Hi all,
You may be familiar with Rare, a global organization that works to change individual and community behaviour to protect the environment. From all their newsletters that went out in 2023, they have presented the top five most read behavioural science-related articles.
Here are the top three, for your interest:
1. Pop normative bubbles
Normative bubbles are the gaps between what people believe others think about climate action and what others actually think. Apparently the most significant predictor of taking climate action is what we believe others are doing (or not). Harnessing social norms is therefore critical to achieving gains with respect to climate action. This is a Behavioural Science article by Rare CEO Brett Jenks. Click here to read it.
2. Shift how we talk about environmental issues
As you likely know, information alone is usually insufficient to change behaviour. There are four common myths associated with this that are explored by Anne Toomey (2023). She draws from behavioural science literature to demonstrate that:
- Facts alone do not change people’s minds
- Scientific literacy is not a panacea
- Social norms are underutilized
- Targeting messages to a specific priority group is more effective than simply “getting the word out”
Toomey concludes the article with recommendations to counter the myths, including appealing to values and emotions, as well as fostering social connection. Click here to read it.
3. Improve climate change awareness across the globe
A collaborative study by the Yale Program on Climate Change Communication, Data for Good at Meta, and Rare explored questions related to the level of knowledge that communities around the world have about climate change, how many think that climate change is human-caused, and who is most and least worried about it. They surveyed people in 187 countries around the world to find out their knowledge, perceptions, attitudes, behaviours, and policy views. This may be interesting for you to know where knowledge gaps remain and what the global trends are. Click here to read the study.
If you’d like to look at the summaries for Rare’s top five most-read articles in 2023, click here.
