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Series:   Elements in Applied Social Psychology

Behavioral Insights for Public Policy

Contextualizing our Science

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 April 2022

Crystal C. Hall  and
Ines Jurcevic
Crystal C. Hall
Affiliation:
University of Washington
Ines Jurcevic
Affiliation:
University of Washington

Summary

There has been an increasing effort to integrate behavioral insights into public policy. These insights are often reliant on social psychological research and theory. However, in this relatively young field, policy interventions and behavioral insights are often built on laboratory-based psychological research with effects that can prove to be unstable in the 'real world'. In this Element, the author provides a brief history of how behavioral insights have been applied to complex policy problems. The author describes ways in which behavioral insights have been successful and where they have fallen short. In addition, the author examines unintended negative consequences of nudges and provides a more nuanced examination of their impacts on behavior change. Finally, the author concludes with a set of recommendations for generating more effective practical applications of psychology to the field of public policy.
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Keywords

behavioral insightsequitynudgingpsychological taxpublic policy
Type
Element
Information
Series: Elements in Applied Social Psychology
Online ISBN: 9781009028806
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication: 28 April 2022

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