Elke Weber receives BBVA Frontiers of Knowledge Award

Cognitive psychologist Elke Weber has been awarded a Frontiers of Knowledge Award in humanities and social sciences from the BBVA Foundation.

Weber, the Gerhard R. Andlinger Professor of Energy and the Environment and professor of psychology and public affairs, was recognized “for her research on environmental decision-making and the factors that motivate action against climate change,” the foundation said.

In the citation for the award, Weber was commended for her role as an influential policy adviser and for “her ability to draw on insights from a wide range of disciplines, and to use them to put her ideas into consequential action that will be of benefit to the whole world.”

Weber studies how people interpret risk and make decisions under uncertainty, often in the context of climate and environmental policy. Motivated to understand why people do not always make wholly rational choices — choices grounded in data alone — her work has shown that people often consult their emotions or other factors like social norms to arrive at a decision. Weber has also found that people often struggle to act when the costs of doing so are immediate, but the anticipated benefits are significantly delayed.

“Climate change is, in some sense, a perfect storm,” Weber told the BBVA. “All the things that make behavior difficult in other situations, like not eating right or not saving enough for our retirement, are there with climate change.”