Environmental Psychology Research Centre
The Environmental Psychology Research Centre (APTC) pioneers the development of environmental psychology in Lithuania and conducts systematic research in this area. APTC’s mission revolves around exploring and elucidating the relationship between people and their environment. Currently, the center is focusing on the following research topics: understanding interactions between people and the environment, identifying factors that lead to environmentally friendly behavior, developing and testing tools that facilitate environmentally friendly behavior, mitigating ecological and climate crises through behavioral change, revealing the connections between ecological crisis and mental health, among others. Additionally, APTC is prepared to undertake other public-relevant research in areas related to the topics mentioned above. The Centre actively engages in national and international research projects focused on environmentally friendly behavior, participates in global networking initiatives, offers expert consultancy and disseminates research findings through various media channels. In 2020, APTC members took a significant step forward by establishing the Environmental Psychology working group within the Lithuanian Psychological Association.
Audra Balundė, PhD
I’m the lead at the Environmental Psychology Research Centre and a senior researcher for several projects, including ENVICI, BIOTraCes and ENCORE. These projects explore pro-environmental behaviors and factors that drive them. For details, refer to the Project section. In addition to these, I’ve contributed to longitudinal studies like NAVIGATE and GOGREEN. Overall, I’ve participated in 8 research and networking projects. I recently earned my PhD from Mykolas Romeris and Groningen universities, where my research centered on environmental psychology. My academic work includes: 10 scientific articles, 2 book chapters, 4 applied research papers and policy recommendations. I’ve presented 49 times at both national and international conferences and have been featured in over 40 media discussions on topics such as eco-anxiety, pro-environmental behavior and environmental activism. I’m a member of several expert panels, both national and international. Additionally, I co-founded the Environmental Psychology Working Group with the Lithuanian Psychological Association. The group aims to inform the mental health community and beyond about eco-anxiety and to advocate for its recognition and action at the national level.
Prof. Rita Žukauskienė, PhD
I am a full Professor at the Institute of Psychology, at Mykolas Romeris University (MRU). Also, I am the Head of the Applied Psychology Research Laboratory at MRU. I acted as principal investigator in a number of large-scale longitudinal projects, including „Go Green: Understanding the psychological mechanisms of the development of pro-environmental behavior in the context of longitudinal intervention“ (GOGREEN) and “Empowering societal resilience by uncovering the mechanism of the link between ecological anxiety and environmentally friendly consumption (ENCORE). For the Selection of the references information is is available at http://rzukausk.home.mruni.eu/. I have co-authored over 65 scientific publications, 5 monographs, 5 book chapters, 3 textbooks, and 2 policy recommendations. I presented my work in over 60 international scientific conferences. According to the Google Scholar Citation Index, H-Index: 43; i10-Index: 28; scientific articles have been cited more than 8750 times.
Prof. Goda Kaniušonytė, PhD,
I am a researcher at the Environmental Psychology Research Cenre and Applied Psychology Research Laboratory, and a professor at the Institute of Psychology. I am a senior researcher in the research project BIOTraCes (see Projects section) investigating environmentally friendly behavior in the context of biodiversity. In total, I have carried out 6 large continuous scientific projects, in three of them I examined environmentally friendly behavior from developmental psychology perspective. I have co-authored 42 scientific publications, 2 book chapters, 1 handbook, 3 applied research papers and policy recommendations. I presented 89 times at both national and international scientific conferences. According to the Google Scholar Citation Index, H-Index: 14; i10-Index: 21; scientific articles have been cited more than 530 times.
Prof. Mykolas Simas Poškus, PhD
I am a researcher at the Environmental Psychology Research Centre and Applied Psychology Research Laboratory, and a professor at the Institute of Psychology. I am a senior researcher and project leader in the research project ENVICI (see Projects section). I study pro-environmental behavior and environmental citizenship as well as how to promote them through education and environmental interventions. According to the Google Scholar Citation Index, H-Index: 12; i10-Index: 14; scientific articles have been cited more than 700 times.
Aistė Bakaitytė, PhD,
I am a researcher at the Environmental Psychology Research Centre and the Applied Psychology Research Laboratory, a lecturer at the Institute of Psychology and a senior researcher in the scientific projects BIOTraCes and ENCORE that investigate environmentally friendly behavior, its factors and mental health challenges in the context of the ecological crisis (see Projects section). I was also a researcher in other longitudinal research projects, such as NAVIGATE and UNCOVABUSE. Alone and with co-authors, I have published 13 scientific papers, presented 16 times at both national and international conferences.
Aivaras Vijaikis, PhD candidate
I am a researcher at the Environmental Psychology Research Centre and Applied Psychology Research Laboratory. I am a junior researcher in the ENVICI project (see Projects section). My research focuses on the relationship between environmental citizenship, pro-environmental behavior, and subjective well-being.
2023
- Balundė, A., & Perlaviciute, G. (2023). Are we on the same page? Exploring the relationships between environmental values, self-identity, personal norms and behavior in parent-adolescent dyads. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 92, 102157. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2023.102157
- Poškus, M. S. (2023). Personality Trait Patterns Moderate the Simple Model of Environmental Citizenship. Behavioral sciences, 13(02), 1-16. doi:10.3390/bs13020159
2022
- Poškus, M. S. (2022). Toward the Development and Validation of a Model of Environmental Citizenship of Young Adults. Sustainability, 14(06), 1-15. https://doi.org/10.3390/su14063338
2021
- Poškus, M. S. (2021). An Evolutionary Approach Toward Pro-environmental Behavior. Evolutionary psychological science, 07(01), 1-7. https://doi.org/10.1007/s40806-020-00253-x
- Poškus, M. S., Balundė, A., Jovarauskaitė, L., Kaniušonytė, G., & Žukauskienė, R. (2021). The Effect of Potentially Groundwater-Contaminating Ecological Disaster on Adolescents’ Bottled Water Consumption and Perceived Risk to Use Tap Water. Sustainability, 13(11), 5811. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13115811
- Poškus, M. S., Jovarauskaitė, L., & Balundė, A. (2021). A Systematic Review of Drivers of Sustainable Wastewater Treatment Technology Adoption. Sustainability, 13(15), 8584. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13158584
- Truskauskaitė-Kunevičienė, I., Kaniušonytė, G., Poškus, M. S., Balundė, A., Gabė, V., Jovarauskaitė, L., & Özdemir, M. (2021). Reducing Bottled Water Use among Adolescents: A Factorial Experimental Approach to Testing the Components of the “Aquatic” Program. Sustainability, 13(12), 6758. https://doi.org/10.3390/su13126758
- Žukauskienė, R., Truskauskaitė-Kunevičienė, I., Gabė, V., & Kaniušonytė, G. (2021) “My Words Matter”: The Role of Adolescents in Changing Pro-environmental Habits in the Family. Environment and Behavior, 53(10). https://doi.org/10.1177/0013916520953150
2020
- Balundė, A., Jovarauskaitė, L., & Poškus, M. S. (2020). Exploring Adolescents’ Waste Prevention via Value-Identity-Personal norm and Comprehensive Action Determination Models. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 72, 101526. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2020.101526
- Balundė, A., Perlaviciute, G., & Truskauskaitė-Kunevičienė, I. (2020). Sustainability in Youth: Environmental Considerations in Adolescence and Their Relationship to Pro-Environmental Behavior. Frontiers in Psychology, 11, https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2020.582920
- Jovarauskaitė, L., Balundė, A., Truskauskaitė-Kunevičienė, I., Kaniušonytė, G., Žukauskienė, R., & Poškus, M. S. (2020). Toward reducing adolescents’ bottled water purchasing: from policy awareness to policy-congruent behavior. Sage Open. https://doi.org/10.1177%2F2158244020983299
- Poškus, M. S. (2020). Normative influence of pro-environmental intentions in adolescents with different personality types. Current psychology, 39(01), 263-276. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-017-9759-5
- Poškus, M. S. (2020). Why do Intelligent People Care More about the Environment? Psichologija, 62, 25-37. https://doi.org/10.15388/Psichol.2020.18
- Poškus, M. S., Pilkauskaitė Valickienė, R., & Kuzinas, A. (2020). Using Norm-Based PSAs to Foster Green Behavior in a University: Some Preliminary Results from Lithuania. Discourse and communication for sustainable education, 11(1), 106-118. DOI: 10.2478/dcse-2020-0010
- Matiiuk, Y., Poškus, M. S., & Liobikienė, G. (2020). The Implementation of Climate Change Policy in Post-Soviet Countries Achieving Long-Term Targets. Sustainability, 12(11), 1-25. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12114558
- Poškus, M. S. (2020). What Works for Whom? Investigating Adolescents’ Pro-Environmental Behaviors. Sustainability, 12(18), 1-21. https://doi.org/10.3390/su12187313
2019
- Balundė, A., Jovarauskaitė, L., & Poškus, M. S. (2019). Exploring the relationship between connectedness with nature, environmental identity, and environmental self-identity: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Sage Open, 9(2), 2158244019841925. https://doi.org/10.1177/2158244019841925
- Balundė, A., Perlaviciute, G., & Steg, L. (2019). The Relationship Between People’s Environmental Considerations and Pro-environmental Behavior in Lithuania. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 2319. https://doi.org/10.3389/fpsyg.2019.02319
- Liobikienė, G., & Poškus, M. S. (2019). The importance of environmental knowledge for private and public sphere pro-environmental behavior: modifying the Value-Belief-Norm theory. Sustainability, 11(12), 1-19. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11123324
- Poškus, M. S., Pilkauskaitė Valickienė, R., & Kuzinas, A. (2019). The effects of descriptive imagery and appeals on emotions and intentions related to pro-environmental behavior. Sustainability, 11(19SI), 1-20. https://doi.org/10.3390/su11195257
2018
- Poškus, M. S. (2018). Investigating pro-environmental behaviors of Lithuanian university students. Current psychology, 37(01), 225-233. https://doi.org/10.1007/s12144-016-9506-3
- Poškus, M. S. (2018). Personality and pro-environmental behaviour: Editorial. Journal of epidemiology and community health, 72(11), 969-970. http://dx.doi.org/10.1136/jech-2018-210483
- Poškus, M. S., Pilkauskaitė Valickienė, R., & Kuzinas, A. (2018). Making the right decision: subjective evaluation of pro-environmental public service announcements. Viešoji politika ir administravimas = Public policy and administration: mokslo darbai, 17(4), 619-633. DOI:10.13165/VPA-18-17-4-09
2017
- Poškus, M. S., & Žukauskienė, R. (2017). Predicting adolescents’ recycling behavior among different big five personality types. Journal of environmental psychology, 54(12), 57-64. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jenvp.2017.10.003
2016
- Poškus, M. S. (2016). Using social norms to encourage sustainable behaviour: a meta-analysis. Psichologija: mokslo darbai, 53, 44-58. doi:10.15388/Psichol.2016.53.10031
2015
- Poškus, M. S. (2015). Predicting recycling behavior by including moral norms into the theory of planned behavior. Psichologija: mokslo darbai, 52, 22-32. doi:10.15388/Psichol.2015.52.9330
- Poškus, M. S., & Sadauskaitė, R. (2015). Question order effects in sustainable behavior norm measurement: gender differences. Psichologija: mokslo darbai, 51, 58-67. doi:10.15388/Psichol.2015.51.8256
2022
- Eichhorn, A., Breitholz, M., Domcke, V., Hladky, J., Hopkins, D., Kreil, A., Sörlin, S., Torney, D., Brabante, C., Fejfar, A., Heffron, R., Manj, A., Poškus, M. S., Prodanova, J., & Vermang, B. (2022). Towards Climate Sustainability of the Academic System in Europe and beyond: ALLEA Report | May 2022. Berlin: ALLEA | All European Academies. doi:10.26356/clima-te-sust-acad
2021
- Balundė, A., Jovarauskaitė, L., Kaniušonytė, G., Žukauskienė, R., & Poškus, M. S. (2021). Paauglių aplinką tausojantis elgesys: rekomendacijos politikos formavimui Lietuvoje. Vilnius: Mykolas Romeris University. https://repository.mruni.eu/bitstream/handle/007/17539/2021_GoGreen%20projekto%20rekomenadcijos%20politikos%20formavimui.pdf?sequence=1
2020
- Balundė, A., Poškus, M. S., Jovarauskaitė, L., Sarid, A., Farangitakis, G., Knippels, M. C., Hadjichambis, A., & Hadjichambi, D. (2020). Values, beliefs, and environmental citizenship (Chapter 6). In Hadjichambis, A.C. et al (Eds.) Conceptualizing Environmental Citizenship for 21st Century Education. Springer. https://www.springer.com/gp/book/9783030202484
- Gericke, N., Huang, L., Boeve-de Pauw, J., Goldman, D., Balundė, A., Hadjichambis, A.C., Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, D., Vávra, J., Poškus, M.S., Teixeira, M.R. and Jørgensen, F.A., 2020. ENEC Report: New Research Paradigms & Metrics for Assessing Environmental Citizenship. https://enec-cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/10/Del.-5-Metrics_Report-Final.pdf
2019
- Hadjichambis, A. Ch., Paraskeva-Hadjichambi D., Reis, P., Knippels, M.C., Christodoulou A., Xhindi, N., Sokoli, E., Lapin, K., Leregger, F., Zoescher, J., Zabic, M., Gekic, H., Keranova, D., Manov, B., Sulc, I., Gasparovic, S., Sladonja, B., Poljuha, D., Balmon, T., Garnier, B., Kalaitzidaki, M., Farangitakis, G., Paschalidou, A. Sbarounis, T., Megyesi, B., Csizmady, A., Kovách, I., Ferencz, Z., Finger, D.C., Conti, D., Baglivo, L., Sartoretti, C., Minz, K., Weinstein, Z., Goldman, D., Sarid, A., Telešienė, A., Balžekienė, A., Balundė, A., Petrusic (Bilafer), I., Perunicic, S., Jovanovic, J., Lenhardt, M., Radovic, V., Djokic, V., Djordjevic, Z., Cujic, M., Kaputa, V., Paluš, H., Maťová, H., Šupín, M., Oset, Z., Kovič Dine, M., Parra Anguita, M.G., Delgado Jiménez, A., Romero Ariza, M., Oral, H.V., Erses Yay, A.S., Cermik, E. (2019). Education for Environmental Citizenship In Focus (in English). Lemesos, Cyprus: European Network for Environmental Citizenship – ENEC Cost Action. http://enec-cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EEC-in-Focus-English-Final.pdf This publication was also translated in to Lithuanian language by A., Telešienė, A., Balžekienė, A., Balundė, A., Jovarauskaitė, L.: http://enec-cost.eu/wp-content/uploads/2020/03/EEC-in-Focus-Lithuanian-Final.pdf
- Poškus, M. S., Balundė, A., & Jovarauskaitė, L. (2019). SWOT Analysis of Environmental Citizenship Education in Lithuania: Understanding the current situation of Environmental Citizenship education and its possible future directions and possibilities (Chapter 13). In Hadjichambis, A. Ch., Reis, P., & Paraskeva-Hadjichambi, D. ENEC Cost Action Report European SWOT Analysis on Education for Environmental Citizenship. Universidade de Lisboa, Instituto de Educação et al. http://eneccost.eu/dissemina_on/reports/
Title: Understanding the psychological mechanisms of the development of pro-environmental behavior in the context of longitudinal intervention (GOGREEN)
Project No.: 09.3.3-LMT-K-712-01-0017
Project implementation period: 2017-12-27 – 2021-06-26
About the project: http://gogreen.mruni.eu/
Project leader: prof. dr. Rita Žukauskienė
Title: Psychological Factors of Effective Public Service Announcements (ViSoRe)
Project No.: S-MIP-17-134
Project implementation period: 2017-11-02 – 2019-12-31
About the project: https://www.svietimonaujienos.lt/mru-psichologijos-mokslininkai-aiskinasi-kaip-veiksmingai-skatinti-tausoti-gamta/
Project leader: prof. dr. Rasa Vakickienė
Title: Psychological mechanisms of the development of environmental citizenship (ENVICI)
Project No.: S-MIP-21-60
Project implementation period: 2021-09-06 – 2024-09-01
About the project: http://envici.mruni.eu/
Project leader: prof. dr. Mykolas Simas Poškus
Title: Biodiversity and Transformative Change for Plural and Nature–Positive Societies (BIOTraCes)
Project No.: 101081923 (HORIZON-CL6-2022-BIODIV-01-09)
Project implementation period: 2022-12-01 – 2026-11
About the project: https://www.biotraces.eu/
Project leader in Lithuania: dr. Audra Balundė
Title: Empowering societal resilience by uncovering the mechanism of the link between ecological anxiety and environmentally friendly consumption (ENCORE)
Project No.: P-VIS-23-8-PATIKSLINTA
Project implementation period: 2023-09-01 – 2026-06-30
About the project: Project website
Project leader: prof. dr. Rita Žukauskienė