A National Scale Test of the Science of Change
Monday, April 6th, 2009
Time Magazine has an interesting article on how Obama and his staff are using principles from behavioral science to make change happen on a national level. For example, using the principle that people want to do what they think others will do shaped a key campaign message “A Record Turn Out is Expected”.
Although this principle and the other techniques discussed in the article (e.g. Nudges) are nothing new to readers of this blog, what is new is the fact that they are being tested on a national scale. We can expect to see them put to work in healthcare reform, finance reform, education and other aspects of Obama’s change agenda.
What an opportunity to advance our scientific understanding of behavior change!
