligated to report their positions to the regulators, behave like positive feedback traders, and interact significantly with commodity futures returns as well.

The COVID-19 pandemic raises important challenges for solidarity and social justice. Not all social groups are equally affected by the COVID-19 virus, or the measures taken to curb its’ spread. In this chapter, we discuss how social groups differ in the risks they face during the pandemic and outline the most important factors that contribute to these inequalities. Notably, socio-economically disadvantaged groups run higher risks of contracting the virus and are, on average, more negatively impacted by COVID-19 counter measures. Subsequently, we introduce two important societal challenges posed by the pandemic – intergenerational and global solidarity respectively – and discuss the social justice questions these challenges evoke. How societies rise to these new challenges for solidarity and social justice will be crucial for our future.

Introduction: COVID-19 measures to prevent spreading had a negative impact on daily life. Awareness was raised that these measures could increase risks of DV. Social support structure disappeared and decreasing their positive effects. Although a worldwide increase in DV was observed, Dutch government denied this. This research wants to confirm the growth in DV cases during the pandemic and look into situational factors leading to DV. Methods: Two datasets were used to. Data from CBS answered the first two hypotheses, reflects those reporting DV or requesting advice, divided by role and function. Information per provinces was analysed for the years 2019, 2020 and 2021. A repeated measure ANOVA was performed to see if changes during the years were significant. Data from Eurofound answered the last two hypotheses, reflecting the impact of the pandemic on working and living in Europe. Data was collected during the first lockdown, right after and a year later. Outcome per question was compared over time, the difference between these outcomes was converted in percentages. Results: Result shows that during the pandemic the request for advice increased while the amount of reports declined. The role of non-professionals became more important role during the pandemic. These results were significant. Professionals still play a key-role in identifying DV but their role did not increase significantly. During the pandemic (the experience of) financial insecurity did not increase but people still struggled to make ends meet. Throughout the pandemic, an increase in psychological problems was noticed. Conclusion: Results showed that the measures negatively influence the situational factors of domestic violence. Future research should take a more direct approach and research if new factors were created. Increased knowledge on situational factors could serve as a guide for future policy. Perpetrators cannot be identify easily but triggering situations can be identified.

Individual change and systemic change are both important to combat climate change. Given that citizen’s concerns dictate how climate policies should be presented, this should be included in research. Therefore, this research will provide an answer to the question: How does fear of climate change influences the perception of Dutch citizens on whether they are responsible or the government is responsible for combatting climate change? This will be done by performing a T-test, a simple regression analysis and a multiple regression analysis with the variables 1) fear, 2) individual responsibility and 3) government responsibility. The results show that fear is positively related to individual responsibility and negatively related to government responsibility. This remains the same when direct fear and indirect fear are separated, with a stronger effect for direct fear. That being said, the differences are minor. Based on these findings, I advise policymakers to enable the Dutch to make personal changes to combat climate change and focus on the direct impact of climate change. For example, by making organic food available at supermarkets and placing second-hand shops in local shopping centres, but also by reporting on the effect of these acts. In addition, the minor differences found indicate that restoring trust in the government might change preferences towards systemic change.

The public’s trust in the government is required to ensure the compliance of measures that include behavioral responses, especially during a crisis such as the COVID-19 pandemic. In this study, citizens’ trust for The Netherlands, Belgium and Germany throughout different phases of the pandemic will be researched using Eggers et al.’s (2021) model for building trust in the government. This explorative and comparative analysis of a variety of datasets provides a high-level snapshot overview of the differences between the countries’ approaches to cushion the social, financial and health issues due to the pandemic. The research question for this study is ‘How do policies, measures and trust signals in the media relate to citizens’ trust in Germany, Belgium and The Netherlands throughout different phases of the pandemic?’. Trust signals in the media are studied by a content analysis of the heads of the states’ press conferences throughout the pandemic to provide more insight into the narratives from the government. The research provides provisional conclusions that throughout the pandemic, the countries remained around the same level of trust. The Netherlands and Germany saw a comparable trend in trust: the highest levels of trust pre-pandemic, and a decline in trust throughout the pandemic. Additionally, from the measures, we found no relationship between the timing or strictness of the measures and trust. Regarding policies, it was also noticeable that larger spending and a larger variety of policies do not relate to trust. Lastly, no relationship was found between the trust signals in speech and citizens’ trust in the government. The findings confirm and further illustrate the complexity of trust. For further research, we suggest studying the relationship between trust and the governmental approach through surveys and quantitative data. Additionally, it is recommended to research contextual factors such as social media.

Introduction: Despite the number of laws that should minimize the disadvantages of transgender people in America, discrimination is still a problem among this group. Several studies show that transgender people in America experience more discrimination against their gender identity compared to cisgender people. Especially, transgender people of color (TPOC) face the highest level of discrimination compared to white American transgender people in every area of life. The aim of this study is to determine whether TPOC in America are structurally disadvantaged in areas of housing, employment, healthcare and police violence and therefore experience (double) injustice, because of their race/ethnicity and gender identity, compared to their white counterparts. An intersectional approach is used to examine the following research question: Do transgender people of color in America experience double injustice compared to their white counterparts and how does that impact their lives? Methods: This research consists of a literature search and a quantitative study based on secondary data. The secondary data is an extensive survey of transgender discrimination based in the United States performed by the National Center for Transgender Equality (NCTE) and the National LGBTQ Task Force (n=6456). A MANOVA analysis was used to compare the groups on multiple correlated dependent variables; employment, housing, healthcare and police violence, with race (white versus non-white transgender people) as independent variable. Results: TPOC face more discrimination than white transgender people in America in healthcare, employment and housing and are more at risk of experiencing police violence. Conclusion: Results suggest more research is needed to continue examining the disparities in discrimination experienced by TPOC using an intersectional approach. With more research, understanding and acceptance there can be more prevention, education and outreach to TPOC.