NWO grants for research on corona

Psychologist Prof. Arnold Bakker, together with dr. Juriena de Vries 'Self-nudging to foster employee physical activity while working from home'

This project investigates how employees can increase their own health behaviors (increase physical activity, reduce sitting) and, indirectly, their well-being and perormance, while working from home during the corona crisis. We propose that individuals may develop self-initiated nudges that facilitate their daily choice to be physically active. We evaluate the effect of a 4-week self-nudging intervention (in which employees learn to develop their own nudges) on physical activity, wellbeing, and work performance.

Sociologist  Prof. Darren McCauley, ‘Managing a just transition out of the Covid-19 crisis’

The transition from lockdown to normal life will impact unequally on different sections of society. There is an urgent need to understand how key public and private stakeholders frame these inequalities. Framing processes are central to managing the resolution of the crisis. We need to know how these frames develop in real time. We will conduct 60 interviews in total at two time points (June and August 2020) in the Netherlands and the UK.

Psychologist dr. Paraskevas Petrou,  ‘Employee self-regulation as a way to deal with the corona crisis at work’

To sustain their performance and well-being throughout the corona crisis, employees need to discover their own solutions, especially if they have to work away from their regular work environment. Via two survey studies (late April and early September 2020), the proposed research will examine whether self-initiated employee strategies, such as proactivity (e.g., asking for help or seeking learning opportunities), creativity, self-reflection, or mindfulness, help employees deal with the corona crisis successfully at work.

Sociologist Prof. Jeroen van der Waal, together with dr. Joost Oude Groeniger and dr. Willem de Koster, 'The effect of the Corona-crisis response measures on institutional trust'

Crucial information needed for an effective crisis response will be provided by: 1) examining the trend in institutional trust during the Corona-crisis on a day-to-day basis (March 2nd – March 30th), 2) estimating the causal impact of the Corona-crisis response measures on institutional trust among Dutch citizens, 3) estimating whether trends in institutional trust and the effect of the governmental measures on institutional trust differ between different societal groups.

Psychologist  Prof. Rolf Zwaan, together with dr. Joran Jongerling, dr. Peter Verkoeijen, Arnout Boot<MSc. and dr. Anita Eerland (UU) ‘Acquiring, Comprehending, and Using Information Related to COVID-19’

Description: This research will investigate how people gather, interpret, and use information about COVID-19. Which information sources do they use? How often do they consult these sources? What is their factual knowledge about COVID-19? How confident are they about this knowledge? Do they endorse conspiracy theories about COVID-19? How closely do they follow governmental guidelines about COVID-19 related behavior? Are there systematic individual differences in these issues? Are there cross-cultural differences in COVID-19 information processing?

About the NWO Corona: fast-track data

The call ‘Corona: fast-track data’ is developed by the NWO domains, Applied and Engineering Sciences, Science and Social Sciences and Humanities to collect data that can only be conducted now, during the COVID-19 crisis, and specifically research into issues that arise in society during the crisis.