... you are now halfway through your doctoral studies. How does it feel, and what is your research about?
– Thank you, it feels good! I had my midway seminar just before Christmas, which was rewarding. It was a good opportunity to summarize how the project has progressed so far and articulate my thoughts about the future. I study how people make decisions about their everyday travel in connection with experiencing major life events, such as moving, changing jobs, or having children. Our daily lives change to some extent during these events, which can in turn affect how we make decisions. In this context, I am investigating how habits, motivation, and, other psychological factors related to more car use reduction, are influenced.
What do you hope the research will contribute to?
– With today´s level of car use, several negative consequences follow, and a reduction is necessary for us to achieve the climate goals. My research contributes, among other things, to developing methods and strategies for this to happen so that decision-makers can select actions with scientific support.
Your first article has been published, what is it about?
– In the article, we present a framework for understanding and studying how people's decision-making is influenced by life events from a psychological perspective. A good theoretical understanding is often a prerequisite for gaining new knowledge, which can then become more practically useful. The article has a theoretical focus and is primarily aimed at other researchers. In future studies, we will build on our theoretical work, and I hope that other researchers will also find it useful.
What's next?
– This spring, I will be teaching within a new Master's program in Psychology, and concurrently, I will complete the second article in my dissertation project. I am lolling forward to what comes next.
