Cecilia Bergstad

Cecilia Bergstad serves as a Lecturer in the Department of Psychology within the Faculty of Social Sciences at the University of Gothenburg. She is affiliated with the Section for Applied Psychology and actively participates in multiple research networks including DEEP (Decision-making, Environmental Psychology and Economic Psychology), CAST (Collaboration for Assessment of Sustainable Transport), and PERSON (Platform for European Research on Social Science Energy). Her research activities are closely connected with the Strategic Research Area (SFO) Transport, a collaboration with Chalmers University's Transport Area of Advance.

Bergstad earned her Philosophy Doctor of Psychology in 2004 and achieved Docent status in Psychology in 2014. Her educational background has positioned her as a specialist in environmental psychology, particularly focusing on the psychological aspects of transportation behavior and sustainable mobility solutions.

Her research interests center on motivation, behavioral changes, and human well-being within environmental psychology, with special emphasis on sustainable transportation. Bergstad investigates how social and psychological factors interact with both built (artificial/digital) and natural environments. She examines psychological determinants of sustainable behaviors, policy acceptance, and the relationship between transportation modes and subjective well-being. Her work frequently addresses gender differences, cross-cultural comparisons, and the psychological barriers to adopting sustainable practices.

Analysis of Bergstad's recent publications reveals a consistent focus on sustainable transportation systems, particularly carsharing models, autonomous vehicles, and policy interventions to reduce car dependency. Her research demonstrates interdisciplinary connections between transportation engineering, environmental psychology, and behavioral economics. She frequently employs multigroup analysis to examine cross-cultural differences and has increasingly incorporated climate change considerations into her work, as evidenced by her 2023-2025 publications on net zero futures and sustainable diets.

Bergstad actively supervises doctoral students and theses at all academic levels, teaching undergraduate and graduate courses in Environmental Psychology and Survey Methodology. Her research collaborations span multiple institutions, including Chalmers University of Technology (through the FORMAS-funded project on indoor thermal resilience) and international networks like PERSON. She participates in the Gothenburg Air and Climate Network and the Center for Ocean and Society, demonstrating her commitment to interdisciplinary environmental research.

Bergstad's laboratory and team affiliations include the Strategic Research Area Transport, DEEP research group, CAST collaboration, and PERSON platform. Her current projects focus on sustainable transport futures, examining intersections of policy, technology, logistics, safety, and well-being. Recent work suggests growing interest in the psychological dimensions of climate adaptation and mitigation strategies across different cultural contexts.