The Department of Sustainability and Behavior Change focuses on the question of how our environment needs to be designed to systematically strengthen pro-environmental behavior. To this end, we develop and utilize methods that allow us to examine pro-environmental behavior under controlled conditions (e.g., in the laboratory). Within this approach, we vary potentially relevant environmental factors to analyze how these influence pro-environmental behavior. For example, we can investigate whether people are more likely to behave in an pro-environmental manner when they are being observed by others, when the behavior has a greater impact on the environment, or when the behavior leads to additional benefits. We can also use this method to test potential interventions for promoting pro-environmental behavior in a standardized context.

Through field studies, we translate the insights gained in this way into everyday life. For example, in restaurant settings, we have introduced and evaluated measures to promote the choice of vegetarian dishes or the avoidance of plastic products. In other field experiments, we have focused on reducing energy consumption in private households and promoting pro-environmental behavior in private gardens. In these projects, we often collaborate with researchers from other disciplines and partners from the field.

Development of behavioral paradigms for the analysis of pro-environmental behavior

Lange, F., & Rieger, A. (2025). A minute can only be spent once: Validating a behavioral paradigm to study societally relevant time allocation conflicts. Behavior Research Methods, 57, 246.

Lange, F. (2023). Behavioral paradigms for studying pro-environmental behavior: A systematic review. Behavior Research Methods, 55, 600-622.

Lange, F. & Dewitte, S. (2022). The Work for Environmental Protection Task: A consequential web-based procedure for studying pro-environmental behavior. Behavior Research Methods, 54, 133-145.

Lange, F., Steinke, A., & Dewitte, S. (2018). The Pro-Environmental Behavior Task: A laboratory measure of actual pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 56, 46-54.

Determinants of pro-environmental behavior

Kusch, S., Krebs, R., & Lange, F. (2025). Value through cognitive effort: Working for an environmental organization increases subsequent donations. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 107, 102771.

Lange, F., & Dewitte, S. (2023). Validity and scope sensitivity of the Work for Environmental Protection Task. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 86, 101967.

Lange, F., & Truyens, M. (2022). Mixed evidence for the effect of virtual nature exposure on effortful pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 81, 101803.

Lange, F., & Dewitte, S. (2020). Positive Affect and Pro-environmental Behavior: A preregistered experiment. Journal of Economic Psychology, 80, 102291.

Lange, F., Brick, C., & Dewitte, S. (2020). Green when seen? No support for an effect of observability on environmental conservation in the laboratory: a registered report. Royal Society Open Science, 7, 190189.

Interventions for the promotion of pro-environmental behavior (laboratory, online)

Lipinski, P. A., Kunkle, S., & Lange, F. (2025). Effects of Financial Incentives on Pro-Environmental Behavior Before and After Incentive Discontinuation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 105, 102638.

Kroker, V., & Lange, F. (2024). Financial and prosocial incentives promote pro-environmental behavior in a consequential laboratory task. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 102331.

Lange, F., & Dewitte, S. (2023). Non-monetary reinforcement effects on pro-environmental behavior. Journal of Economic Psychology, 97, 102628.

Wenzel, M., Rowland, Z., Nielsen, K. S., & Lange, F. (2023). The impact of perceived threat and perceived coping efficacy on individual actions toward biodiversity conservation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 88, 102038.

Interventions for the promotion of pro-environmental behavior (field)

Lange, F., Van Asbroeck, R., Van Baelen, D., & Dewitte, S. (2024). For cash, the planet, or for both: Evaluating an informational intervention for energy consumption reduction. Energy Policy, 194, 114314.

Sochnikoff, I. & Lange, F. (2024). How to promote mobile phone recovery? Evaluation of a collection campaign in Belgian schools. Cleaner and Responsible Consumption, 15, 100231.

Lange, F., Cnudde, M., & Maesen, H. (2023). Using prosocial incentives to promote vegetarian food choices: a field experiment. Food Quality and Preference, 106, 104812.

Lange, F., Hermans, Z., De Koster, J., & Smismans, R. (2022). Promoting pro-environmental gardening practices: Field experimental evidence for the effectiveness of biospheric appeals. Urban Forestry & Urban Greening, 70, 127544.

Lange, F., De Weerdt, L., & Verlinden, L. (2021). Reducing Plastic Bag Use Through Prosocial Incentives. Sustainability, 13, 2421.

Perspectives on environmental psychology

Lange, F. (2024). What is measured in pro-environmental behavior research? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 98, 102381.

Nielsen, K. S., Cologna, V., Bauer, J. M., Berger, S., Brick, C., Dietz, T., Hahnel, U. J. J., Henn, L., Lange, F., Stern, P. C., & Wolske, K. S. (2024). Realizing the full potential of behavioural science for climate change mitigation. Nature Climate Change, 14, 322-330.

Lange, F., Berger, S., Byrka, K., Brügger, A., Henn, L., Sparks, A. C., ... & Urban, J. (2023). Beyond self-reports: A call for more behavior in environmental psychology. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 86, 101965.

Wille, F., & Lange, F. (2022). Potential Contributions of Behavior Analysis to Research on Pro-environmental Behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 13, 685621.

Lange, F., & Dewitte, S. (2019). Measuring pro-environmental behavior: Review and recommendations. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 63, 92-100.