Moving from nudging to boosting: empowering behaviour change to address global challenges
Ralph Hertwig, Susan Michie, Robert West, Stephen Reicher
Abstract
Abstract The COVID-19 pandemic provided a stark reminder that societies will struggle to address global challenges unless they are able to change behaviour at scale. The widely adopted ‘nudge’ approach epitomizes an individualistic, deficit model of human cognition and motivation that leverages or overcomes people’s weaknesses and biases to get them to do things they would otherwise not. By contrast, we argue that tackling the challenges facing humanity requires a collective, capacity-building approach – one that boosts the competences, opportunities, and motivations of individuals to act together.
Topics & Concepts
Boosting (machine learning)Computer sciencePolitical scienceArtificial intelligenceCommunity Health and DevelopmentBehavioral Health and InterventionsComplex Systems and Decision Making