I am currently working on a project that is exploring changing practices and...
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Inside the Beltway
Behaviour Change inside the Beltway When it comes to considering the impacts of the behavioural sciences on public policy the US provides the most compelling of case studies. It can be argued that the US is the heartland of the behaviour change agenda, which has seen the insights of behavioural sciences reshaping policies in areas […]
MBCEPP
Mindfulness and Behavioural Change: an Evaluation We recently delivered a Mindfulness, Behaviour Change and Engagement in Public Policy (MBCEPP) programme to civil servants in Wales. The programme explored the impacts that learning about new behavioural insights through the practices of mindfulness could have. The programme yielded some very positive results and the evaluation report can […]
Nudge: the Real Ethical Debate?
I recently returned from my second trip to the Netherlands this year. As with my first visit I was speaking with various government officials and advisors about the application of behavioural insights to public policy design. Discussions are now fairly well advanced in the Netherlands concerning how the central government would like to apply nudge-type […]
Global Nudge
Nudging all Over the World – The Final Report We have recently completed a global scoping study of the rising impacts of the behavioural sciences on public policy design and execution. This report uncovers interesting geographical patterns in the global spread and application of nudge type policies. The full report can be downloaded here nudgedesignfinal
Heuristics – Half Baked!
Heuristics – Half Baked! There is an ongoing debate (of kinds) concerning the pliability of heuristics (those conscious and unconscious behavioural shortcuts we routinely rely on to get through our daily lives, which include things such as future bias and social proofing). This debate (or in this particular case fairly amicable discussion) was evident in […]
MIndfulness and Behaviour Change
As part of our ongoing ESRC research project, exploring the impacts of the behavioural sciences on public policy, we have just completed a mindfulness based behaviour change intervention with 15 members of the Welsh civil service. The Mindfulness, Behaviour Change and Engagement in Public Policy course ran for 8 weeks and sought to combine Mindfulness […]
On Resilience
Psychological Resilience: Conference Reflections We recently held the second seminar in our seminar series on ‘Behaviour Change and Psychological Governance’. This seminar was held at the University of Birmingham and explored issues pertaining to psychological resilience. Below, Colin Lorne (University of Birmingham) provides a summary of the seminar. To find out more about the seminar […]
The Experimental Citizen
The Psychological State and the Experimental Subject In a previous post we considered the ways in which the psychological sciences are reshaping how policy makers understand human subjectivity. The classical view of the human ‘[…] as a bounded, unique, more or less integrated motivational and cognitive universe, a dynamic centre of awareness, emotion, judgment and […]
Mindfulness and Behaviour Change
Small steps towards big change. Mindfulness Based Behaviour Change in Policy and Engagement ““But I’m taking small steps ‘Cause I don’t know where I’m going I’m taking small steps And I don’t know what to say. Small steps, Trying to pull myself together And maybe I’ll discover A clue along the way!” ― Louis Sachar, Small […]
Cohen’s Homo Economicus (a book review)
Homo Economicus: the (lost) prophet of modern times by Daniel Cohen. Cambridge: Polity Press, 2014, 155 pp notes and index, £16.99 hardcover. ISBN 978-0-7456-8012-5. Across the social sciences the idealized figure of Homo Economicus is coming under increasing scrutiny. While for many the deliberative, self-interested and inherently entrepreneurial figure of Homo Economicus was only ever […]
Changing Behaviours - An ESRC Project 