iiinova — where your digital self keeps evolving

Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 13/10/2025

Do people lie to benefit the in-group and harm the out-group? In a new paper, we found that people lied 9% more to help in-group members than out-group members! This is evidence of coalitional dishonesty Democrats & Republicans both lied anonymously to double in-group members earnings (N=5,230)

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 01/09/2025

Our new research finds that people are willing to cheat if it benefits their group — even when they gain nothing themselves. "the risk of dishonesty in organizations is not limited to selfish acts...employees might bend rules to benefit their team or in-group members." www.nhh.no/en/nhh-bulle...

nhh.no

We lie for those who are like us

Three experiments with more than 5,000 participants show that people are willing to cheat if it benefits their group — even when they gain nothing themselves.

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

Can the psychology of time help us understand climate change? In collaboration with my excellent PhD student Simen Bø, we have a new pre-print exploring the temporal psychology of climate hesitancy, and whether it is possible to increase actual climate support by varying the *timing* of incentives.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 26/06/2025

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 25/06/2025

We have a new working paper, studying planning choices in the United States and Tanzania: "Just perfect days ahead?" Documenting a robust best-case planning tendency, see below for details! Joint work with my last-year PhD student Simen Bø and Vincent Somville.

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Paolo Crosetto @paolocrosetto.bsky.social · 15/06/2025

A *null* result I'm very proud of! Led by Rustam Romaniuc, 35 coauthors from all over France tested nudge interventions to boost voter turnout. None worked, and we are possibly not surprised -- but a well-powered null result *is* a result! Paper: kwnsfk27.r.eu-west-1.awstrack.me/L0/https:%2F...

The main figure from the voter turnout paper -- no effect of any nudge intervention on voter turnout.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 12/06/2025

The Washington Post has written a new article about the modern underground waste system in Bergen (Norway), featuring our research on the effect of incentives vs. norm-nudges on actual recycling behavior. www.washingtonpost.com/climate-solu...

washingtonpost.com

Trash sucks: A Norwegian city uses vacuum tubes to whisk waste away

Bergen, Norway, has been building one of the world’s most advanced trash systems in its 955-year-old city center.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 15/05/2025

To me, a thing that never gets old: The feeling you get when launching a top-priority large-scale data collection, designed to test ideas and hypotheses you have spent months and even years developing. 20% anxiety, 80% curiosity!

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 12/05/2025

Today we had the great pleasure of welcoming back @jayvanbavel.bsky.social to NHH, who gave a seminar on social media and human morality! Packed with interesting research questions, integrative ideas, the MAD model of moral contagion, and large-scale data from observational & experimental studies.

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

koenfucius @koenfucius.bsky.social · 28/04/2025

Incorrigible optimists, that’s what we are. Research by @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social et al finds that—even when we reflect on our past wellbeing levels and notice they’ve been steady—we believe in a brighter future for ourselves and our friends (but not for our enemies): buff.ly/hSZBrxL

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 11/04/2025

Happy to share that we have a new paper on the causal effect of promises, just published in JEBO. "Making a promise increases the moral cost of lying: Evidence from Norway and the United States." Joint work w/ Mathias Eström, Kjetil Bjorvatn & Pablo Soto Mota. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

By focusing on substantive strategies and actionable guidance, rather than the flashiest new phrase, climate communicators may see greater success mobilizing the public. It’s not about what we call it, but likely how we encourage people to tackle it. jayvanbavellab.substack.com/p/climate-te...

jayvanbavellab.substack.com

Climate Terminology Does Not Matter

Our new paper finds that swapping out one climate term for another does not meaningfully change people’s stated commitment to fight climate change

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 07/04/2025

Our paper suggesting that people are "selective optimists" when predicting the future has now been published (EJSP). Self-serving optimism in well-being prediction: People believe in a bright future for themselves and their friends, but not for their enemies. onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1...

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Timothy Snyder @timothysnyder.bsky.social · 30/03/2025

Here is my best guidance for action, rendered beautifully by the great John Lithgow. I first published these lessons more than eight years ago, in late 2016. They open the twenty chapters of "On Tyranny: Twenty Lessons from the Twentieth Century." snyder.substack.com/p/twenty-les...

snyder.substack.com

Twenty Lessons, read by John Lithgow

Key selections from On Tyranny, for viewing and sharing

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 28/03/2025

I mostly post about research here, but since researchers also (can?) have a life outside work: Here is a glimpse from last night. Attending Motorpsycho live in Bergen! One of my all-time favorite rock bands (experimental/prog/psychedelic).

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 23/03/2025

We are hiring in Marketing! Two positions available: One tenured and one tenure-track. See job ad links in the reply below.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 18/03/2025

In my experience, this approach generally works well in teaching too: Think about the research question for a couple of seconds and make your prediction, before learning the results.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 14/03/2025

I will never understand how you can write a full paper about how you can best measure some construct with a certain scale, *without* including a complete list of specific items and instructions easily available in the paper.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 05/03/2025

A long-time favorite paper was accepted for publication today in EJSP: "Self-serving optimism in well-being prediction: People believe in a bright future for themselves and their friends, but not for their enemies." Some good news in difficult times. I will share a longer post when published.

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

Defunding the world’s leading scientific community is akin to a performing a prefrontal lobotomy on the nation—you are effectively severing the connections between the most innovative ideas and its citizens. Cutting support for science harms everyone! www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/a-national...

powerofusnewsletter.com

A National Prefrontal Lobotomy: The Costs of Cutting the Social Sciences

Issue 158: The long-term impacts of funding cuts threaten "social science for a safer world"

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 04/03/2025

"Authoritarian leaders who restricted the press were more popular than those who permitted greater freedom. Where Internet access was narrower, and where Internet content was censored, support was also higher." "But ratings fall when citizens recognize censorship." www.cambridge.org/core/journal...

cambridge.org

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 20/02/2025

American science is under attack. This includes everything from cuts to censorship. This will likely have damaging consequences for fields ranging from medical science to agricultral from national defense to economics. See this letter from the Director of the NIH: www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 19/02/2025

The last 4 weeks has already felt like 4 long years, and the 4 years ahead feels like an eternity -- currently heading in a very dangerous direction. Even for those of us who often lean in an optimistic direction, that is the assessment. The US, and the World, is now changing fast. Backwards.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 16/02/2025

I thought reviewers directly recommending "accept as is" was a myth, but now I have experienced it myself -- for the first time in my life. (We had to do a full revision and collect more data to address R2, but still!) The job is now done and the paper accepted. Looking forward to share it soon.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 03/02/2025

In a world that suddenly has become more unstable and uncertain, it can be tempting to give in to hopelessness and cynicism. But perhaps there is still something to be learned, from the psychology of hope? The world doesn't *have to be* a zero-sum game, although it is fully possible to make it so.

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Oleg Urminsky @olegurminsky.bsky.social · 02/02/2025

It seems like every society needs to painfully re-learn, every 50-100 years or so, that good things are fragile and easily taken for granted and a fun dip into smashing stuff to shake up the system can turn out to be truly terrible, unlocking all kinds of barely hidden demons.

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Thomas Talhelm @thomastalhelm.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

New data available! Relational mobility across hundreds of prefectures in China using nationally representative survey data. psycnet.apa.org/record/2025-...

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 31/01/2025

1/3 We are hiring in AI! 🔥 Tenured position as Professor in Information Technology and AI, in Bergen at NHH - Norwegian School of Economics, Dep. of Strategy and Management. A rare combination: Job safety; academic freedom; high living standards; and a supportive & ambitious research environment.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 29/01/2025

Really cool work on sustainable consumer behavior from behavioral economics, by Thomas de Haan & Magnus Knutsen, focusing on how we can incentivize *firms* to reduce negative externalities. Forthcoming in Management Science. Check it out 👇

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 28/01/2025

Help needed: After the recent criticism that the Dunning-Kruger effect is "mostly a statistical artifact", I have a vague memory of a well-informed response, arguing (and showing with data) how the effect is still meaningful even when taking method limitations into account. Which paper/blog?

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 26/01/2025

Interesting thread on a new paper, suggesting that low-level perception (like context-dependent judgment of line length) does not seem to be culturally specific for WEIRD societies. "Does culture create the Müller-Lyer illusion?" "We think: "Probably not". Here's a visual summary of our argument."

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Dan Quintana @dsquintana.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

Re-boosting two recently announced permanent positions in our department at the University of Oslo ⬇️ Associate Professor - Artificial Intelligence in Psychology www.jobbnorge.no/en/available... Associate Professor - Developmental Psychology www.jobbnorge.no/en/available...

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 23/01/2025

New paper reports an interesting lab experiment on the role of honesty in leadership: Dishonest leaders may be less *effective* in the leader role than honest leaders, because honest followers respond to dishonest leaders by being less compliant & cooperative. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Experimental Philosophy @xphilosopher.bsky.social · 09/01/2025

Our new paper on why people love sad art The key question: You probably wouldn’t enjoy it if someone started telling you about how she is addicted to drugs and her life is failing apart. So why do you love it when she creates a work of art about that very same thing? osf.io/preprints/ps...

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 21/01/2025

Knowledge and climate behavior: I recently read the abstract of a paper from political science, based on a large experiment finding no effect of an information-based knowledge intervention on climate-related behavior change (although it improved climate knowledge). Do you happen to know the ref?

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

Ny kronikk om norsk forskningspolitikk i 50-årsperspektiv: 2025 bør markere starten på en storsatsing på våre beste fagmiljøer - ikke nedbygging av kunnskapssektoren, og et selvsentrert norskkrav som gjør det vanskeligere å tiltrekke seg internasjonale forskertalenter. www.khrono.no/det-er-pa-ti...

khrono.no

Det er på tide å heve ambisjonsnivået for Norge som kunnskapsnasjon

Norge har tjent seg rik på oljen, men bruker minst i Norden på forskning og utvikling. 2025 bør derfor markere starten på en storsatsing på våre beste fagmiljøer. Hadde ikke det vært noe?

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 19/01/2025

khrono.no

Det er på tide å heve ambisjonsnivået for Norge som kunnskapsnasjon

Norge har tjent seg rik på oljen, men bruker minst i Norden på forskning og utvikling. 2025 bør derfor markere starten på en storsatsing på våre beste fagmiljøer. Hadde ikke det vært noe?

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

To bridge divides, most people think facts are the key. But that’s wrong. Personal experiences are more powerful. We interview @kurtjgray.bsky.social about his new book "Outraged: Why We Fight About Morality and Politics and How to Find Common Ground": www.powerofusnewsletter.com/p/outraged-w...

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Reposted by Hallgeir Sjåstad

Kaitlyn M. Werner, PhD @kaitlynmwerner.bsky.social · 14/01/2025

Thrilled to finally have this paper officially out! Across eight samples (n=2k+), we find that having a larger strategy repertoire can benefit goal attainment. We also discuss challenges with measuring repertoire and flexibility more broadly. w/ Raymond Wu, J. Gross, @malfrie.bsky.social #AffectSci

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 05/01/2025

A nice illustration of territorial thinking, in two different kinds of animals.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 04/01/2025

Quite rare, actually: Winter in Bergen.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 25/12/2024

I wish all my friends and colleagues a peaceful winter holiday, in this final week of the year. Merry Christmas to those who celebrate! 🎄 Take care of yourself and the people in your life, and best of luck with everything that awaits on the other side, in the new year of 2025.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 16/12/2024

In my psychology intro course, I have talked about the low predictive power of unstructured job interviews. Even made fun of them. I recently interviewed students for TA positions. One of them noted: "How interesting to be invited for an *interview* by *you*, who do not believe in interviews." :)

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Jay Van Bavel, PhD @jayvanbavel.bsky.social · 14/12/2024

Dear academics We could dramatically reduce our administrative workload if we all just agreed not to ask for reference letters until we made our list of finalists. This is massive collective action problem has already been solved by… *checks notes* …every other industry on earth.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

Interesting thread, suggesting there is both a correlational and causal link between economic inequality and social unrest 👇

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Peter Hull @instrumenthull.bsky.social · 15/12/2024

We've significantly updated our paper on modeling + measuring systemic discrimination! Check it out: www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/ab5yx... (cc @aleximas.bsky.social + @aislinnbohren.bsky.social!) A short 🧵 on what's new...

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 12/12/2024

Bergen last night. Clear water, foggy sky. A feeling of December in the streets.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 08/12/2024

Pronin & Kugler (2010) found: People evaluated their own decisions & life events as less predictable than similar decisions & life events of others, presumably reflecting higher self-centered free will attribution. A replication team paper I played a small part in just published: Mostly successful.

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Hallgeir Sjåstad @hallgeirsjastad.bsky.social · 30/11/2024

Great thread (scroll upwards). Expanding the scope from the recent prospect theory paper to a broader set of questions regarding contextual effects in behavioral economics and decision-making research (JDM).

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William J. Brady @williambrady.bsky.social · 28/11/2024

New paper out in @ScienceMagazine! In 8 studies (multiple platforms, methods, time periods) we find: misinformation evokes more outrage than trustworthy news, when it does it's shared more + ppl are less likely to read before sharing. w/ @killianmcl1 @Klonick @mollycrockett 🧵👇

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