Ana Paula Souza Santana defends her PhD thesis

Ana Paula Souza Santana
Ana Paula Souza Santana. Photo: Nils Meilvang

Title

'Prosociality in health decisions: Addressing the social dilemma in infectious diseases'.

Time and place

Friday, 28 April 2023 at 10 am (CEST).

The defence will take place in Auditorium 7.0.34 at The Faculty of Social Sciences (CSS), Øster Farimagsgade 5, 1353 Copenhagen.

The defence will also be available via Zoom. 

Join the defence.
Passcode: 335247.

Assessment committee

  • Professor Guido Makransky, Department of Psychology, University of Copenhagen, Denmark (chair)

  • Professor Trine Kjær, Department of Public Health, University of Southern Denmark, Denmark

  • Reader Miroslav Sirota, Department of Psychology, University of Essex, United Kingdom

Supervisor

  • Professor Robert Böhm, Department of Psychology, University of Vienna, Austria & University of Copenhagen, Denmark

Abstract

This thesis sets out to investigate the prosocial aspects influencing people’s decisions to adopt behaviors involved in fighting infectious diseases. Specifically, it addresses the adoption of protective behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic, the use of antibiotics, and the uptake of childhood vaccinations. The thesis draws on theoretical frameworks that shed light on the influence of psychological and contextual variables on the adoption of the behaviors investigated. The empirical evidence presented stems from incentivized behavioral game experiments as well as survey studies. The thesis demonstrates the role of prosocial concerns and other variables in addressing the social dilemma involved in fighting infectious diseases. Furthermore, the findings give rise to considerations of how leveraging prosociality could promote behavior change in the domain investigated.