[Chapter 13, page 210]

Lessons from social psychology and behavioral economics

Modern social psychology and its offshoot, behavioral economics, have important practical lessons for efforts to change individuals’ behavior. Here we give examples of two phenomena.

• People look to others’ behavior—to perceived social norms—as a guide to their own behavior.[1] Robert Cialdini, a social psychologist and brilliant master of the techniques of social influence, placed door-hangers on the front doors of houses, encouraging residents to engage in energy-conserving behaviors. Residents of a particular house would receive one of five different types of appeals: just information about how they could conserve; this information coupled with one of three additional messages (the importance of protecting the environment, other benefits to society, or cost savings); or a statement that the majority of their neighbors were already conserving. The message that highlighted the neighbors’ behavior led to significantly more energy conservation than any of the other messages. In another study, hotel guests were most likely to participate in a towel re-use program when they were informed that the majority of people who had stayed in the same room had done likewise.[2] When we are deciding how to behave in a particular situation, the most relevant social information is how other people usually behave in that same situation.

• People are sensitive to whether a decision is framed in terms of gains or losses, and are more risk-taking when they see decisions in terms of losses. There is evidence that people regard mammograms, colonoscopies, and similar medical screening as risky—not because the procedure poses much of a risk to their health, but because detection exposes them to the risk of getting scary news. For this reason, negative appeals—for example, focusing on the “risks of neglecting mammography”—may be more effective than gain-framed appeals—focusing on its benefits.[3] In contrast, prevention behaviors such as wearing sunscreen or using condoms are perceived as safe. Thus, framing the decision positively, in terms of the health benefits of wearing an appropriate sunscreen or using a condom are likely to be more effective than loss-framed appeals that involve warning people of the hazards of unprotected sun exposure or unprotected sex.[4]

By contrast to the many organizations with expertise in political advocacy, there are few with expertise in using the insights of social psychology and behavioral economics to influence behavior for pro-social ends. We know of one new organization, the Policy Design Initiative, formed by a distinguished group of social scientists at Harvard, Princeton, MIT, and the Brookings Institution, that intends to “couple these insights with an understanding of ground realities, so as to craft novel programs and policies" in the social sector, creating "both new scientific knowledge and workable new products and policies.”[5]

For an excellent new book on these subjects, see Richard H. Thaler and Cass R. Sunstein, Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (New Haven: Yale University, 2008). The authors’ blog, http://www.nudges.org/, has many examples.