Prof. Dr. Sonja Vogt
Professorship in Sustainable Social Development
Institute of Sociology
- Phone
- +41 31 631 32 40
- Phone2
- +41 31 631 48 11
- sonja.vogt@soz.unibe.ch
- Office
- A 121
- Postal Address
- University Bern
Institute of Sociology
Fabrikstrasse 8
3012 Bern
Switzerland - Consultation Hour
- by appointment
- private website
- sonjavogt.wordpress.com/
Publications
A list of Professor Vogt’s publications may be found at her Personal Website. Some of her selected recent publications are shown below:
- Efferson, C., Vogt, S. & Fehr, E. (2019). The promise and the peril of using social influence to reverse harmful traditions. Nature Human Behaviour.
- Schief, M., Vogt, S., Efferson, C. (working paper). The structure of son bias in Armenia: from implicit associations to explicit behavior.
- Soraperra, I., Kobis, N., Efferson, C., Shalvi, S., Vogt, S., and Offerman, T. (working paper). A market for integrity. An experiment on corruption in the education sector.
- Efferson, C. and Vogt, S. (2018). Behavioural homogenisation with spillovers in a normative domain, Proceedings of the Royal Society B, 285(1879)
- Vogt, S., Efferson, C., and Fehr, E. (2017). The risk of female genital cutting in Europe: Comparing immigrant attitudes toward uncut girls with attitudes in a practicing country. Social Science Medicine - Population Health (3): 283-293.
- Vogt, S., Zaid, N.A.M., Ahmed, H.E.F., Fehr, E., and Efferson, C. (2016). Changing cultural attitudes on female genital cutting. Nature, 538(7726): 506-509. (Shared first authorship with Efferson)
- Bozoyan, C. and Vogt, S. (2016). The impact of third-party information on trust: valence, source, and reliability. PLoS ONE, 11(2): e0149542. (Shared first authorship)
- Efferson, C., Roca, C., Vogt, S., and Helbing, D. (2016). Sustained cooperation by running away from bad behavior. Evolution and Human Behavior, 37(1): 1-9.
- Efferson, C., Vogt, S., Elhadi, A., Ahmed, H.E.F., and Fehr, E. (2015). Female genital cutting is not a social coordination norm. Science, 349: 1446-1447. (Shared first authorship with Efferson)
Research Projects
- Norms, narratives, and identities. The project studies the different effects of narrative and didactive information and the role of social networks on breastfeeding in Kenya. In collaboration with Paul Collier and Jamie Walsh, University of Oxford.
- Motives underlying prenatal sex-selection. Due to sex-selective abortions, Armenia and Georgia have highly skewed sex ratios at birth. This study aims at understanding the social motives supporting son preferences within nuclear families and across different regions. In collaboration with Charles Efferson, University of Lausanne, and Matthias Schief, Brown University.
- The persistence and abandonment of female genital cutting. This project aims to understand the decision-making mechanisms that support female genital cutting within and across communities in Sudan. In addition, the project develops and evaluates interventions designed to improve attitudes towards uncut girls. In collaboration with Charles Efferson, University of Lausanne, and Ernst Fehr, University of Zurich.
- Conditional cash transfer programs and parental investments. Brazil has for more than a decade implemented the world’s largest conditional cash transfer program. We examine whether participation in the program feeds back to influence the aspirations parents have for their children. In collaboration with Charles Efferson, University of Lausanne, Ernst Fehr, University of Zurich, and Christian Zünd, University of Zurich.
- Social mechanisms to reduce corrupt behavior. The projects tests if piece-rate payments versus institutions promoting social accountability reduce bribery in higher education. Laboratory experiments take place in Columbia. In collaboration with Nils Köbis, Ivan Soraperra, Theo Offerman, and Shaul Shalvi from the University of Amsterdam, and Charles Efferson, University of Lausanne.
Selected Media
Vogt, S., Zaid, N.A.M., Ahmed, H.E.F., Fehr, E., and Efferson, C. (2016). Changing cultural attitudes on female genital cutting. Nature.
- Huffington Post: In Sudan, movies made by researchers change the way people see female genital cutting
- Voice of America: Scientists: Soap Operas Could Help End Female Genital Cutting
- Nature, News and Views: Female genital cutting under the spotlight.
- North East Public Radio: What If 'Gilmore Girls' Had A Female Genital Mutilation Subplot?
- Neue Zuricher Zeitung (NZZ): Beschneidung bei Mädchen - Forscher wollen die Welt mit Spielfilmen verbessern
- International Business Times: How movies can change the fight against female genital mutilation
- Nature Human Behavior: A nagging persistence
- Health Medicine Network: Soap operas could help end female genital cutting: scientists
Efferson, C., Vogt, S., Elhadi, A., Ahmed, H.E.F., and Fehr, E. (2015). Female genital cutting is not a social coordination norm. Science.
- World Economic Forum: Why are laws to stop gender violence often so ineffective?
- Nature Human Behavior: A nagging persistence
- SciDevNet: Fight against genital cutting on wrong track
- Medical Daily: Female Genital Mutilation Depends on Family Values: How Experts Plan to Stop Ritual Cutting
- QUARTZ Africa: We don't really know what motivates families to cut their daughters
- International Business Times: Female genital mutilation is not a social norm but based on individual values