Use caution when applying behavioural science to policy

IJzerman, Hans; Lewis, Neil A.; Przybylski, Andrew K; Weinstein, Netta; DeBruine, Lisa M.; Ritchie, Stuart J.; Vazire, Simine; Forscher, Patrick S.; Morey, Richard D.; Ivory, James; Anvari, Farid

doi:10.1038/s41562-020-00990-w

Cited by 190 publications

(201 citation statements)

References 14 publications

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“…The challenges to diversity, equity, and inclusion are not simply perpetrated by individuals; inequalities are deeply embedded in the structures of organizations and society (Bailey et al, 2017; Hatzenbuehler et al, 2010). Historical precedent has lingering effects on the present (Rothstein, 2017) and it is important to understand those effects to effectively design, implement, and scale interventions (IJzerman et al, 2020). The history and culture of social systems shape whether people pay attention to the details in messages about proposed changes (Lewis et al, 2020), whether proposed changes feel reasonable and congruent with their worldview (Oyserman, 2017), and thus whether they are receptive to them (Lewis & Wai, 2020).…”

Section: Policy Insightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Beyond Implicit Bias Training: Policy Insights for Increasing Organizational Diversity

Onyeador

Hudson

Lewis

2021

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences

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131

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Many organizations are working to address diversity, equity, and inclusion. Organizations frequently use implicit bias to explain disparities and marshal implicit bias training as a solution. Implicit bias is difficult to change and trainings do not yield more diversity in organizations, so organizations should move beyond implicit bias trainings in their diversity, equity, and inclusion efforts. Organizations should (a) use trainings to educate members of their organizations about bias and about organizational efforts to address diversity, equity, and inclusion; (b) prepare for, rather than accommodate, defensive responses from dominant group members; and (c) implement structures that foster organizational responsibility for diversity, equity, and inclusion goals; opportunities for high-quality intergroup contact; affinity groups for underrepresented people; welcoming and inclusive messaging; and processes that bypass interpersonal bias. Although no simple, one-size-fits-all solutions address organizational diversity, organizational leaders have many tools they can use to design more effective diversity strategies.

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Section: Policy Insightsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Moving Beyond Implicit Bias Training: Policy Insights for Increasing Organizational Diversity

Onyeador

Hudson

Lewis

2021

Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences

Self Cite

131

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“…The lack of accurate behavioural data represents a formidable shortcoming that deprives health policymakers of the high-quality evidence they require to make informed decisions on possible regulations to the video games industry [10]. A range of solutions have been proposed including active and passive forms of online engagement [11] and measuring engagement using device telemetry (i.e.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Video game play is positively correlated with well-being

2021

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People have never played more video games, and many stakeholders are worried that this activity might be bad for players. So far, research has not had adequate data to test whether these worries are justified and if policymakers should act to regulate video game play time. We attempt to provide much-needed evidence with adequate data. Whereas previous research had to rely on self-reported play behaviour, we collaborated with two games companies, Electronic Arts and Nintendo of America, to obtain players' actual play behaviour. We surveyed players of Plants vs. Zombies: Battle for Neighborville and Animal Crossing: New Horizons for their well-being, motivations and need satisfaction during play, and merged their responses with telemetry data (i.e. logged game play). Contrary to many fears that excessive play time will lead to addiction and poor mental health, we found a small positive relation between game play and affective well-being. Need satisfaction and motivations during play did not interact with play time but were instead independently related to well-being. Our results advance the field in two important ways. First, we show that collaborations with industry partners can be done to high academic standards in an ethical and transparent fashion. Second, we deliver much-needed evidence to policymakers on the link between play and mental health.

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“…Although we cannot draw direct policy implications from the present study 50 , we believe that the evidence provided may inform the policy debate in several directions. While our study signals the existence of a substantial portion of people willing to contribute to the common good, the largest proportion of resources are still kept for the self.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 74%

Altruism in the time of COVID-19: We are all in this together, but who is we?

Grimalda

Buchan

Öztürk

et al. 2021

Preprint

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Theory posits that in situations of existential threat, selfish motivations will be outweighed by altruistic ones, and cooperation will be parochial. Yet, the global character of the COVID-19 pandemic makes unclear which level of group inclusiveness individuals will privilege. In an online experiment, participants from the U.S. and Italy chose to allocate a monetary bonus to a charity active in COVID-19 relief efforts at the local, national, or international level, or to keep the bonus for themselves. We found that personal exposure to COVID-19 increased donations relative to those not exposed, even as levels of environmental exposure (numbers of cases locally) had no effect. Only one-third of individuals acted entirely selfishly. Donors predominantly benefitted the local level (state in the U.S., region in Italy); donations toward country and world levels were half as large. Social identity was a moderating factor in both countries. These results confirm and qualify existing theories.

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Use caution when applying behavioural science to policy

Cited by 190 publications

References 14 publications

Moving Beyond Implicit Bias Training: Policy Insights for Increasing Organizational Diversity

Moving Beyond Implicit Bias Training: Policy Insights for Increasing Organizational Diversity

Video game play is positively correlated with well-being

Altruism in the time of COVID-19: We are all in this together, but who is we?

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