How to change our behaviour?

Below are some of the parts of report published by RSA on Transforming Behaviour Change.


The broad emphasis (of report) was on marshalling available evidence to reframe default human behaviour as social and automatic rather than individual and reflective, and to consider the social, political and economic consequences of the emerging alternate view.



Model of change is currently informed by six working ideas that have emerged from the foregoing argument

1. We cannot change ourselves without changing each other - Most behaviour change does not occur at the level of the individual alone. Not only do we rely on other people to achieve the changes we seek to make, but such behaviours spread through social diffusion, and there is no way of knowing where our influence ends.
2. Complexity is more often the solution than the problem - To navigate a complicated world, we need complex minds. We need to work on having a ‘relationship to our reactions’, and when faced with multiple perspectives we should be able to both differentiate and integrate them.
3. It is better to be reasonable than rational - Clear thinking matters, but the touchstone of our thought should not be abstract axioms and disembedded logic, but contextual sensitivity and concern for others.
4. Paying attention is good for you - We are what we attend to, and there are increasing demands on our attention. We need some resistance to the power of adverts and the allure of technology. To avoid becoming slaves to the information and tools we use, we need to learn to pay closer attention to what is going on around us, within us and between us on a regular basis.
5. If we want new habits we should work with our habitats - We are creatures of habit, but unlike most creatures we have considerable power to shape our habitats for purposes beyond our basic needs. Behaviour change is not mainly about willpower, but about using self-awareness to shape our environments so that our social and automatic brains align with our goals and values.
6. The brain is a stimulant - The brain is something we all have in common, and share an interest in. We use information about the brain as a socialising device to stimulate collective self-awareness. Through reflecting on the social and automatic nature of the brain, we learn how to change our behaviour for the better.