Episode 87: The Distracting Nature of Nudges
"Nudging" has received attention as a way to achieve broad societal change by promoting small, individual adjustments, like recycling, or counting our steps. Yoel and Alexa consider Chater and Loewenstein's claim that nudging fails by distracting us from more fruitful system-level change.
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Show Notes
Originating within the behavioral sciences, "nudging" has received attention as a way to achieve broad societal change by promoting small, individual adjustments. We're told, for instance, that if we all do our part reduce our carbon footprints we can stave off climate change. In today's episode, Yoel and Alexa consider a critique of "nudging" offered by Chater and Loewenstein. These authors argue that individual-level interventions often fail to accumulate to impressive societal change, and meanwhile distract from much needed system-level solutions. Also, Yoel claims to be less relatable than Alexa.
Sponsored By:
- FindingFive: Link and promo code for users in the European Union Promo Code: FF-EU-2P4B
- FindingFive: FindingFive is a non-profit web platform where academic researchers can create and run online behavioral research studies in the cloud. Promo Code: FF-US-2P4B
Links:
- Two Psychologists F. on Untappd
- The i-Frame and the s-Frame: How Focusing on Individual-Level Solutions Has Led Behavioral Public Policy Astray by Nick Chater, George Loewenstein :: SSRN
- Sleaford Mods - Nudge It Ft. Amy Taylor - YouTube
- Why 'Nudges' Hardly Help - The Atlantic
- Climate Change Is a Crisis We Can Only Solve Together | The Nation
- (5) Oleg Urminsky on Twitter: "Some slightly cranky comments on the "nudges can be a harmful diversion" discussion. 🧵" / Twitter
- What nudge theory got wrong | Financial Times