We are not as in smart as we think we are; actually our minds are controlled

BY SIMONE J. SMITH

Influencing people’s behaviour is nothing new to the Government, which has often used tools such as legislation, regulation or taxation to achieve desired policy outcomes. But many of the biggest policy challenges we are now facing – such as the increase in people with chronic health conditions – will only be resolved if we are successful in persuading people to change their behaviour, their lifestyles or their existing habits. MINDSPACE, Influencing behaviour through public policy

What if I was to tell you that most of your behaviour in the last year was achieved through the unethical use of covert psychological strategies? That our government was using “nudges” in their messaging campaigns.

What if I told you that they had used tools as incentives and information to change behaviour by changing your mind because they realize that people do not always respond to situations in the most rational way?

I was most recently introduced to an article by Gary Sidley called, “A year of Fear.” (https://thecritic.co.uk/a-year-of-fear/). In the article, he exposes information that is chilling, but worthy of sharing because after reading it, it made perfect sense as to why many of us have been reacting to this pandemic.

He shared that a major contribution to the mass obedience of the British people is likely to have been the activities of government-employed psychologists working as part of the “Behavioural Insights Team,” a team conceived in 2010 dedicated to the application of behavioural science to policy.

They had put together a discussion document called MINDSPACE, which happens to be a checklist of influences on our behaviour derived for use when making policy.

Hmmm!

Naturally I was intrigued and decided to take a look at this 96-page document. What I found was intriguing, but not surprising. It made me think; how many of these tools have been used on the Canadian public, and more specifically, had any of them been used to influence the Canadian people during this pandemic?

I am going to briefly break down the acronym MINDSPACE, but I encourage you to take a look at the link that I provided above.

Messenger
We are heavily influenced by who communicates information
Quite naturally, we give weight to information if the information comes from a perceived authority. It was found that people are more likely to act on information if experts deliver it. It makes me think about all of the announcements and press releases delivered to us during the pandemic, and the fact that our politicians weighed heavily on a handful of selected doctors to deliver messages to the people.

It is important to note that we are also affected by the feelings we have for the messenger. We may irrationally discard advice given by someone we dislike (government officials), so they will use sports stars, entertainers or social influencers to deliver that same message.

This is something to think about the next time that someone you really like seems to be aligning his or her message with the powers that be.

Incentives
Our responses to incentives are shaped by predictable mental shortcuts such as strongly avoiding losses
We dislike losses more than we like gains of an equivalent amount. If you get the vaccine, life will get back to normal. We all want life to get back to normal. The incentive is taking the vaccine, and the avoided loss is the loss of our freedom.

Norms
We are strongly influenced by what others do
Sorry to be the bearer of bad news, but we are not as strong-minded as we think we are. In actuality, we tend to do what those around us are already doing.

We tend to act on social and cultural norms, which are the behavioural expectations, or rules, within a society or group. Norms can be explicitly stated (“Wear a mask‟ signs in public places) or implicit in observed behaviour (everyone wearing masks). We often take our understanding of social norms from the behaviour of others, which means that they can develop and spread rapidly.

Some social norms have a powerful automatic effect on behaviour (e.g. socially distancing) and can influence actions in positive and negative ways. The power of following social norms may come from the social penalties for non-compliance, or the social benefit that comes from conforming.

If the norm is not immediately apparent to people, repeated efforts may be required for its effects to become self-sustaining. It makes sense that in every other commercial we will see someone wearing a mask. It is in the efforts to normalize the behaviour. If you are not wearing one, YOU are not normal.

Defaults
We go with the flow‟ of pre-set options
Once again, I hate to be the bearer of bad news but many decisions we make every day have a default option, whether we recognize it or not. Defaults are the options that are pre-selected if an individual does not make an active choice. Defaults exert influence as individuals regularly accept whatever the default setting is, even if it has significant consequences.

What are some of our default settings? Well for some of us, it has become strapping a mask on our faces when we leave the house. It has become isolating from our loved ones. It has become sitting glued to the television watching the COVID-19 death count. It has become condemning those who do not accept the social norm and labelling the anti.

Salience
Our attention is drawn to what is novel and seems relevant to us
In our everyday lives, we are bombarded with stimuli, and this can become very overwhelming. As a result, we tend to unconsciously filter out much information as a coping strategy.

We are much more likely to be able to understand things that are presented in ways that relate directly to our personal experiences than to things presented in a more general and abstract way.

Another way to explain it is using the term confirmation bias. This is a tendency for people to pay little attention to information that challenges an existing belief, and only focus intently on information that supports what we believe. For example, if I wear a mask, socially distance, and take the vaccine, I will not get COVID-19 or pass it to others, even though research shows that this is not the case.

Priming
Our acts are often influenced by subconscious cues
Are you aware that the way you act is often influenced by subconscious cues?

Priming shows that our behaviour may be altered if we are first exposed to certain sights, words or sensations. Priming seems to act outside of conscious awareness, which means it is different from simply remembering things.

Examples of priming are the many commercials that have littered our television screens reminding us that we have to practice all government mandates in order to keep safe. Remember, you are not wearing a mask for you; you are wearing it for other people. If you don’t do this, you are selfish.

Affect
Our emotional associations can powerfully shape our actions

Affect (the act of experiencing emotion) is a powerful force in decision-making. As human beings, we are driven by our emotions. We respond to words, images and events, and the response can be rapid and automatic. Emotions are so strong that we can experience a behavioural reaction before we realise what we are reacting to.

Think about this the next time the government of Canada shows you a video with an elderly person in a hospital bed, tubes running through them, and then that sound that comes from the heart monitor indicating death, due to COVID-19 of course.

Commitments
We seek to be consistent with our public promises and reciprocate acts
Human beings are procrastinators and tend to procrastinate and delay taking decisions that are likely to be in our long-term interests. It has been shown that commitments usually become more effective as the costs for failure increase. One common method for increasing such costs is to make commitments public, since breaking the commitment will lead to significant reputational damage.

The government of Canada has asked us to commit to following all of their COVID-19 policies and procedures so that we can go back to seeing our friends and family. This means we have to commit to masking, social distancing, skipping holidays (there is always next year), and staying home.

Ego
We act in ways that make us feel better about ourselves
Sigh! We tend to behave in a way that supports the impression of a positive and consistent self-image. When things go well in our lives, we attribute it to ourselves; when they go badly, it’s the fault of other people, or the situation we were put in. This phenomenon is known as the “Fundamental attribution error.”

The cases are going down, so this must mean that people are doing what they are supposed to be doing. They are following protocols, and of course, they are going to get their vaccine.

What is that, cases are going back up again. It must be those damn anti-maskers, and conspiracy theorists.

I urge you to read and reread MINDSPACE. Although this discussion piece was intended for the British audience, I find it strange that our government has implemented many of the same techniques.

Makes me wonder.