Jan 17, 2011 By Timothy WilsonJesse GrahamMinkyung Koo Conserving energy by inducing people to drive less. We attempted to reduce college students’ use of their cars with an online intervention. Every other day for 2 weeks, students reported the number of miles they had avoided driving. In a 2 × 2 design, participants received feedback about pollution avoided (e.g., CO2 saved), financial feedback (e.g., gas money saved), or no feedback. A control group did not monitor their driving. Participants in all Web conditions reported driving less than the no-Web control group. In addition, Web participants who received both kinds of feedback reported driving less than did those who received one kind or none. We discuss implications for research on energy conservation and offer an online feedback form to help readers reduce their own driving. Journal of Applied Social Psychology Journal of Applied Social Psychology Timothy Wilson Timothy Wilson is Sherrell J Aston Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Wilson has conducted research showing the limits of introspection as a source of self-knowledge, the dangers of engaging in too much introspection about why we do what we do, the difficulty in predicting our future emotional reactions, as well as the pleasures we can derive from “just thinking.” He has also conducted research on applications of social psychology to address social problems. Read full bio Jesse Graham Minkyung Koo Related Content Timothy Wilson Who am I? Beyond "I think, therefore I am." Research Can we ever truly answer the question, “Who am I?” Moderated by Alex Voorhoeve (London School of Economics), neuro-philosopher Elie During (University of Paris, Ouest Nanterre), cognitive scientist David Jopling (York University, Canada), social psychologist Timothy Wilson (University of Virginia), and ethicist Frances Kamm (Harvard University) examine the difficulty of achieving genuine self-knowledge and how the pursuit of self-knowledge plays a role in shaping the self. Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change Research What if there were a magic pill that could make you happier, turn you into a better parent, solve a number of your teenager’s behavior problems, reduce racial prejudice, and close the achievement gap in education? Well, there is no such magic pill-but there is a new scientifically based approach called story editing that can accomplish all of this.
Timothy Wilson Timothy Wilson is Sherrell J Aston Professor Emeritus of Psychology at the University of Virginia. Wilson has conducted research showing the limits of introspection as a source of self-knowledge, the dangers of engaging in too much introspection about why we do what we do, the difficulty in predicting our future emotional reactions, as well as the pleasures we can derive from “just thinking.” He has also conducted research on applications of social psychology to address social problems. Read full bio
Who am I? Beyond "I think, therefore I am." Research Can we ever truly answer the question, “Who am I?” Moderated by Alex Voorhoeve (London School of Economics), neuro-philosopher Elie During (University of Paris, Ouest Nanterre), cognitive scientist David Jopling (York University, Canada), social psychologist Timothy Wilson (University of Virginia), and ethicist Frances Kamm (Harvard University) examine the difficulty of achieving genuine self-knowledge and how the pursuit of self-knowledge plays a role in shaping the self.
Redirect: The Surprising New Science of Psychological Change Research What if there were a magic pill that could make you happier, turn you into a better parent, solve a number of your teenager’s behavior problems, reduce racial prejudice, and close the achievement gap in education? Well, there is no such magic pill-but there is a new scientifically based approach called story editing that can accomplish all of this.