A person on a bicycle is by far the most energy-efficient among animals and machines per distance traveled relative to body weight. The bicycle is magic. www.jstor.org/stable/24923...

💻 Laptops are great, but not during class. 💻 Laptops are the standard in classrooms. This needs to change. New meta-analysis of 24 experiments shows that handwriting will lead to higher grades for students. So this 2017 NYTimes op-ed by @dynarski.bsky.social is even truer today.

📣 Working from home results in lower performance ratings📣 Managers give lower performance ratings to teleworkers than to office workers, even when holding performance constant. Female teleworkers face an even greater disadvantage.

📣 New article in Government Information Quarterly 📣 OPEN ACCESS. Governments try to adopt new digital technologies. However, there was no reliable way to measure how public leaders are directing such transformations. We therefore validated a Digital Transformation Leadership scale.

Important paper: “we uncover an asymmetric bias: for the same protest actions, overall support levels in the population are higher for environment-critical protesters than for pro-environment protesters.“ “This asymmetric bias is […] especially pronounced among right-leaning individuals”

🚨 How do you survive the wicked world of academia? 🚨 I'm collecting the best tips for a talk. Here's my initial list. What advice do you have for your fellow academics? Share yours below! 👇 As the Beatles said, we can all get by with a little help from our friends.

Dear fellow academics, a question: What’s one tip you’d give early-career scholars? I’m collecting them for a talk next week: “Surviving in the Wicked World of Academia.”

Many people try to motivate others by adding pressure. More complaining. More rules. More micromanagement. But we can begin elsewhere: by respecting people’s need for autonomy, competence, and connection. Upcoming talk on “subtle motivators” at Lingnan University, Hong Kong.

Does stereotyping stir emotions for public service employees? Yes! And coping behavior depends on their emotions. Example: anger is related to confronting citizens. Read more in our latest article with @neosheeling.bsky.social in @pmreview.bsky.social . www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10....

🚨 Course PhD students interested in Behavioral Science, Public Policy & Public Administration 🚨 This November (10–12), I will be teaching a PhD course on Behavioral Science & Public Policy at Utrecht University. 📚 3 ECTS | 📍 Utrecht University | 🗓 Nov 10–12

So honored to be selected as the 2025 @aompnp.bsky.social Best Dissertation Award winner! HUGE thanks to @tummers.bsky.social & Stephan Grimmelikhuijsen, Gabriela Szydlowski, Isa Bertram, Noor de Boer & Robin Bouwman & to the amazing committee chair, @schwoererskayla.bsky.social!

"Talent gaat naar adviesbureaus en worden vervolgens weer ingehuurd. Ik vraag me af of de overheid daarmee beter af is.’" Interview in Binnenlands Bestuur over waarom jonge ambtenaren massaal de overheid verlaten. O.b.v. onderzoek onder 551 jonge ambtenaren en 115 gemeentesecretarissen.

I'm going to talk today about how organizations and others manipulate you in their best interest, not yours. #influence #manipulation

💸 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐄𝐧𝐨𝐮𝐠𝐡 𝐨𝐫 𝐃𝐨𝐧'𝐭 𝐏𝐚𝐲 𝐚𝐭 𝐀𝐥𝐥 💸 Economists believe money improves performance. Psychologists argue that it's detrimental to performance. 🤔 In this classic paper, Gneezy & Rustichini show: 💰 Paid enough = better performance 💸 Paid little = worse performance than paying nothing.

Looking forward to presenting on public #leadership today at City University of Hong Kong, based on the book by Paul 't Hart and me.

Controlling leaders aren't helping employees. Instead, providing employees with autonomy increases their well-being and makes them more pro-social. Autonomy is a basic psychological need. Great leaders know it and act on it.

🎓 Vacature Hoogleraar 🎓 We zoeken een hoogleraar organisatieontwikkeling en leiderschap voor maatschappelijke transities. @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social 🔍 Onderzoek | 🎓 Onderwijs | 🤝 Leidinggeven | 🌍 Impact 🔁 Delen = fijn! #vacature #hoogleraar #leiderschap

The Public Management Research Association (PMRA) is pleased to formally announce the election of new members to its Board of Directors. We extend our warmest congratulations to the newly elected board member, Lars Tummers, and express our appreciation for his willingness to serve.

A dumber smartphone makes you smarter—and happier. Instead of browsing on their phone, people spent time socializing, exercising, and enjoying nature. They could also focus better. Not just correlation. Causal evidence. 📖 Source: academic.oup.com/pnasnexus/ar...

🚨 Are bureaucrats being judged unfairly? Today, Isa Bertram will defend her PhD on stereotypes about civil servants. She shows: ❌ We have negative stereotypes about bureaucrats ❓ Such stereotypes affect our experience with bureaucrats, no matter how good the service is. 📷 Photos Jan Banning.

📢 Promotie "Gezichten van de Bureaucratie" Maandag verdedigt Isa Bertram haar proefschrift over stereotypen over ambtenaren. 🎓 Iedereen heeft wel een mening over ambtenaren – en vaak geen positieve. Ambtenaren vinden we saai, inflexibel en ze ook nog vroeg naar huis. 📷 Foto's Jan Banning.

Het kabinet will 22 procent bezuinigen op de rijksoverheid. De rijksoverheid groeide de afgelopen jaren met ruim 39 duizend voltijdbanen, ofwel 35 procent in 9 jaar tijd. Discussie bij EenVandaag over de groei van de overheid. www.nporadio1.nl/fragmenten/e...

Giving employees autonomy can be great. But sometimes, it backfires. In a natural experiment, we found: ⚡ In calm times, empowering leadership energizes employees. 🔥 During an intense crisis, empowering leadership drains them. @pmreview.bsky.social @henricovanroekel.bsky.social

💸 Paying people to #vaccinate sounds smart... but it didn’t work. 🚫 No effect on vaccination rates. 🏠 Worse: people at the same address (who didn’t get paid) were less likely to get boosted. ⚠️ Incentives can backfire. #BehavioralScience jamanetwork.com/journals/jam... @sebjilke.bsky.social

We love to think empowering #leadership is always a good thing. But sometimes, it’s not. 🤔 In a natural experiment we found: ⚡ In calm times, empowering leadership fuels energy. 🔥 But during a crisis, it drains employees. During a crisis, leaders need to step up, not step back.

Does empowering leadership help in a crisis? Not always... 🤔 In our new publication in @pmreview.bsky.social we put this leadership approach to the test in a real-world crisis! Read the study here (OA): www.tandfonline.com/doi/full/10.... @tummers.bsky.social @utrechtuniversity.bsky.social

Ontvang jij ook teveel email? 📧📧📧📧📧📧 Artikel In @fd.nl over overvolle inboxen. "Linda Stone, voormalig manager bij Microsoft, ontdekte dat ze niet meer normaal ademhaalde zodra ze haar mailbox opende. Ze doopte dit fenomeen "email apnea."

Sollicitanten die in hun brief aanstippen dat ze een beperking hebben, zien hun kans om uitgenodigd te worden met 35 tot 41 procent slinken. Interview voor @bnr.nl, vanaf 5:50. Op basis van ons artikel voor @nrc.nl. www.bnr.nl/podcast/werk...

Zodra je zegt dat je een beperking hebt, sta je 1-0 achter. We schreven er een opiniestuk over in de NRC. In een van de studies zagen we dat sollicitanten die in hun brief aanstipten dat ze een beperking hebben, hun kans om uitgenodigd te worden met 35 procent zagen slinken.

Mensen met een beperking worden gediscrimineerd. We schreven er een opiniestuk over dat vandaag in @nrc.nl staat. Twee miljoen mensen in Nederland. Daar hebben we het over. Zó veel mensen met een beperking zetten wij op achterstand. #inclusie #discriminatie

How to boost happiness when you don't have a lot of money: "A $5 Amazon gift card on a random Tuesday” was the happiness equivalent of a $50 Amazon gift card on a birthday". 12 do's and dont's to become a better gift-giver, WaPo. www.washingtonpost.com/wellness/202...

Gift cards or real gifts? Many organizations give gift cards. 🤔 Think a gift card is the best option? Some scientists say otherwise— a real gift can be welfare-enhancing, especially long-term. 🎁✨ What works for you? #christmas #gifts #economics #influence Via @koenfucius.bsky.social

Investeren in onderwijs rendeert. 📈 +1 jaar opleidingsniveau = +5-10% groei in het bruto binnenlands product. 💡 Bezuinigen op onderwijs is slecht voor onze welvaart. Opinie in FD: fd.nl/opinie/15374... @woinactie.bsky.social

"Time Theft" It’s a polite way of saying: “Stop wasting my time!” Classic cases of time theft include: ⏰ Pointless meetings 📧 Reply-all email chains 📑 Endless administrative burdens. Great paper by Dr. Laura Giurge & team: journals.sagepub.com/eprint/BVUYK... #TimeTheft

Stressed about money? It can hurt workers' productivity. In a new QJE study, paying low-income workers earlier boosted productivity by 7%. No worries about money ==> better productivity. academic.oup.com/qje/advance-...

Regression to the mean. Via @behscientist.bsky.social

🚨 New paper in @bppjournal.bsky.social 🚨 We show that positive stereotypes about public sector workers can improve the bureaucratic process. Most people bash bureaucrats, saying they are ‘lazy’ and even 'evil.' Maybe we should start approaching civil servants positively. 🧐 shorturl.at/hqdeB

A truly important piece of work that shows how government failure can lead to support for the radical right. By @catherinedevries.bsky.social and colleagues.

Want to be seen as a leader? Just start talking. It’s called the Babble Hypothesis—and a new, more robust study backs it up. The hypothesis holds for both men and women. 📢 The more you speak, the more likely you will emerge as a leader. www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

🚨 New article on bureaucrat bashing🚨 Civil servants are seen as lazy & inefficient. New study shows how negative media attention increases such stereotypes. More relevant than ever. @pmreview.bsky.social

"32% of PhD students are at risk of having or developing a common psychiatric disorder, especially depression. This estimate was significantly higher than those obtained in the comparison groups." Worth remembering. Be kind. #academicsky #mentalhealth www.sciencedirect.com/science/arti...

Academic journals are flocking to BSKY 🦋 JPART @jpart1991.bsky.social PMR @pmreview.bsky.social PA @journalpa.bsky.social JBPA @jbpa.bsky.social BPP @bppjournal.bsky.social Governance @govjournal.bsky.social NHB: @naturehumbehav.bsky.social & many others More to come, hopefully.

Op zoek naar wetenschappers van de Universiteit Utrecht? @dubnieuws.bsky.social heeft een starter pack gemaakt. go.bsky.app/5Xrh9xQ Met o.a. @beatricedegraaf.bsky.social @vukusiciva.bsky.social @ingridrobeyns.bsky.social @jeroenbosman.bsky.social @albertmeijer.bsky.social.

Academic exodus. A study of >400,000 scientists finds that many quit science within five years of authoring their first paper. Women were around 12% more likely than men to have left science. #science #academicsky www.nature.com/articles/d41...

Can social media platforms foster healthier democratic discourse? Scientists ran an experiment, adjusting exposure to polarizing posts. Result: Political hostility can be reduced by redesigning feed algorithms; downranking polarizing content. arxiv.org/abs/2411.14652 Author @tiziano.bsky.social

Out today in the UK: Our 'gateway drug' to behavioural science, named after the species identified in a toilet pot at Schiphol

The birds are becoming butterflies 🦋 Academics find a new home on Bluesky. www.science.org/content/arti... via @claesdevreese.bsky.social #bluesky #academia #academicsky

Bluesky for academics:

Unfollowing hyperpartisan influencers can reduce partisan animosity by 24%. It was a "structural intervention", changing people’s daily information diet for at least a year. osf.io/acbwg Authors: among else @steverathje.bsky.social @jayvanbavel.bsky.social