The New Psychology of

Behaviour Change

‘What Works in Behaviour Change?’ Edinburgh June 28th 2010

Stephen Reicher, Psychology, University of St. Andrewssdr@st-andrews.ac.uk

How not to influence people

You don’t influence people by telling them what they should do

It provokes resentment and the experience of domination

It provokes resistance

It provokes reactance

It undermines authority

How to influence people

You do influence people by clarifying what we want to do

It induces goodwill and the experience of facilitation

It produces mobilisation

It creates conversion

It enhances authority

Influence as a group process

Influence and behaviour change depend upon the creation of a shared identity (a ‘we’ relationship) between the influencer

and the influenced:

Regarding the source: ‘S/he is of us’

Regarding the message: ‘S/he speaks for us’

And, where both apply, ‘we’ follow

Rules concerning the source

Rule 1: The source must be one of us

Rule 2: The source must do things for us

Rule 3: The source must do things with us

Rules concerning the source:An illustration

Sovereignty resides in my person alone… my courts derive their existence and their authority from me alone. The plenitude of this authority resides with me. They exercise it only in my name

and it may never be turned against me. I alone have the power to legislate.

I do not pretend to any superior abilities, but will give place to no-one in

meaning to preserve the freedom, happiness, and glory of my dominions,

and all their inhabitants, and to fulfill the duty to my God and my neighbour

in the most extended

Rules concerning the message

Rule 1: Proposals must reflect group identity

Rule 2: Proposals must make the group distinctive

Rule 3: Proposals must be a source of group pride

Rules concerning the message:An illustration

“encapsulated within the Scottish psyche is a degree of carefulness… carefulness about being able to balance the budget, an absence of any sort of liking for debt”

“We care more about the poor and this is reflected I think in voting patterns…. ‘A man’s a man for all that etc… I think that again epitomizes our attitude towards the corporate community that is Scotland”

Applying the principles and rulesto ‘Green’ behaviours

Four matched Schools:1. ‘information and moral exhortation’ (baseline)

2. baseline + comparative information3. baseline + group reward

4. baseline + information and reward

Measured actual energy consumptionMeasured attitudes and intentions through survey and

interviews

Energy consumption

Electricity savings for participating and non-participating schools

SchoolAverage

saving for six periods

Peak saving period (P3)

Final saving period (P6)

1 (basic) -6% -9% -2%

2 (reward) 0% -11% -3%

3 (comparative) -9% -25% -10%

4 (reward + comparative)

-4% -10% 2% (increase)

All 4 participating schools

-4% -13% -3%

All 9 non-participating schools

3% (increase) -8% 4% (increase)

Energy attitudes and intentions

People oppose the initiative when:

(a) They see it as reflecting a management that is insensitive to the realities of staff experience (source as OG)

(b) They see it as imposed, patronising and hectoring (source as OG)

(c) They don’t see it as reflecting a real commitment to sustainability (message as non-normative)

An overall model of intentions

sc hool/university identif ic ation university norms

sc hool norms intention

.2 1.0 5

.2 4

.2 8

.1 7.3 0

.0 9

Conclusions

Promoting (green) behaviour will only be successful if it comes to be seen as a group

norm

The process by which (green) behaviour is advocated is critical to whether the message is

embraced

The content of (green) behaviour change campaigns must pay as much attention to

defining ‘who we are’ as to advocating ‘what we should do.

‘We’ is the most important word in behaviour change

For more….

sdr@st-andrews.ac.uk