Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42147205›Full record

ArticlePNAS nexus2026

No evidence that nonincentivized behavioral interventions effectively mitigate climate change after adjusting for publication bias.

Adam Hardaker, Igor Asanov, František Bartoš, Stephan B Bruns

Abstract read
In one paragraph

Article in PNAS nexus, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Adam HardakerDepartment of Economics, International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER), University of Kassel, Kassel 34125, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0008-1200-0127
Igor AsanovDepartment of Economics, International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER), University of Kassel, Kassel 34125, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-8091-4130
František BartošFaculty of Social Sciences, Institute of Economic Studies, Charles University, Prague 110 01, Czech Republic.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0018-5573
Stephan B BrunsDepartment of Economics, International Center for Higher Education Research (INCHER), University of Kassel, Kassel 34125, Germany.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3028-9699

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Behavioral interventions on citizens are often promoted as a low-cost route to induce environmentally friendly behavior, yet published estimates of their effectiveness are highly variable and prone to selective reporting. We reanalyzed the evidence of nonincentivized behavioral interventions on citizens. We applied robust Bayesian meta-analysis (RoBMA), averaging across a full set of publication bias-adjusted models, to the 144 effect estimates (91 studies) compiled by Nisa et al. (2019). After accounting for publication bias and model uncertainty using multilevel RoBMA, the data strongly favor a zero average effect. The posterior probability that the meta-analytic mean equals zero is 0.984, and the Bayes factor comparing a zero mean to a nonzero mean is BF

Indexed as

behavioral interventionsclimate change mitigationproenvironmental behaviorpublication biasrobust Bayesian meta-analysis

Identifiers

PMID42147205
PMCPMC13179737

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.