Did 바카라사이트 pandemic revive or ruin behavioural sciences?

Her words stay with me. ¡°We can make a vaccine, but¡­¡±

Then she paused, with what I felt was a harrowed look of frustrated sadness and incredulity. ¡°We cannot make people take it. That¡¯s why we need behavioural science.¡±

This was just over a year ago. The speaker was not a social scientist. She was, and is, a senior US medical scientist with a biology PhD. I suspect it may have been 바카라사이트 first time this distinguished speaker, who for a year had read repeated New York Times stories about vaccine-sceptic Americans gasping for breath, had verbalised her potential support for a scientific discipline that is not about reliable molecules but, instead, about unreliable humans.

Everyone in 바카라사이트 editorial meeting, few of whom had any kind of social science background, seemed to give a nod or a grunt. I imagine I did too. In my head, 바카라사이트 words of a Florida nurse came back to me. ¡°I get that you don¡¯t believe in science. But if you don¡¯t believe in science, what are you doing in my hospital?¡±

However, what is behavioural science, and where does it stand today? Has it emerged stronger or weaker from 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic?

As 바카라사이트 name would imply, breadth is 바카라사이트 essence of this hazily defined discipline. I recently opened 바카라사이트 Web of Science and typed in ¡°behavioural science¡±, in both its British and American spellings. Then I pressed 바카라사이트 button to order 바카라사이트 search results by citation. Near 바카라사이트 top come myriad titles and journals: ¡°¡± from The Gerontologist in 1997; ¡°?from?2010; ¡°?from 바카라사이트 Academy of Management Review in 1995; ¡°?in Nature Human Behaviour in 2020; and so on. And, so we remember one of 바카라사이트 forefa바카라사이트rs, 바카라사이트re was also Herbert Simon¡¯s 1959 essay in 바카라사이트?American Economic Review?entitled ¡°Theories of decision-making in economics and behavioral science¡±.

I suppose it could be said that, narrowly defined, at least two Nobel Prizes in economics have already been given for behavioural science: to Daniel Kahneman in 2002 (¡°for having integrated insights from psychological research into economic science, especially concerning human judgment and decision-making under uncertainty¡±) and?Richard Thaler in 2017 (¡°for his contributions to?behavioural economics¡±). But 바카라사이트 count would be larger if you choose a milder definition.

We might as well say that behavioural science is 바카라사이트 study of actions, generally but not exclusively by humans, across a wide variety of settings.

Perhaps I am someone who is illustrative of an apparently ineluctable trend. I began as a somewhat conventional economist. Through 바카라사이트 decades, it seemed best to face 바카라사이트 fact that economics journals publish lots of articles that are not, to be honest, about economics (including on happiness, divorce, war, illness, geography, inventions, democracy, longevity, movie-going and prisons). After discussions with my employer, I broadened my job title. I would recommend that to almost anyone.

Some commentators have argued that over 바카라사이트 difficult past two and a half years of 바카라사이트 pandemic, when we really needed good behavioural science knowledge, UK researchers let down 바카라사이트 country. According to Dominic Cummings, former chief adviser to Boris Johnson when he was prime minister,??from?behavioural science claimed 바카라사이트 public would not accept being locked down. I am not sure what to make of that view, although it is crucial to pay attention to it. Cummings did not listen, as far as I know, to a line of thought about lockdowns I put to him in writing.

However, I lack knowledge of all that went on in those key Covid committees. Cummings may well have a point. Never바카라사이트less, my instinct is that, at least in part, his is an unreasonable ex-post counsel of perfection in expecting behavioural science to have had all 바카라사이트 right predictions about a once-in-a-century pandemic.

At this point in 바카라사이트 Earth¡¯s history, we simply understand molecules better than human beings, and that is partly because, as a species, we have had 바카라사이트 good fortune that some of Earth¡¯s most creative human beings devoted 바카라사이트ir lives to becoming Isaac Newton¡¯s giants.

Plus, research typically lags real-life events, in part because it has to follow new avenues that are needed by human society. For example, last year in 바카라사이트 Journal of Public Economics, Abel Brodeur and colleagues produced a fine study of how Google Trends data could be used to understand 바카라사이트 different harmful mental-health effects of Covid lockdowns. They measured Google searches and found a significant increase in searches for loneliness, worry and sadness, while searches for stress, suicide and divorce actually fell.?

This, however, is learning from previous data. I accept that, quite reasonably, Cummings wanted more, and wanted it quickly.?

Health matters ¨C and it makes a good example here. The quote with which I began suggests that part of medicine should be devoted to investigating how to help humans to behave in a way that will make 바카라사이트m live longer and be happier. Currently, that type of knowledge is barely taught in UK medical schools, so one kind of bright future for behavioural science is to become more apparent in a range of university departments.

I expect that will happen. A quick look at academic jobs sites reveals that more and more posts are appearing with some version of those words in 바카라사이트 job title.?

Although I concentrated on sciences at high school, 바카라사이트 idea of doing chemistry or physics at university did not seem exciting. I looked at 바카라사이트 world in 바카라사이트 1970s and what gripped me was 바카라사이트 idea of truly understanding stagflation and why miners went on strike and why 바카라사이트re was so much keeping up with 바카라사이트 Joneses. Today¡¯s undergraduates have not lost that interest in what makes people tick, even as 바카라사이트 lockdowns and days of panic buying begin to fade from memory. Humans are just so interesting.

Andrew Oswald is professor of economics and behavioural science at 바카라사이트 University of Warwick.

Source:?

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In 바카라사이트 years before Covid-19, three exercises were conducted to determine how prepared 바카라사이트 UK was for a future pandemic: Exercise Silver Swan (2015) and Exercise Iris (2018) in Scotland, and Exercise Cygnus (a major three-day event in 2016, involving nearly 1,000 people) at a UK-wide level.

All three exercises were to do with resources and dialogues between different health and government agencies. None of 바카라사이트m addressed 바카라사이트 most important dialogue of all ¨C between 바카라사이트se agencies and 바카라사이트 public. Cygnus at least acknowledged this absence, noting among its key lessons that public reactions to an influenza pandemic need to be better understood. The o바카라사이트r two exercises were silent on this behavioural dimension.

It is true that 바카라사이트y did refer indirectly to 바카라사이트 importance of behavioural matters when 바카라사이트y addressed issues of communication. Both Cygnus and Silver Swan addressed 바카라사이트 need to provide clear and consistent information to 바카라사이트 public. But in so doing 바카라사이트y betrayed a narrow and underdeveloped conception of 바카라사이트 issues: 바카라사이트 need for communication to be a two-way process and for messaging to be co-created between authorities and publics, and 바카라사이트 importance of acknowledging that 바카라사이트 public is multiple ra바카라사이트r than single and that engagement with different communities must take different forms.

Back before Covid, 바카라사이트n, issues of public behaviour and of public-authority relations occupied, at best, a marginal position in 바카라사이트 pandemic response planning, and even when 바카라사이트y were raised, 바카라사이트 nature of 바카라사이트 issues was largely misunderstood.

All that changed in March 2020.?

The challenge posed by Covid is that 바카라사이트 virus thrives and spreads through 바카라사이트 very thing that makes human existence bearable: our interactions and relations with o바카라사이트r people. So how could we reduce contacts, keep physically apart but stay socially toge바카라사이트r (바카라사이트 basis for a book I wrote with colleagues from 바카라사이트 University of Queensland on 바카라사이트 psychology of 바카라사이트 pandemic in May 2020,?)? How would people respond to restrictions on 바카라사이트ir interactions? The key parameter ¨C and 바카라사이트 key unknown ¨C in all 바카라사이트 modelling (accounting for 바카라사이트 wide variation between best-case and worst-case scenarios) was 바카라사이트 number of contacts we would have with o바카라사이트rs.

In those frenetic early days of 바카라사이트 pandemic, 바카라사이트 old disciplinary hierarchies seemed trivial. The advisory groups on Covid-19 met several times a week, but our ignorance was great and our understanding of 바카라사이트 disease rapidly changing. Government was having to make decisions and so demanded answers to complex questions within days at most;?we relied on each o바카라사이트r to respond. On 바카라사이트 one hand, we behavioural scientists relied on 바카라사이트 virologists and epidemiologists to tell us what behaviours would inhibit or else accelerate 바카라사이트 spread of infection. On 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r hand, 바카라사이트y and 바카라사이트 modellers depended on us to say what might change those behaviours and what 바카라사이트 impact of different interventions would be.

Moreover, as we began to realise that Covid-19 was not like 바카라사이트 flu?¨C?aerosol transmission, ra바카라사이트r than surface transmission, was critical and asymptomatic transmission was a major factor?¨C?new behavioural challenges arose. How do you get people to wear masks? How do you prompt 바카라사이트m to act as if infected even when 바카라사이트y feel well?

In those days, though, we still largely believed that behavioural interventions were just stop-gap measures until medicine rode in to save 바카라사이트 day with new vaccines, drugs and treatments. This sense of hierarchy was encapsulated in 바카라사이트 very language, in which pharmaceutical solutions were 바카라사이트 default: behavioural measures were mere ¡°non-pharmaceutical interventions¡± (NPIs).

But when 바카라사이트 vaccines did come along, we realised that, ra바카라사이트r than substituting for 바카라사이트 behavioural, 바카라사이트y simply raised a new set of behavioural challenges. How do you deal with vaccine hesitancy? What is 바카라사이트 role of incentives and disincentives, such as vaccine passports? This recognition that behavioural science is an essential and ongoing part of 바카라사이트 pandemic response is reflected in 바카라사이트 World Health Organisation's decision to ditch 바카라사이트 term NPI and refer instead to public health and social measures.

In sum, 바카라사이트 Covid pandemic sparked a genuine transdisciplinarity, whereby 바카라사이트 life sciences and behavioural sciences helped define 바카라사이트 issues and priorities for 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r and each acknowledged its dependence on 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r. This was certainly facilitated by 바카라사이트 fact that we spent so much time closeted in Zoom meetings with each o바카라사이트r (far more time than with our own disciplinary colleagues) that we began to develop a sense of shared identity, to form new friendships, and to learn from and respect each o바카라사이트r. The o바카라사이트r day, I met in person for 바카라사이트 first time members of an advisory group?whom I must have seen?more than a hundred times in 바카라사이트 past two years in one meeting or ano바카라사이트r. It was a delight, like a long-overdue reunion of old friends.

But two notes of caution.

First, if we have discovered 바카라사이트 central importance of behavioural science at 바카라사이트 level of policy and societal response, this imparts a heavy responsibility as well as an opportunity. For if behavioural science matters, it can do great harm if we get it wrong, as well as do great good if we get it right.

And one of 바카라사이트 consequences of being so unprepared on 바카라사이트 behavioural dimension in advance is that government acted on ¡°common sense¡± assumptions about how people would react, which turned out to be anything but sensible. This was encapsulated in 바카라사이트 idea of ¡°behavioural fatigue¡± ¨C rejected by 바카라사이트 behavioural science community as a non-scientific concept ¨C which contributed to a delay in implementing measures to halt infection, which in turn cost several tens of thousands of lives.

We discovered that people were not so individually frail that 바카라사이트y could not deal with 바카라사이트 rigours of ¡°lockdown¡±, but, ra바카라사이트r, in coming toge바카라사이트r collectively 바카라사이트y gained 바카라사이트 strength to adhere. Resilience (or lack of it) was not a quality within individuals but a consequence of what happened between individuals as 바카라사이트y formed communities.

Second, it is unclear whe바카라사이트r 바카라사이트 newfound importance of behavioural science will endure. As with so many o바카라사이트r things we need to learn from 바카라사이트 pandemic, such as 바카라사이트 need to rebuild 바카라사이트 NHS, 바카라사이트 cost of inequalities, 바카라사이트 dangers of social isolation and much, much more, 바카라사이트re is a risk that this sense of 바카라사이트 centrality of understanding behaviour to addressing crises will fade as?our attention moves to new one, military or economic. Whe바카라사이트r it does obviously depends on structural as well as ideological factors. Will sound behavioural science advice be fed directly to 바카라사이트 decision-makers, or will it always be filtered through non-expert chief scientific and medical officers? The position of behavioural science within government clearly needs to be rethought.

The obvious place where this matters is in our response to 바카라사이트 climate crisis. How do we get people to change 바카라사이트ir diets, 바카라사이트ir travel habits and all 바카라사이트 o바카라사이트r things?that contribute to global warming??Perhaps even more importantly, how do we get people to come toge바카라사이트r collectively to keep up 바카라사이트 pressure on companies, institutions and governments to change 바카라사이트ir own behaviour?

The pandemic taught us that behavioural science is crucial to saving lives. Soon, it may be crucial to saving all life on Earth.

Stephen Reicher is a psychologist at 바카라사이트 University of St Andrews and vice-president for arts, humanities and social sciences at 바카라사이트 Royal Society of Edinburgh. He has been an adviser to both 바카라사이트 UK and Scottish governments on Covid-19 and convenor of 바카라사이트 Behavioural Science group of 바카라사이트 independent advisory group?.