Elliot Aronson’s research while affiliated with University of California, Santa Cruz and other places

I have been doing experiments in social psychology for about 30 years—basic research, mostly in the laboratory, trying to figure out how to influence people, what motivates people to change under controlled laboratory conditions. My early experience convinced me that, in doing laboratory experiments, the most important difference between a successful experiment and an unsuccessful experiment is the attention to detail. The details of the experiment are extremely important. The way one creates an independent variable, the way one measures the dependent variable, the construction of a sensible scenario that engages the subject—the details are extraordinarily important.

The applied work described here work fits Kurt Lewin's definition of "action research." Specifically, the experiments involved intervening into a system in crisis with an independent variable aimed at reducing or resolving the crisis. Moreover, the intervention was a teachable procedure that the system could continue to use long after the experimenters had packed up their scientific gear and gone back to the university. In addition, the intervention was based on theory and data from prior laboratory experiments. But the extent to which prior theory and laboratory research was considered

The Arab Oil Embargo of 1973 first brought the energy crisis to the attention of the American public. The severity of the crisis increased throughout the 1970s, peaking in 1979 when a minor but sudden shortfall of fossil fuels made energy consumers acutely aware of the consequences of fluctuating supplies of foreign oil. Gasoline and heating oil prices rose precipitously, consumers hoarded oil products, and there were long lines and even occasional outbreaks of violence at service stations.

The author favors a laissez-faire, "circus tent" approach to theory building and testing. Accordingly; he believes that analysis and synthesis are each of great importance in the development of theory -and would not suggest that scholars focus on one or the other. Unfortunately; there are serious problems in the research process in social psychology that hinder synthesis. These include a slavish fascination with "fashion, " which results in a tendency to neglect solid research and interesting theories simply because they are more than 10 years old. Unless this tendency is corrected, advances will continue to be disjointed. Reasons for this state of affairs are discussed.

effects of desegregation / sanction by authority / equal-status contact / in pursuit of common goals jigsaw method / expert group / jigsaw group experiments in the classroom / self-esteem, liking school, and liking one another / academic performance some mechanisms underlying jigsaw / dissonance reduction / empathic role-taking / peer rewards and increased participation / attribution of success and failure / interaction among outcomes generalization of positive attitudes socialization in the Mexican-American family (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

We identify behavioral questions that arise with 4 kinds of policy interventions for energy efficiency in buildings: information, incentives, standards, and technological research and development. A general strategy is described for answering such questions by using 6 analytical methods: formal models, analysis of existing data, surveys, ethnographic methods, small-scale experimentation, and evaluation research. We evaluate each method for addressing each behavioral question in policy analyses. Peer Reviewed http://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/26718/1/0000268.pdf

Presents a social-psychological model of energy-use behavior that draws on behavioral and social research to explain influence processes and behavioral change related to energy conservation behavior. The model consists of 2 interacting sets of factors: psychological factors that refer to how information is processed by individual decision makers and positional factors that relate to characteristics of the decision makers' situations that support or constrain action. Suggestions for maximizing the effectiveness of informational appeals to conserve energy by convincing the consumer that a pay-off will result from the use of energy conserving devices are discussed. It is suggested that the adoption of a conservatory attitude is influenced by the vividness of the argument to conserve energy, the credibility of the source, the understanding and retention of the message, and the degree to which an individual is able and willing to install conservation devices in his/her home. Alternatives to informational appeals through mass media to encourage energy conservation are proposed. (47 ref) (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2012 APA, all rights reserved)

Studies evaluating incentive programs for residential energy efficiency are examined to assess the roles of the size and type of incentive and of nonfinancial aspects of the programs and to infer lessons for policy. Larger incentives are found to increase participation, but marketing and implementation may be more important than incentive size: participation varies tenfold between programs offering identical financial incentives, with more participation in programs operated by trusted organizations and aggressively marketed by word of mouth and other attention-getting methods. Preference for grants versus loans varies with income and other household characteristics. Low-income households can be reached by strong incentives if marketing and implementation are designed carefully.

In spite of high potential for saving energy in US buildings, adoption rates for residential conservation technologies have been low. Research in the social and behavioural sciences helps to explain these low adoption rates and suggests strategies for improving conservation delivery systems. The authors propose a social diffusion model as a useful conceptual framework for analysing the spread of conservation devices. This formulation stresses the importance of existing social networks, focusing on the transmission of vivid and personal information from credible sources and the modelling of the behaviour of trusted others. A review is presented of successful utility, government and community conservation programmes that address the complexities of human information processing and make special efforts to overcome structural barriers to participation by all energy consumers. Exemplary programmes are identified and a checklist is provided for use in conservation programme planning, implementation and evaluation.