Businesses and public bodies across the UK and beyond are dealing with a challenging set of circumstances in the ever-changing post-Covid world. In this context the insights from behavioural science continue to be invaluable to help organisations respond to new challenges and support growth.

The LSE Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science (PBS) has long adopted the “from the world to the lab and back again” model; unique insights and solutions that can be gleaned through the lens of behavioural science to help industries and policymakers.

A group of MSc Behavioural Science students have taken the initiative to explore some of the most pressing issues in depth. Building on the conversations with leading industry experts across a variety of areas in the weekly Behavioural Science and the Wider World (hosted by the Department of Psychological and Behavioural Science, LSE) series, below are some of the topics that came out as most topical in behavioural science applications.

What behavioural interventions based on insights can we develop to minimise intergroup conflict in the workplace?

The students explore the prospective effectiveness of behavioural interventions in reducing the occurrence of conflict at work and enhancing the role of mediation. They zoom in on the three stages of conflict, identifying the role that nudging plays before, during and after the conflict occurs. By introducing interventions based on behavioural science the severity and rate of workplace conflict occurrence could be reduced.

What are the most relevant models that we should think about if we were applying behavioural science in the context of different cultures?

The existing models in behavioural science have commonly been developed within a particular cultural context and lack cross-cultural applicability. The students explore a combination of short-term and long-term solutions to allows insights from behavioural science findings to be applied with greater external validity. The ultimate goal includes the introduction of ethical relativism and empowering cultures to develop behavioural science in ways that benefit the specific cultural setting.

What would the FORGOOD framework look like if it is applied in a corporate context?

FORGOOD provides an ethical framework for the development and evaluation of behavioural science interventions within the public sector. However, there is no comparable unified ethical framework for interventions deployed by private sector companies. The white paper seeks to develop a corporate ethical framework by integrating FORGOOD with established business ethics frameworks.

The full white papers will be presented to the Behavioural Science and the Wider World Initiative audience in early autumn 2022.

You can find out more about the work of the Behavioural Science and the Wider World Initiative and sign up for our newsletter by visiting https://bit.ly/PBSwiderworld. 

For any questions or collaboration proposals, please email a.kirienko@lse.ac.uk