Behavioral science constricting the lens to the individual
Addiction Economy Thought for Today - Interesting reflections on Behavioural Science and its 'individualisation of societal issues' by Jennifer Sheehy-Skeffington I found browsing through back copies of The Mint Magazine.
Behavioural Science uses knowledge of the behavioural shortcuts we all make in our decision-making to design regulations and policies which are designed to help us as individuals make better personal and economic decisions - like making us tick a box to opt out, not opt in to saving for a pension. Cherry-picking from a fascinating and rich article:
What the author is saying we also observe in the individualisation of addiction in our research on The Addiction Economy - which is that 'highlighting interventions that target individual decision-making shifts the focus away from where the root of social issues usually lies: at the level of the societal system".
"Indeed, the “individualisation” of societal issues has arguably long been the modus operandi of the behavioural sciences. When it comes to low socioeconomic status, it is easy now to dismiss stereotypes from political talk and tabloid news about groups being too lazy or lacking in the right attitude to improve their socio-economic condition.
"Because no improvement in sanitation facilities or medical protection can prevent people from choosing to eat sugary foods or smoke cigarettes, the field of health promotion has turned toward psychologists for help in designing behaviour change interventions that try to improve individual decision-making…while the predatory food and tobacco industries remain under-regulated."
"The shared goal should be to improve societies so that they better serve people living in deprived or marginalised situations…and ultimately to eradicate those situations altogether."
Here the Mint article, from 2018, but couldn't resist illustrating with the horrible deja vu of the cover!
https://lnkd.in/eR-EAYUJ
We are saying the same. At the heart of paralysis about restraining the power and harm of addiction economy industries like cigarettes, vapes, alcohol and unhealthy foods, is academic and policy attention focused too much we feel on the qualities of the individual which lead them to be addicted. Not enough on the Economic Drivers of addiction that make addictive products ubiquitous, allow them to be heavily marketed and with serious policy restrictions undermined by company lobbying and disinformation.