Research theme: Behavioural Science for the Environment
Theme leads: Dr Kate Laffan & Dr Ganga Shreedhar
Behavioural Lab Affiliates: Dr Anomitro Chatterjee, Vincent Chung Jie Lun, Prof Liam Delaney, Dr Chris Krekel, Daniele Pollicino, Dr Chiara Sotis, Katie Taylor
Together with collaborators at Cambridge University, the University of Stirling, Princeton University, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Baylor University, the LSE Behavioural Lab has led projects on the behavioural aspects of sustainability lifestyle transitions including in relation to diet, transport choices, collective and organisational environmental behaviours, green social prescribing initiatives and deliberative processes in environmental policy design and support. The group is also active in feeding into public and organisational policy discourse, for example, Drs Laffan and Shreedhar co-authored a paper for the Indian government’s report on Lifestyle for the Environment on Leveraging Identity to promote Sustainable Lifestyles and a piece in the Harvard Business Review on the environmental implications of remote working. Additionally, Professor Delaney sits on the Irish Climate Change Advisory Council.
Selected Publications:
2025
Lades, L. K., Zawojska, E., Johnston, R. J., Hanley, N., Delaney, L., & Czajkowski, M. (2025). Anomalies or expected behaviors? Understanding stated preferences and welfare implications in light of contemporary behavioral economics. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 19(1), 000-000.
Pollicino D, Zamzow H, Shreedhar G, Galizzi MM, Naci H & Freitag P (2025). Can social norms promote sustainable food consumption? A systematic review. Social Influence, 20(1), 2497341.
2024
Laffan, K., & Howard, E. (2024). The impact of explaining vegetarian meal requests on the affective responses and perceptions of meat eaters. Scientific Reports, 14(1), 24262.
Laffan, K. (2024). Context counts: an exploration of the situational correlates of meat consumption in three Western European countries. Behavioural Public Policy, 1-16.
Laffan, K., Meles, T., & Ryan, L. (2024). The greenest of green: Preferences for homegrown renewables in Ireland. Energy Research & Social Science, 114, 103577.
Prinzing, M., Lades, L. K., Weber, T. O., Fredrickson, B., & Laffan, K. (2024). Pro-environmental behaviors and well-being in everyday life. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 98, 102394.
Prinzing, M. M., & Laffan, K. (2024). Leveraging the link between pro-environmental behaviour and well-being to encourage sustainable lifestyle shifts. npj Climate Action, 3(1), 73.
Shreedhar, G., Moran, C., & Mills, S. (2024). Sticky brown sludge everywhere: can sludge explain barriers to green behaviour?. Behavioural Public Policy, 1-16.
Shreedhar, G., Sabherwal, A., & Maldonado, R. (2024). Cli-fi videos can increase charitable donations: experimental evidence from the United Kingdom. Frontiers in Psychology, 14, 1176077.
2023
Laffan, K., Lades, L. K., & Delaney, L. (2023). Paths that lead astray: Examining the situational predictors of intention-behaviour gaps in meat consumption. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 89, 102045.
Navarrete-Hernandez, P., & Laffan, K. (2023). The impact of small-scale green infrastructure on the affective wellbeing associated with urban sites. Scientific Reports, 13(1), 9687.
Shreedhar, G. (2023). When green nudges (don't) work. In Behavioural Economics and the Environment (pp. 285-306). Routledge.
Soni, A., & Chatterjee, A. (2023). Not just income: The enabling role of institutional confidence and social capital in household energy transitions in India. Energy Research & Social Science, 98, 103020.
Marasco, A., Romano, A., & Sotis, C. (2023). Interactions between concerns for the environment and other sources of concern in 31 European countries. Environmental Research Letters, 18(1), 014018.
Battocletti, V., Romano, A., & Sotis, C. (2023). People can understand IPCC visuals and are not influenced by colors. Environmental Research Letters, 18(11), 114036.
2022
Shreedhar, Ganga, Kate Laffan, and Laura Giurge. "Is remote work actually better for the environment?." Harvard Business Review (2022).
Sabherwal, A., & Shreedhar, G. (2022). Stories of intentional action mobilise climate policy support and action intentions. Scientific Reports, 12(1), 1179.
Sabherwal, A., Shreedhar, G., & van der Linden, S. (2022). Inoculating against threats to climate activists’ image: Intersectional environmentalism and the Indian farmers’ protest. Current Research in Ecological and Social Psychology, 3, 100051.
2021
Lades, L. K., Laffan, K., & Weber, T. O. (2021). Do economic preferences predict pro-environmental behaviour?. Ecological Economics, 183, 106977.
Romano, A., & Sotis, C. (2021). Odi et Amo: A nudge to reduce the consumption of single-use carrier bags. Waste Management, 120, 382-391.