Carrots, Sticks, Norms, and Nudges: Changing Minds and Behaviors

Catalog description

In this class, we will survey the current state of the science of behavior change. By the 1990s, social scientists had already built a massive literature on this topic, and an integrative consensus theoretical framework began to emerge. But in the past decade, this literature has been revitalized by dramatic new ideas and technologies, as well as significant improvements in evaluation methodology. We will focus on four types of strategies that apply equally to influence efforts by individuals, communities, non-profits, for-profits, and government: (1) Carrots: Positive incentives (rewards, awards, praise, recognition, discounts, rebates, property rights, etc.); (2) Sticks: Negative incentives (punishments, fines, shaming, guilt or liability verdicts, costs, etc.); (3) Norms: What other people believe I should do, and what I see others actually do (tipping points, bandwagons, cascades, herding, etc.); and (4) Nudges: Traditional methods of persuasion; use of defaults to encourage certain behaviors; engineering the environment; harm reduction for risky behaviors. We will examine the "how" and "why" and "when" of these approaches, but also their normative implications for ethics, justice, and public welfare. Course requirements include class attendance and participation, and five short written assignments. For Research "R" credit, students may petition to complete one long paper based on independent research. After the term begins, students accepted into the course can transfer from section (01) into section (02), which meets the R requirement, with consent of the instructor. Elements used in grading: Class participation, attendance, written assignments and/or final paper.