Behavior Change for Climate Action Challenge 2022

The Center for Behavior and Climate (CBC) is seeking applications for our Behavior Change for Climate Action Challenge 2022. The application is just 3 pages. To request application, email [email protected]. Climate areas of interest include but are not limited to: energy conservation, public action (e.g., policy support, volunteering, protesting, voting for politicians supporting climate action), food choices, tree planting, soil restoration, blue carbon restoration, renewable energy, and electrification of cars, trucks, buses.

Applicable evidence-based behavior change include, but are not limited to, the following: Make it easy, Nudges/Choice Architecture; Prompts; Justification; Instructions; Rewards; Feedback; Social Modeling (social norms, block leaders, community interventions); Cognitive Dissonance; Commitments; Setting Goals; Games; and Tools to Counter Cognitive Biases.

CBC will select 3 nonprofits for this challenge. Each of the selected nonprofits will receive:
1) free technical assistance to learn how to apply behavior change for climate action from the CBC (workshop and continued technical support);
2) $4650 in funds to apply behavior change to an existing or new climate action project.
https://climate.bds.com/behavior-change-for-climate-action-challenge: Applications accepted til Nov. 1, 2022

Thinking More Deeply About Positive Thinking

People like feeling in control of where their lives are headed, and the pandemic has made it especially difficult to feel this way. There’s little we can do to change the harsh realities of the current crisis, but professor Arthur C. Brooks describes how we can adopt a more positive mindset to better cope with these realities in The Atlantic. Is positive thinking always the answer to our problems, or can it sometimes lead us astray? In SPSP’s Character and Context blog, professor Trysh Travis describes some of the less-known perils of positive thinking-- for example, someone who has uncritically internalized a belief in thinking positively may feel it’s their own fault if they remain marginalized from systemic racism. Finally, Annie Duke weighs in on the power of negative thinking.

The Psychological Burden of Remote Learning

The pandemic has taken education out of its social context, and schools haven’t fully accounted for the psychological burden this imposes on students, writes psychologist Tess Wilkinson-Ryan for The Atlantic. Remote learning also exacerbates racial and economic gaps in achievement, reports the LA Times.

CALL FOR PAPERS

Behavioral Insights for AI Policy and Regulation

Behavioral Science & Policy invites researchers and scholars to submit research papers exploring the intricate relationship between Artificial Intelligence (AI) and behavioral science, with a particular focus on the implications for this rapidly evolving technology for public policy. This call aims to foster a better understanding of how AI is used and the cognitive, social, and systemic impacts it elicits, while also addressing the pressing need for effective regulation. Papers may take the form of proposals, essays, new empirical research, or reviews (see below)–but must be firmly grounded in rigorous empirical behavioral science and its application to practice.

The integration of AI into various aspects of our lives has already led to transformative changes across industries, including healthcare, finance, transportation, and education. As AI systems become more prevalent and sophisticated, it is crucial to investigate how people interact with them and the consequences of these interactions for individuals, communities, and society as a whole. AI has the potential to assist in addressing complex social issues and governance through data-driven insights and the design and targeting of behavioral interventions. At the same time, the ethical and regulatory challenges surrounding AI deployment necessitate interdisciplinary research to ensure that the technology aligns with societal values, including fairness and the protection of individual rights.

We invite researchers from diverse fields, including but not limited to behavioral economics, cognitive science, computer science, ethics, law, management, psychology, public policy, and sociology to contribute original work that sheds light on the behavioral aspects of AI, and in particular, its deployment and regulation.
Click here to learn more and to submit: https://behavioralpolicy.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/10/Call-for-Papers-10-25-23.pdf

missed the opportunity to attend bspa 2020? watch online now!

On May 28 & 29th, BSPA hosted its first ever *virtual* conference. Featuring Dan Ariely, David Brooks from the NYT, Shankar Vedantam from NPR, sessions on COVID-19, the state of behavioral science at the city and federal level, latest publications, and many more exciting sessions, we encourage you to sign up for access to a compelling two days.

New Issue of BSP – Spotlight on Diversity in the Workplace

Our most recent issue features five new articles that propose new insights into how “business and society can address matters relating to well-being, empowerment and equity.” The last of these is particularly timely: three articles in a Spotlight on Diversity in the Workplace take on questions of how to design effective practices to reduce workplace inequality, how to develop and deliver effective anti-bias training, and how to manage teams in ways that make the most of their diversity.