Tag: behavioural economics

Friends lifting the biggest bar on a bar chart

A Science for Implementing Behavioural Science

December 5, 2022

Without deliberate investigation of the methods required to systematically improve the take-up of evidence in real-world settings, at scale, grounded in an understanding of scalability, the impact of behavioural public policy to shift behaviours where it truly matters is severely curtailed.

An implementation science for behavioural public policy is crucial if, as researchers, we want to effect real change. … More A Science for Implementing Behavioural Science

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War & Altruism

March 11, 2022

People in Europe responded quickly to the invasion of Ukraine with an unusually warm welcome to refugees and direct generosity in support. In stark contrast to the response to previous crises. Tony Hockley argues that this dichotomy stems from the deep-rooted human instinct for reciprocity within groups, with strong benefits but also a “dark side”. Much of the response has been in individual action, which some argue detracts from collective effort. But these actions may have beneficial spillovers, additional to the benefits of collective charity. The policy challenge will be to ensure that the motivation for action is sustained, and that the new-found generosity sets a powerful benchmark for future crises … More War & Altruism

To Nudge Plus or Nudge+ A dilemma

February 18, 2022

In the blog Sanchayan Banerjee & Peter John overcome nostalgia for “nudge plus” and herald the new dawn of Nudge+. Is this a more distinctive depiction of the research agenda encouraging people to reflect on the choices they face? Does it more successfully stress the link to the “nudge” yet transform it with its subliminal radicalism? The authors deliberate and decide. … More To Nudge Plus or Nudge+ A dilemma

Why Trust Matters

October 15, 2021

The history of civilisation is really the story of how we leaned to trust. In this blog Ben Ho considers research showing how fear brings people together and builds trust of outsiders. Through experiments in South Korea during the Covid pandemic it was possible to record feelings of fear and acceptance of outsiders. Those with the most fear recorded the highest increases in trust. How we respond to fear can give us hope for the future. … More Why Trust Matters

Pandemic Optimism: Realistic v Hopeful

December 4, 2020

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

Has Behavioural Economics made Economics less insular?

May 30, 2020

Economics is often described as insular from other social sciences. Alexandre Truc shares the results of research mapping thee content of more than 5000 articles and their references. The research reveals fascinating trends and differences between the various clusters of behavioural economic research. This includes a shift towards greater diversity of disciplines involved in behavioural economics, and thus a relative decline in the role for psychology. Nevertheless, the research shows that the rise of behavioural economics has served more generally as a bridge for the psychology into economics. … More Has Behavioural Economics made Economics less insular?