Isolated Achievements
What is it? We all have an inborn need to master skills and track progress towards goals. Life in lockdown can make obtaining a sense of achievement harder, given many ways in which we usually seek challenge are now inaccessible, and typical assessments of progression have been transformed. Even as controls are eased, the ongoing restrictions provide frustrating constraints on our behaviour. Making achievements is a key psychological need…
Take Back Control – How to Support Autonomy
What is it? A recent review on the impact of quarantine on our mental health indicates social isolation may prompt emotional difficulties such as depression, stress and anger1. However, the authors also suggest a number of factors can mitigate against these outcomes. In particular, supporting individuals’ sense of autonomy – or helping them to feel in…
Incentives
What is it? Reward and punishment have long been used to direct behaviour. However, introducing extrinsic motivational consequences such as these can fundamentally change how we view a situation, in turn altering our motivation and subsequent action. As such, they must be carefully applied in order to be effective, and to avoid pitfalls which drive unintended behaviour. For example, the introduction of a monetary fine for parents who are late to collect their children…
Reappraisal: harnessing emotions to help, not hinder, our actions
What is it? We like to think of ourselves as rational beings, who act based on a cost-benefit analysis of options. However, emotional responses have a profound influence on our behaviour1. In fact, when we are stressed, fatigued or dealing with complexity, we are more heavily driven by emotional impulses than considered thought2. Leaders need to…
Finding Forty Two
What is it? Life in lockdown means many of the constants which normally structure our existence have been removed. Most of the country will not be travelling to work, or enjoying typical leisure and sporting activities. Those who are furloughed face even greater disruption to routine, and the inability to pursue tasks which usually give life…
Futurelessness
What is it? To encourage universal adherence to government guidelines, we must communicate effectively with those who are disproportionately affected by Covid-19, or who do not respond as intended to traditional messaging. For example, those living in poverty are more likely to work in low-paid casual jobs which have been heavily impacted by Covid-19, and…
Fulfilling Our Psychological Needs
What is it? Motivation directs and energises everything we do. It helps choose what we commit to, and how well we maintain this1. Utilising our understanding in this domain can ensure society is motivated to adhere to government advice and stays mentally and physically well during Covid-19. Motivation stems from the desire to satisfy some form…
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…
Giving Health Purpose
Historically, the discipline of psychology has been devoted to the practice of healing. Aligned with a disease model of human functioning in which ‘mental health’ is described purely as the absence of illness, traditional psychological study has prioritised the alleviation of mental disorder. However, this approach fails to consider the importance and value of pre-emptively…