'Nudging' our way towards world peace

As behavioural scientists, we can’t help but jump at the opportunity to use #nudges, #priming, #choicearchitecture and #socialnorms to #ShapeTheFuture to be “more equal, more just, equitable, inclusive, sustainable, and healthier” (United Nations, 2021).

We can all agree that human beings have the capacity for both war and peace.  As behavioural scientists, we know that the social norms that surround us have an impact on our behaviour, but how much good do we need to see before “doing the right thing” becomes the norm?  What can we do to shape these norms to bring out the best version of ourselves and society? 

On this#InternationalDayofPeace, we look toward #behaviouralsciencewhich highlights this critical insight – that new norms can be born from just a 25% group consensus (Centola et al., 2018).

Centola et al’s work shows that within a given social circle or community, a new social convention  can be adopted by the entire group once it passes the 25% consensus mark. In other words, there is a ‘tipping point’ at 25% for social change.

This highlights the significance of grassroots level action. As Centola et al comment, “Apparently stable societal norms can be effectively overturned by the efforts of small but committed minorities.”  This can certainly give us hope that more aggressive cultures can be challenged; but it also is a watch-out as more peaceful norms can be overthrown by a small minority committed to doing so.

As individuals, we can all take that first step and seek to be part of the 25% who are working to make our communities (and thus the world) a better place.

Sources:

Centola, D., Becker, J., Brackbill, D., & Baronchelli, A. (2018). Experimental evidence for tipping points in social convention. Science, 360(6393), 1116-1119.

United Nations. (2021). International Day of Peace. https://www.un.org/en/observances/international-day-peace