Steph Zawadzki
NMMC News:
ESPAÑOLA — People often feel helpless to make a difference in large-scale issues such as climate change.
Yet according to Steph Zawadzki, MSc, assistant professor of psychology in Northern New Mexico College’s Arts & Human Sciences Department, available data suggests that the residential sector accounts for one fifth of all energy use for the entire grid. That means that simple actions to reduce energy usage in our homes can have a sizable impact on our environment. Zawadzki is the lead researcher on a groundbreaking new study that reveals that people who believe their actions can make a difference are more likely to make energy-saving choices at home.
“People are the heart of the energy system. Understanding everyday people’s interactions with and beliefs about the energy system is critical if we want to be able to successfully transition to a more sustainable, climate-friendly system,” Zawadzki said. “We can’t successfully transition the energy system to be more sustainable if we don’t account for the preferences, desires and actions of the people who live in that system.”
With those facts in mind, Zawadzki and her colleagues set out to identify which factors are most predictive of home energy consumption and saving behaviors. She and her team undertook the most comprehensive analysis of people’s sentiments toward household energy savings to date. Their research, titled “A meta-analytic review of why people save energy at home,” was published Oct. 10 in the peer reviewed Cell Press Journal “Cell Reports Sustainability” (https://www.cell.com/cell-reports-sustainability/fulltext/S2949-7906(25)00189-2).
The work on the meta-analysis began in 2017, with a focus on bringing all the interdisciplinary knowledge in the field together in one place. The team sorted and read more than 10,000 papers on why people save energy at home. The final sample of the analysis included research from more than 100 papers, which represented over 430,000 participants from six continents and more than 860 findings. The researchers considered 26 psychological and sociodemographic factors to assess their impact on people’s behavior.
Their goal was to create a tool for guiding future research and evidence-based policymaking.
The study had some surprising findings. Demographics such as education level, gender or age had little impact. Knowing the facts about how to save energy was not a motivating factor without the emotional buy in to power change. What really incentivized people to adopt energy-saving behaviors was a feeling that what they did made a difference and a desire to do the right thing for the environment.
Others were motivated to save energy if they thought others expected that of them. Those who practice other green behaviors, such as recycling and using public transit, were also more likely to practice energy saving.
The conclusion the researchers drew is that motivating people to change their energy consumption involves convincing them that small, day-to-day actions make a difference.
Too many people think in terms of large, expensive purchases, like buying an electric vehicle or an energy efficient washer and dryer. Those one-time purchases can be incentivized by financial enticements, but many people cannot afford them. How people use their washer and dryer on a daily basis may be just as important and requires a more profound psychological shift.
These small changes can be so important that the study also found that researchers in technical, economic and policy disciplines are starting to pay attention to why people save energy at home.
“We believe this increased interdisciplinary interest shows that there is a growing recognition that the public is really important in the sustainable energy transition – we’re not going to make it unless we get people on-board,” Zawadzki said. “Without people, there’s no one to supply energy to, there’s no changing zoning policies in rural communities to allow for windmills, there are no constituents to support politicians who push for climate-friendly projects or policies.”
The report has garnered world-wide interest. The results have been covered in scientific media outlets all over the world and translated into several languages. Zawadzki hopes that policymakers will utilize the report to devise effective campaigns to reduce home energy consumption.
“Policy making and public programs are too costly and the stakes are too high to be based on guesswork. What we offer is solid evidence that points to what is more likely to be effective,” Zawadzki said. “By targeting psychological factors that have a strong relationship with energy saving behavior – like feelings of agency, attitudes about saving energy and personal moral feelings about energy saving – decision-makers increase the likelihood that their programs will work.”
Zawadzki believes that the most effective programs will be designed to evoke positive feelings about energy-saving practices
“The vast majority of people, regardless of their backgrounds, generally want to do the right thing,” Zawadzki said. “We’re not trying to change hearts and minds but activate feelings people already have.”