Framing Messages to Promote Compliance
What is it? Information can be conveyed in multiple ways. In particular, the language and framing of content can be the difference between a message which successfully changes the way a person thinks, acts and feels, or one that falls flat. Messages which restrict a person’s sense of control can even drive them in the opposite…
Why the Messenger is Important for Behaviour Change
What is it? Why are some people able to deliver messages that are listened to, believed and acted upon, whilst others are not? Evidence shows we are heavily influenced by who communicates information, not just what they say (1). This is because our willingness to listen is most strongly driven by an emotional response rather…
Using Social Norms to Influence Population Behaviour
What is it? At a time when the population is being urged to socially distance, it is important to recognise how social norms impact human behaviour, and how to leverage this in fighting Covid-19. Behavioural scientists define ‘social norms’ as the unwritten rules or expectations within a society or group (1), for example shaking hands…
Wales Centre for Behaviour Change: Approach, Theory and Application
Voyage into Chaos One challenge for positive psychology is in providing solutions that generalize or have universal effects (particularly given its scope across the population). However, there is some evidence that not everyone benefits from the same intervention (Lyubomirsky et al., 2011). Indeed, our own work in primary schools using interventions such as Three Good…
Helping Business Behave
We all know how to live a better life. For a start, we would eat more fruit and vegetables, we would exercise more, probably drink a little less. We would also stop smoking. We would work hard and enjoy the time we have with our friends and families. We’d also do more in the local…
Kolding Design Camp 2012
What do you do when you want to change someone’s behaviour? You can ask them to change. You could put up a poster. Perhaps try and explain why they should change. Or alternatively, you could make subtle changes to the environment to subtly influence the automatic behaviour of the individual to do what you want…