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Arnout Van de Rijt

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Journal article (2026) - Anne Buijsrogge, Jan Tino Brethouwer, Arnout van de Rijt, Roy Lindelauf
During previous pandemics, social distancing was organized top-down, through the imposition of a minimum distance. An alternative approach toward social distancing asks individuals to try to maximize their distance to others. Here, we ask whether people can thus efficiently self-organize spatial arrangements. We studied 953 social distancing decisions made in 150 groups under controlled conditions. Results show that subject behavior approximates what optimal mathematical strategies achieve. At scale, the observed behavior produces greater distancing than the mere respecting of an externally imposed minimum distance. These findings suggest that the encouragement of maximal distancing may reduce the propagation of viruses that spread through close-range contact beyond what is achieved with minimum-distance policies alone. ...
Book (2023) - J.I.J.C. de Koning, S.S. van Dam, Rose Visser, Charlotte Boele, Vincent Buskens, Josephine Chan, Abby Onencan, Jiamin Ou, Arnout Van de Rijt, Jesal Shah, Philip Schneider
Having directly observed one of the most rapidly spreading global pandemics, we understand more than ever the power of contagion. In today’s interconnected world, trends originating in one corner, whether it’s a disease, clothing fashion, or an online social media challenge, can swiftly gain momentum on the opposite side of the globe, often within a matter of days or even hours. This rapid diffusion is enabled by our globalised world and developments in technology and ICT. Social networks and social influence are strong influencers in shaping our attitudes and behaviour. However, this influence can be a double-edged sword. On the one hand, it brings people and cultures together, it facilitates the exchange of information and resources. On the other hand, it can be easily exploited to spread misinformation and exert pressure on individuals to engage in negative behaviours like smoking or violence. This phenomenon is commonly referred to as ‘social contagion.’

In this handbook you can find the result of ENRGISED: Engaging Residents in green energy investments through social networks, complexity and design. In 2019 we saw an impasse in the Dutch energy transition, where many technologies were available but not many people were taking action. Since then, global events, such as Covid 19 and the invasion of Ukraine, have disrupted our world and the energy market. In the midst of these changes we conducted our research. Between 2020 and 2023, we studied the use of social contagion - social influence and the effect of social networks - towards the energy transition in neighbourhoods in the Netherlands. ...