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All Outputs (27)

Applied Scenarios: Embedding Psychological Literacy in Assessment (2023)
Journal Article
Einav, S., Spence, A., Blackie, L. E., Cassidy, S., & Allen, H. A. (2023). Applied Scenarios: Embedding Psychological Literacy in Assessment. Psychology Learning and Teaching, https://doi.org/10.1177/14757257231209178

Psychological literacy refers to the ability of a psychology student to use psychological knowledge, rather than merely learn it, in the context of personal, social, and organizational issues. Embedding psychological literacy in assessment is a criti... Read More about Applied Scenarios: Embedding Psychological Literacy in Assessment.

Cost, context, or convenience? Exploring the social acceptance of demand response in the United Kingdom (2021)
Journal Article
Naghiyev, E., Shipman, R., Goulden, M., Gillott, M., & Spence, A. (2022). Cost, context, or convenience? Exploring the social acceptance of demand response in the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science, 87, Article 102469. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102469

The energy sector, and buildings in particular, are one of the main contributors to climate change. Demand-Side Management (DSM) has the potential to realise energy savings on the demand as well as the supply side. However, the domestic sector still... Read More about Cost, context, or convenience? Exploring the social acceptance of demand response in the United Kingdom.

The digital workplace and its dark side: An integrative review (2021)
Journal Article
Marsh, E., Vallejos, E. P., & Spence, A. (2022). The digital workplace and its dark side: An integrative review. Computers in Human Behavior, 128, Article 107118. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.chb.2021.107118

An intensification of digital working driven by Covid-19 has brought into sharp focus both the beneficial nature of digital workplace technologies and their potential dark side. Research has burgeoned in this area in recent years, but an integrated v... Read More about The digital workplace and its dark side: An integrative review.

Sustainability following adversity: Power outage experiences are related to greater energy saving intentions in the United Kingdom and Mexico (2021)
Journal Article
Spence, A., Leygue, C., & Ortega Andeane, P. (2021). Sustainability following adversity: Power outage experiences are related to greater energy saving intentions in the United Kingdom and Mexico. Energy Research and Social Science, 79, Article 102143. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102143

Concerns about climate change and energy security, and related behaviour may be impacted by experiences such as flooding and power outages and we consider that impacts may be different for individual and social actions. Our first study, using online... Read More about Sustainability following adversity: Power outage experiences are related to greater energy saving intentions in the United Kingdom and Mexico.

Dumber energy at home please: Perceptions of Smart Energy Technologies are dependent on home, workplace, or policy context in the United Kingdom (2021)
Journal Article
Spence, A., Leygue, C., Wickes, L., Withers, L., Goulden, M., & Wardman, J. K. (2021). Dumber energy at home please: Perceptions of Smart Energy Technologies are dependent on home, workplace, or policy context in the United Kingdom. Energy Research and Social Science, 75, Article 102021. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2021.102021

Smart energy technologies (SETs) are being developed around the world to support using energy more efficiently and to smooth our consumption over time, helping us to meet our carbon reduction targets. Notably, SETs will only be effective with support... Read More about Dumber energy at home please: Perceptions of Smart Energy Technologies are dependent on home, workplace, or policy context in the United Kingdom.

Digital energy visualisations in the workplace: the e-Genie tool (2017)
Journal Article
Spence, A., Goulden, M., Leygue, C., Banks, N., Bedwell, B. D., Jewell, M., …Ferguson, E. (in press). Digital energy visualisations in the workplace: the e-Genie tool. Building Research and Information, https://doi.org/10.1080/09613218.2018.1409569

Building management systems are designed for energy managers; there are few energy feedback systems designed to engage staff. A tool, known as e-Genie, was developed to engage workplace occupants with energy data and support them to take action to re... Read More about Digital energy visualisations in the workplace: the e-Genie tool.

Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK (2017)
Journal Article
Demski, C., Evensen, D., Pidgeon, N., & Spence, A. (2017). Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK. Energy Policy, 110, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2017.08.044

Much research has focused on the so-called ‘energy trilemma’ – i.e., three leading energy policy issues: energy security, affordability, and climate change mitigation. Whilst substantial understanding exists of why people support climate-friendly ene... Read More about Public prioritisation of energy affordability in the UK.

Saving energy in the workplace: why, and for whom? (2017)
Journal Article
Leygue, C., Ferguson, E., & Spence, A. (2017). Saving energy in the workplace: why, and for whom?. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 53, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.06.006

Saving energy at work might be considered altruistic, because often no personal benefits accrue. However, we consider the possibility that it can be a form of impure-altruism in that the individual experiences some rewards. We develop a scale to meas... Read More about Saving energy in the workplace: why, and for whom?.

Effects of exemplar scenarios on public preferences for energy futures using the my2050 scenario-building tool (2017)
Journal Article
Demski, C., Spence, A., & Pidgeon, N. (2017). Effects of exemplar scenarios on public preferences for energy futures using the my2050 scenario-building tool. Nature Energy, 2, https://doi.org/10.1038/nenergy.2017.27

Understanding which energy future configurations provide publicly acceptable levels of energy security, affordability, and environmental protection is critical for institutional decision-making. However, little is known about how scenarios influence... Read More about Effects of exemplar scenarios on public preferences for energy futures using the my2050 scenario-building tool.

Experience of extreme weather affects climate change mitigation and adaptation responses (2016)
Journal Article
Demski, C., Capstick, S., Pidgeon, N., Gennaro Sposato, R., & Spence, A. (2017). Experience of extreme weather affects climate change mitigation and adaptation responses. Climatic Change, 140(2), 149-164. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10584-016-1837-4

The winter of 2013/2014 saw a series of severe storms hit the UK, leading to widespread flooding, a major emergency response and extensive media exposure. Previous research indicates that experiencing extreme weather events has the potential to heigh... Read More about Experience of extreme weather affects climate change mitigation and adaptation responses.

Intervening to change behaviour and save energy in the workplace: a systematic review of available evidence (2016)
Journal Article
Staddon, S. C., Cycil, C., Goulden, M., Leygue, C., & Spence, A. (2016). Intervening to change behaviour and save energy in the workplace: a systematic review of available evidence. Energy Research and Social Science, 17, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2016.03.027

Workplaces worldwide are a major source of carbon emissions and changing energy use behaviour in these environments has the capacity for large carbon savings. This paper reviews and synthesises empirical evidence to identify what types of behaviour c... Read More about Intervening to change behaviour and save energy in the workplace: a systematic review of available evidence.

Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use (2015)
Journal Article
Goulden, M., & Spence, A. (2015). Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use. Energy Policy, 85, https://doi.org/10.1016/j.enpol.2015.06.014

This study analyses the role of the Facilities Manager [FM] as a key actor in organisational energy management. This builds on the idea that ‘middle’ agents in networks can be an important lever for socio-technical change. The study demonstrates the... Read More about Caught in the middle: the role of the facilities manager in organisational energy use.

Public perceptions of demand side management and a smarter energy future (2015)
Journal Article
Spence, A., Demski, C., Butler, C., Parkhill, K., & Pidgeon, N. (2015). Public perceptions of demand side management and a smarter energy future. Nature Climate Change, 5, 550–554. https://doi.org/10.1038/nclimate2610

Demand side management (DSM) is a key aspect of many future energy system scenarios1,2. DSM refers to a range of technologies and interventions designed to create greater efficiency and flexibility on the demand side of the energy system3. Examples i... Read More about Public perceptions of demand side management and a smarter energy future.

Creating a national citizen engagement process for energy policy (2014)
Journal Article
Parkhill, K., Butler, C., Demski, C., Pidgeon, N., Pidgeon, N., Demski, C., …Spence, A. (2014). Creating a national citizen engagement process for energy policy. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, 111(Supplement_4), 13606-13613. https://doi.org/10.1073/pnas.1317512111

This paper examines some of the science communication challenges involved when designing and conducting public deliberation processes on issues of national importance. We take as our illustrative case study a recent research project investigating pub... Read More about Creating a national citizen engagement process for energy policy.

Smart grids, smart users? The role of the user in demand side management (2014)
Journal Article
Goulden, M., Bedwell, B., RODDEN, T., Rennick-Egglestone, S., & Spence, A. (2014). Smart grids, smart users? The role of the user in demand side management. Energy Research and Social Science, 2, 21-29. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.erss.2014.04.008

Smart grids are a key feature of future energy scenarios, with the overarching goal of better aligning energy generation and demand. The work presented here considers the role of the user in such systems, and the contexts in which such roles might em... Read More about Smart grids, smart users? The role of the user in demand side management.

The psychological distance of climate change (2012)
Journal Article
Spence, A., Poortinga, W., & Pidgeon, N. (2012). The psychological distance of climate change. Risk Analysis, 32(6), https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1539-%C2%AD%E2%80%906924.2011.01695.x

Avoiding dangerous climate change is one of the most urgent social risk issues we face today and understanding related public perceptions is critical to engaging the public with the major societal transformations required in order to combat climate c... Read More about The psychological distance of climate change.

Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience (2011)
Journal Article
Spence, A., Poortinga, W., Butler, C., & Pidgeon, N. (2011). Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience. Nature Climate Change, 1(1),

One of the reasons that people may not take action to mitigate climate change is that they lack first-hand experience of its potential consequences. From this perspective, individuals who have direct experience of phenomena that may be linked to clim... Read More about Perceptions of climate change and willingness to save energy related to flood experience.

Framing and communicating climate change: the effects of distance and outcome frame manipulations (2010)
Journal Article
Spence, A., & Pidgeon, N. (2010). Framing and communicating climate change: the effects of distance and outcome frame manipulations. Global Environmental Change, 20(4), https://doi.org/10.1016/j.gloenvcha.2010.07.002

Communications regarding climate change are increasingly being utilised in order to encourage sustainable behaviour and the way that these are framed can significantly alter the impact that they have on the recipient. This experimental study seeks t... Read More about Framing and communicating climate change: the effects of distance and outcome frame manipulations.

Public perceptions of energy choices: the influence of beliefs about climate change and the environment (2010)
Journal Article
Spence, A., Poortinga, W., Pidgeon, N., & Lorenzoni, I. (2010). Public perceptions of energy choices: the influence of beliefs about climate change and the environment. Energy and Environment, 21(5), https://doi.org/10.1260/0958-305X.21.5.385

Past research has documented high levels of public concern for risks relating to nuclear power, with opposition to nuclear energy particularly being linked with general environmental concern. However recent UK energy policy, and other debates worldwi... Read More about Public perceptions of energy choices: the influence of beliefs about climate change and the environment.