WHEN things get better we want them now, dont we? and feeling like some semblance of normal times has returned, perhaps we can look back and see how overrated the feeling of fear has been.

Fear has kept us from knowing what this pandemic is really all about. Life has been hard; and people who, with reason, feared the new virus have made it harder.

We are unable to ask in detail how people who died from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) coped with the disease up to the last minute that they were able to tell their stories because we fearedgetting infected ourselves. We did not even think about forensic examination of as many samples of Covid-19 cadavers as we should, lest we unbundle the spread of the virus even more, opting instead not to waste a second in sending them to cremation.

If fear had not crippled us, perhaps we would know by now that all it takes to arrest the contagion is a nudge; that mass morbidity is best managed at home with the help of grasses and herbs that can easily be found in many backyards. We would know that quarantine regulations are mostly baseless and the bleeding economy they dragged out of the running with them is an unnecessary casualty. Isnt it madnessthatsomebody got killed as a result of enforcing checkpoints?

We would know that face masks are equally overrated; that they help accumulate the elevated levels of carbon dioxide in front of our nostrils instead of keeping our mouths and noses free from hostile airborne invasion.

And so the brainstorming over what ifs goes on. Some ideas have already taken shape.

If this thoroughly devastating global experience has any redeeming value, if something good can come out of this pandemic, it might be one that helps mold human behavior.

The United Nations, for example, has documented cases on behavioral insights that aim to design more effective responses to Covid-19. Below is an excerpt of a UN report:In the Arab States region, behavioral insights (BI) have been a long-standing favorite intheUnited Nations Development Programs (UNDP) toolbox of innovation methodologies contributing to the achievement of the Sustainable Development Goals. Now, UNDPcountryoffices are looking to BI to inform their responses to Covid-19. UNDP Sudan is busy running a range of perception surveys to better understand consumer behaviour and using these findings among others to develop behaviorallyinformed messages to limit panic-buying.

UNDP Egypt is partnering with telecommunication companies to send out SMS messages encouraging positive behaviors linked to: i) Covid-19 hygiene practices; ii) physical distancing; iii) countering the spread of misinformation; and iv) staying at home. UNDP Kuwait is exploring the use of behavioral insights to address the mental health vulnerabilities laid bare by the pandemic with a particular focus on addressing domestic violence. What these interventions recognize is that information and awareness are crucial, but in and of themselves may not be as effective as we would hope. Making sure we respond to peoples inherent cognitive biases matters, particularly in the midst of an infodemic a proliferation of information that makes it difficult for people to distinguish reliable sources.

Led by UNDP Lebanon, several online forumsand surveys have been conducted to facilitate consensus building on Covid-19-related behavioral barriers and possible nudges. The report continues: A nudge, in the words of Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein, is any aspect of the choice architecture that alters peoples behavior in a predictable way without forbidding any options or significantly changing their economic incentives. Sounds complex, but a nudge can be something as simple as placing hand sanitizer dispensers in more accessible spots or drawing attention to them through visual cues.

Takeaways from these exercises to which many other countries or communities can relate include the following:

Use influencers and community leaders to deliver messages more impactfully. For example, UNDP Somalia has mobilized its community of Somali storytellers to produce videos, animations and photos that are informing the public about how to protect themselves and others from infection. UNDP Lebanon hired service providers to record how-to videos on handwashing and to encourage a sense of responsibility vis-a-vis others. These initiatives are helping to localize key messages, to brand desirable behaviors as the social norm, and to make the threat more palpable. This is known as the bandwagon effect if we perceive that others are increasingly engaging in a behavior, we become more likely to do so ourselves even if it is not something we would normally consider.

Evoke emotion, create a sense of pride around helping to protect ones family and community. This appeals to the affect heuristic whereby our decisions are very often driven by our emotions even when we think we are motivated by logic.

Remind people of all the things they can do from home, including available e-services and the various ways to connect with friends virtually. Reminders give salience to the desired behavior and have been shown to be effective nudges.

Public behavior compliant with World Health Organization guidance has been recognized as a critical element in reducing virus transmission. Behavioral insights can complement more restrictive policy measures with a deeper understanding of how people make decisions. In times of crisis, we cannot rely on business as usual, let alone on rational reactions.

The social context of countries like the Philippines that have redeveloped a liking for authoritarian tendencies and have therefore become more dependent on authoritative figures (not necessarily the law) to shape social order, might be a little different. But the point of BIs and nudges is that it often takes more than authoritative figures and the law to influence human behavior (especially when there is no CCTV or when the police are out of sight, LOL). It is about culture. We need to know who we are, and start building nudges from there.

See the article here:
Whats in a nudge? The Manila Times - The Manila Times