The design of everyday space has important effects. It impacts on the the exercise of the most basic human rights. In this blog the authors report on experiments in the impact of urban design on women’s freedom and confidence to move through and access public space without fear. … More On the Design of Everyday Space: Closing the gender gap
Opponents are not monsters, but humans with legitimate needs. There is no ‘correct’ worldview warns Tom Prosser, and an understanding of the self-interest within all of them is important to confronting division, civilising politics, and making the most of our beseiged democratic institutions. There is no shame in self-interest. … More What’s in it for me?
In “moments not minutes” Miles Richardson explains how research shows the value to wellbeing from connecting and engaging with nature in simple ways. Simply spending time in nature has limited impact, but actually noticing the good things in nature has sustained benefits. These finding should guide policy programmes and urban design, to help people notice nature around them. … More Moments, not Minutes: The nature-wellbeing link
The IBPPA launched in April 2021 in partnership with the journal. Membership brings a range of opportunities and tangible benefits. Find out the launch, future plans, and how to join. … More International Behavioural Public Policy Association
Carbon pricing is a useful tool in tackling the future consequences of climate change. But it imposes direct costs on the public. Goran Dominioni and Anna Kovacs suggest some of the ways in which behavioural carbon pricing strategies are being used to build stronger public support and propose additional approaches using behavioural economics … More Building Public Support for Carbon Pricing
Wei proposes a “Pay or Pledge” choice for gamblers. By creating a new “game within the game” gamblers would be helped to think about their game plans and stick to them. The blog is based on Wei’s 2020 prize-winning essay at the LSE … More Pay or Pledge: Winning in Gambling
Optimism encompasses a ‘positive anchoring’ in risk decision making. This can be a coping mechanism to overcome the anxiety of risk in a pandemic. However, this is only true when people adopt a form of ‘realistic optimism’, which should be distinguished from ‘hopeful optimism’. Behavioural interventions can play a role in building realistic optimism in people before they are hit by a pandemic. … More Pandemic Optimism: Realistic v Hopeful
Many of today’s most ambitious policy goals involve complex systems. The ‘behavioural revolution’ in public policy means that behavioural science is playing a big role in endeavours to achieve these goals. The interplay of behavioral science and complex systems, however, warrants enhanced consideration. In this blog Katelyn Stenger makes the case for collaboration between behavioural science and complex systems science. … More Complex Problems need Complex Science
Algorithms provide a good starting point for police reform, but not a panacea. When screening candidates for the police force of the future, for example, auditing for bias is not only helpful, it’s essential. Algorithms offer new possibilities to do this. Going beyond hiring decisions, data and behavioral science can be used to encourage people to be their best self. Even small details amongst environmental influences on behavior can make a difference. Properly regulated and scrutinised algorithms can help improve recruitment, retention and promotion. They can also help strengthen law enforcement itself and community engagement in policing, to everyone’s benefit. … More Reimagining Policing
It is tempting to justify contrasting standards with regard to public acceptance of nudges between developed and developing country contexts. This is a slippery slope that has, in the past, led to harmful interventions. As behavioural tools become more widely used there is a need to re-examine these issues. Public acceptance may seem like a difficult litmus test in some countries, but failure may simply indicate that policymakers are trying to change too much, too fast. Creating demand for behaviour change is an important first step. … More Nudge acceptance in Developing Countries: Ethical (or Unnecessary) Litmus Test?