On decision making, interconnectedness and freedom
Yes, this year is very sour and life is giving us lots of lemons, to quote the expression ‘when life gives you lemon, make lemonade’. How does your lemonade look like?
Starting today, many regions in Italy are turning ‘yellow’, which now is the best condition in which a region can be in terms of restrictions due to COVID-19.
Or is it not?
How do we behave when we have more freedom of choice? What have you observed in yourself and in others? Are you willing to have a different Christmas?
Willingness is for sure one major element of a good and healthy lemonade recipe, if we consider our well-being as worthy as - and connected to - the well-being of others. In the process of Psychological Flexibility, #willingness develops when we have clarity of values, and becomes a strength that supports us when experiencing unpleasant thoughts and emotions is a condition for growth and desired change in the service of what matters most.
What are the values, or important aspects of the kind of person you want to be, that you have been discovering or cultivating since the beginning of the pandemic? How have they transformed or consolidated during the second wave?
Even if our personal responsibility in the spread of the pandemic can be perceived as quite abstract – depending a lot on on how the virus actually affected our close network of acquaintances - your values will support your choices and your choices are the power you have to contribute to a better future, which is not just about our close network, but necessarily encompasses each and every Country, region, person.
‘Turning yellow’ is slippery ground, even more so in a period like Christmas 2020, when we most want and need our beloved ones close to us, and to experience the traditions of this time of the year: cooking and eating together, buying presents, celebrating, joining a mass, travelling, …
As we learned during the first lockdown, the experience of what’s missing can make us fall into a spiral of sadness, frustration and complaint. By referring to a number of guidelines and recommendations available we all have the opportunity to manage these thoughts and emotions in a way that is beneficial for our health and the health of the world.
Mindfulness, for example, can be of great help.
Both this change of perspective and cultivating a safe management of 'turning yellow' requires a process of decision making that is ongoing and will happen several times a day.
How do people make decisions in this context?
Decision making by an individual involves intentional behaviour that follows reasoning, usually in order to solve a problem (stateofmind.it).
Every decision we make takes place in a #context, which determines our actions more than we think. The area of critical decisions taken in a complex environment is a field of action of the behavioural sciences.
Thinking about #COVID-19 and decision making, we can all observe how complex it is for institutions to go through this process effectively. Institutions also need to influence the decision making process of citizens to ensure the best possible management of the different plans they design and implement. I believe everyone has asked themselves whether governments should be stricter or allow more freedom, providing different sorts of reasons to their answer.
I often observed individuals base their decisions - and the positions they take - on a perceived 'truth' that aligns with their own personal need and interest, which makes everything even more complex and hinders the chance to have a shared approach. The (wild) spread of opinions through media widens the challenge, increasing complexity. We should be aware of the ways our minds work, their processes, their biases, and take perspective - without judgment - on the subsequent actions. It would be a wonderful starting point for making the world a better place.
What might be the best way to influence a person's behaviour (for good)?
"The tools adopted by public policies are basically three: regulation, incentive and information. The first acts on behaviour through a sanctioning attitude, the second with a rewarding attitude, the third persuasive. And it is on this third policy tool that a sort of subset has developed from the behavioural sciences, simply called nudge". (Giacomo Galletti)
The term #nudge is recently enjoying particular attention as a topic that earned Professor Richard H. Thaler the Nobel Prize in Economics in 2017. According to the latter, small "positive reinforcements", apparently insignificant, can modify the behaviour of individuals in the direction of desirable actions, without limiting their freedom of choice.
Nudging has also entered politics: for example, in 2010 a "Behavioral Insight Team", also called "Nudge Unit", was established in London, which deals with applying the discoveries of academic research, in particular those of behavioural economics, in the service of politics and public services.
Some articles have been shared stressing the importance of nudging during the pandemic, describing measures implemented such as hand sanitizers at the entrance of shops, or various arrows and signs.
Other articles explore behaviours like wearing a mask among friends and why some of us stop doing it even if we know it’s important and we’d want to:
“The visibility of the behavior is important. Often abstaining from virtuous behavior is favored by false consent, that is, the tendency to believe that one's opinions are widely shared by the majority. This phenomenon can also be countered simply by seeing others wearing the mask: their behavior acts as a nudge, signaling that a certain behavior is suitable for the situation. Surprisingly, the entire group does not need to follow the rule in the early stages. According to the study by Damon Centola, published in Science in 2018, there is a "point of no return", a minimum percentage of people who, by adopting a new norm within a group, are enough to establish a new social convention. This percentage is just 25%, a well-cohesive minority”. (Lorenzo Gagliardi, Uscire di sera col Covid-19: una questione di norme sociali - abetterplace.it)Other articles state that nudging is probably not enough in this context:
“It is clearly not at all easy to formulate a message such that it gently but surely engages the desired behaviour in everyone. Of course, nobody wants to be directly responsible for the death of a fellow human. But the trouble is, that is not how it is perceived.
Jim Everett and colleagues investigated the effectiveness of four types of messages aimed at influencing behaviour, with 1000 participants in the US:
Non moral control: We all need to do this, however difficult
Deontological: We all need to do this, however difficult, because it is the right thing to do: it is our duty and responsibility to protect our families, friends and fellow citizens. IT IS OUR DUTY.
Virtue: We all need to do this, however difficult, because it’s what a good person would do. Think about people you admire morally: what would they do? BE A GOOD PERSON.
Utilitarian: We all need to do this, however difficult, because the sacrifices are nothing compared to the much worst consequences for everyone if we carry on as usual. THINK OF THE CONSEQUENCES”.
On this Sunday of December, a traditional day for Christmas shopping and exchange of greetings, what message will guide your decisions while benefiting from the fact your region turned yellow?
Everytime I think of decision making, I think back of the book that made me choose to study psychology: ‘Escape from freedom’ by Erich Fromm.
What will you do with your freedom, today? I'm starting with the woman in the mirror.
Comments