What can make us more thoughtful?

How can you increase the willingness to help others in need or get people to change their behaviour to save the environment? These are some of the questions that Daniel Västfjäll wants to answer as a Wallenberg Scholar.

“I hope my research can help people make more effective everyday choices that are positive for their own and others’ well-being and that have a positive effect on the environment,” says Daniel Västfjäll. 

The world is facing a number of major crises in the form of climate change and wars with great suffering as a result. To make a better world, we need to change the way we behave.

However, experience shows that it is difficult to get people to change their habits completely. By understanding the psychology behind our decisions, Daniel wants instead to find measures to influence the behaviours we already have, to achieve a better result both for the environment and for our fellow human beings.

“Many people are already doing a lot for others and for the environment, but not in ways that are optimal from an efficiency perspective,” says Daniel Västfjäll. 

In his research, he will test a new approach by combining the latest social science methods at the intersection of economics and psychology. Basic laboratory experiments will be combined with large-scale studies of behavioural change in several countries. 

Daniel has long had a great interest in how emotions arise and affect us in everyday life, but also in how to help people make decisions. He has a PhD in both Acoustics and Psychology and has always worked in interdisciplinary contexts. The planned research is at the intersection of psychology, behavioural economics, statistics and neuroscience.