Clarkson University Professor of Psychology Dr. Lisa Legault will present the 2024 Institute for a Sustainable Environment (ISE) Keynote Lecture on Thursday, January 25 at 3 p.m. in the Student Center Multipurpose Rooms on Clarkson’s Collins Hill Campus and via Zoom. A reception will follow.
The title of her talk is “Using Motivation Science to Help the Environment, Promote Health, and Foster Diversity.” In this keynote lecture, Legault will explore strategies to motivate and persuade people to adopt healthier, more prosocial, and more environmentally sustainable decisions and behaviors.
Human motivation refers to the forces that influence the initiation, direction, and persistence of human behavior. Research suggests that the “right kind” of motivation is essential for optimal engagement, behavioral control, and behavior change. Using original data from various experimental methodologies and thousands of participants from many countries, she will compare helpful and harmful motivational strategies across a broad range of behavioral domains – including environmental habits, energy transition decisions, infectious disease prevention, psychological well-being, egalitarianism, and antiracism.
Legault is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Clarkson University. She received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2009. She was a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow in the Toronto Laboratory for Social Neuroscience at the University of Toronto before coming to Clarkson in 2012.
Legault’s award-winning research examines the role of motivation in positive social behavior, including prejudice reduction and pro-environmental behavior. She has published her findings in high-impact journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Psychological Science. She is the Executive Editor of the Journal of Social Psychology.
The ISE Clarkson Keynote Lecture Series celebrates the achievements of the Clarkson faculty. Clarkson faculty are invited to deliver keynote and plenary lectures at conferences across the world. The ISE Clarkson Keynote Lecture Series honorees deliver these lectures to us at home, with modifications for a broader audience.
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The Institute for a Sustainable Environment presents
2024 ISE Clarkson Keynote Distinguished Lecture
Thursday, January 25 at 3 pm
Student Center Multipurpose Rooms on the Collins Hill Campus
Using Motivation Science to Help the Environment, Promote Health, and Foster Diversity
By Lisa Legault, PhD
Associate Professor of Psychology
Clarkson University
Abstract:
Human motivation refers to the forces that influence human behavior’s initiation, direction, and persistence. Research suggests that the “right kind” of motivation is essential for optimal engagement, behavioral control, and behavior change. In this keynote lecture, I explore strategies to motivate and persuade people to adopt healthier, prosocial, and environmentally sustainable decisions and behaviors. I will examine ways to target and promote high-quality motivation using intensive interventions as well as brief communications and messages. Using original data from various experimental methodologies and thousands of participants from many countries, I will compare helpful and harmful motivational strategies across a broad range of behavioral domains – including environmental habits, energy transition decisions, infectious disease prevention, psychological well-being, egalitarianism, and antiracism. As a whole, this body of work provides a wide-reaching and consistent pattern of evidence in favor of interventions, messages, and policies that promote human agency and empathy over those that use threat, control, or coercion.
Brief Bio
Lisa Legault is an Associate Professor of Psychology at Clarkson University. She received her PhD in Psychology from the University of Ottawa in 2009. She was a Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada Postdoctoral Fellow in the Toronto Laboratory for Social Neuroscience at the University of Toronto before coming to Clarkson in 2012. Her award-winning research examines the role of motivation in positive social behavior, including prejudice reduction and pro-environmental behavior. She has published her findings in high-impact journals such as Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences and Psychological Science. She is the Executive Editor of the Journal of Social Psychology.