Behavioural Warfare and Covid-19: Why are Psychologists Advising the Government? - There is a war on for your mind, as behavioural scientists increasingly shape the narrative that you hear and see. This is especially true in regards to Covid-19. As a UK government document from March of last year stated, “many issues around the coronavirus response relate to behaviour.”
This is why the UK government has an entire team of behavioural scientists who work to improve public compliance with scientific dictates in relation to Covid-19. It is called the Independent Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B), with a similar group formed during the co-called swine flu pandemic of 2009/10 and the Ebola crisis of 2014.
The behavioural team is a sub-group of the Scientific Advisory Group for Emergencies (SAGE), which advises the UK government on Covid-19. This sub-group is comprised of more than 40 scientists and academics, from such fields as health psychology, social psychology and anthropology. They provide “behavioural science advice aimed at anticipating and helping people adhere to interventions that are recommended by medical or epidemiological experts.”
The behavioural sub-group has suggested various measures. In order to increase public compliance with Covid dictates for instance, the sub-group suggested “increasing risk perceptions.” A UK government document also notes that the behavioural sub-group is “maintaining a log of COVID-19 specific behavioural science, including polling.” In other words, Covid-19 is the grandest live social experiment in human history, and we are the guinea pigs.
Behavioural Insights
Although it is a sub-group of SAGE, some participants of the behavioural team are also direct participants of SAGE, such as Professor Dame Theresa Marteau, who is the Director of the Behaviour and Health Research Unit at the University of Cambridge. Some participants of this behavioural sub-group on Covid are also part of the Behavioural Insights Team (BIT), such as Professor David Halpern. Also known as the Nudge Unit, the BIT generates and applies behavioural insights to inform policy.
The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD) defines behavioural insights as “an inductive approach to policy making that combines insights from psychology, cognitive science, and social science with empirically-tested results to discover how humans actually make choices.” The OECD notes that there are over 200 institutions around the world that are applying behavioural insights to public policy.
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Sources:
The role of behavioural science in the coronavirus outbreak 14th March 2020 https://assets.publishing.service.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/873732/07-role-of-behavioural-science-in-the-coronavirus-outbreak.pdf
Independent Scientific Pandemic Insights Group on Behaviours (SPI-B) https://www.gov.uk/government/groups/independent-scientific-pandemic-influenza-group-on-behaviours-spi-b
List of participants of SAGE and related sub-groups https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/scientific-advisory-group-for-emergencies-sage-coronavirus-covid-19-response-membership/list-of-participants-of-sage-and-related-sub-groups
Professor Dame Theresa Marteau DBE https://www.phpc.cam.ac.uk/people/pcu-group/pcu-senior-academic-staff/theresa-marteau/
Professor David Halpern, Chief Executive of the BIT https://www.bi.team/people/professor-david-halpern/
BIT Podcast: COVID vaccines & tech repairability https://www.bi.team/blogs/podcast-covid-vaccines-tech-repairability/
Behavioural insights (OECD) https://www.oecd.org/gov/regulatory-policy/behavioural-insights.htm
Gregor Young, Defence chief says 77th Brigade is countering Covid misinformation https://www.thenational.scot/news/18398012.defence-chief-says-77th-brigade-countering-covid-misinformation/
