Postdoc: Attitudes and Behavioural Change Towards Sustainable Health Care

We are looking for a 4-year postdoc in social psychology to join a new NWO-funded research project on attitudes and behavioural change towards more sustainable health care. The postdoc position is part of the CAREFREE (Creating A healthieR Environment for FutuRE patiEnts) project, funded by NWO. The project is led by Prof. dr. Frenk van Harreveld, Dr. Sanne de Wit and Dr. Jonas Dalege at the University of Amsterdam.

Are you exceptionally interested in the psychology of sustainable behaviour and how to promote it?

Is your ambition to develop into an independent sustainability researcher? The Department of Psychology of the Faculty of Behavioural and Social Sciences is hiring a 4 year postdoc.

Project summary

Dutch healthcare accounts for 6-8% of the national greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions. Surgery is considered a major source of hospital-induced environmental pollution as the operating room (OR) produces 20-33% of total hospital waste. The three largest contributors are anaesthetics, use of instruments and energy required for air

treatment (heating, ventilation, and air conditioning [HVAC] systems). Additionally, two tons of pharmaceutical residues are found yearly in Dutch water. Hospitals contribute significantly, as only few remove pharmaceuticals before discharging wastewater.

This research is aimed at generating behavioural change to move to circular and environmentally friendly practice within the operating theatre. Understanding the psychological factors underlying current less sustainable choices will have to be understood, after which interventions will have to be developed in tested both experimentally as well as in the field.

The project will be primarily quantitative in nature, but some more exploratory qualitative research will be incorporated as well. Specifically, during the first year of the CAREFREE project, the relevant nodes (beliefs, emotions, morals, social factors, habits, perceptions of control, etc.) will be determined through literature research and interviews and focus groups involving experts and stakeholders. We will create insight into the network, i.e., the way in which these nodes are related to each other. Input for such analysis will be surveys distributed via panels and hospital personnel. We will develop and test interventions that target key nodes in the network and test their effect on behaviour. In the final year we will monitor the durability of such effects while again holding interviews and focus groups with stakeholders to obtain feedback about the feasibility of the interventions.

The postdoc research

In order to generate behavioural change towards circular and environmentally friendly practice within the operating theatre, the present project consists of two steps.

Step 1: Identifying current behaviours, perceptions and attitudes of stakeholders towards the 4 major OR’s contributors. Our formalised model on properties of attitudinal dynamics and their relationship to behaviour will be applied, in which attitudes are networks consisting of responses (nodes) and interactions between them (e.g. Dalege et al., 2016; 2017; 2019). A systemic approach is most appropriate in the current context, given the complexity of the issue, where attitudes towards climate change, perceptions of risk, social norms, habits, responsibilities of citizens, public and private partners, financial considerations, etc. interact and such interactions change over time.

A primary aim is to shed light unto the dynamic interplay of such factors and how they relate to the variables or primary focus: the acceptance of sustainable alternatives and the willingness to adopt them.

Step 2: Based on the factors identified in step 1, interventions will be tested to modify these psychological factors and behavioural interventions will be developed and tested to promote sustainable behaviour in the OR. A similar approach has been used in previous research on bio-based polymers (Zwicker et al., 2020; 2021), COVID-19 (Chambon, Dalege et al., 2022; Chambon, Kammeraad et al., 2023) and is currently applied to sustainable textiles. In Step 2, the complex system of variables as described above is probed with an intervention and the effectiveness of such a probe over time is tested. Thus, we aim to develop an evidence-based set of empirically tried and tested tools that contribute to a transition towards a sustainable OR.

What are you going to do?

• Design and perform research that strives for scientific and societal impact, including online, laboratory, and ideally field studies;
• Communicate about your research in scientific conferences/journals and non-academic communities such as within hospitals and other project partners;
• Actively take part in meetings with partners in the CAREFREE project and lab meetings within the UvA department of psychology;
• Provide guidance for PhD students working on similar research projects;
• A small amount of research-related teaching (e.g. supervision) may be involved.

You will be based at the University of Amsterdam.

You are an independent and quantitatively oriented researcher with a strong interest in sustainable behaviour. You are excited about the challenge of investigating sustainable consumer behaviour inside and outside of the lab. You like to work in multidisciplinary contexts involving people from academic and non-academic backgrounds. You enjoy writing scientific papers and are successful in publishing.

Your experience and profile:

• PhD in Psychology or related discipline;
• Experience with R (statistical analysis);
• Willingness to achieve a high transparency of methods, materials, and data;
• Ideally some experience with empirical network methodology;
• Outstanding organizational skills, high conscientiousness, flexibility, and a collaborative attitude;
• Willingness and ability to learn and grow as a researcher;
• Excellent oral and written communication skills in English;
• Ideally speaking Dutch to connect with local stakeholders (optional).

The position concerns a (temporary) employment of 38 hours a week for a maximum term of 48 months. The initial employment is for one year. Following a positive assessment and barring altered circumstances, we intend to renew the contract to make four years total (the funding is secured). We will put together a curriculum which will also include the opportunity to attend training courses and both national and international events. For this position the University Job Classification profile “Onderzoeker 3” applies.

Depending on your experience, the minimum salary is €4.332 and the maximum salary is €5.929 gross per month based on a 38-hour working week, in keeping with salary scale 11, as per the Collective Labour Agreement of Dutch Universities.

We additionally offer an extensive package of secondary benefits, including 8% holiday allowance and a year-end bonus of 8.3%.

The UvA offers excellent possibilities for further professional development and education.

What else do we offer

• a position in which initiative and input are highly valued;
• an enthusiastic and warm team that is open to new colleagues. Apart from this postdoc position, the UvA CAREFREE team consists of three senior researchers, a PhD student and a research assistant (both vacancies);
• an inspiring academic and international working environment in the heart of Amsterdam.

The University of Amsterdam is the largest university in the Netherlands, with the broadest spectrum of degree programmes. It is an intellectual hub with 39,000 students, 6,000 employees and 3,000 doctoral students who are all committed to a culture of inquiring minds.

A challenging work environment with a variety of duties and ample scope for individual initiative and development within an inspiring organization. The social and behavioral sciences play a leading role in addressing the major societal challenges faced by the world, the Netherlands and Amsterdam, now and in the future.

Want to know more about our organisation? Read more about working at the University of Amsterdam.