No CrossRef data available.
Article contents
i-Frame interventions enhance s-frame interventions
Published online by Cambridge University Press: 30 August 2023
Abstract
We argue that i-frame interventions can and do increase support for systemic reforms, and s-frame interventions should be pursued in parallel to address key societal issues. Without accompanying i-frame interventions, s-frame interventions can fail. We offer an operant conditioning framework to generate positive spillover effects. Behavioral scientists should develop i-frame interventions that enhance, rather than compete with, s-frame interventions.
- Type
- Open Peer Commentary
- Information
- Copyright
- Copyright © The Author(s), 2023. Published by Cambridge University Press
References
Antinyan, A., & Asatryan, Z. (2019). Nudging for tax compliance: A meta-analysis. ZEW-Centre for European Economic Research Discussion Paper (19-055).CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Bain, P. G., Hornsey, M. J., Bongiorno, R., & Jeffries, C. (2012). Promoting pro-environmental action in climate change deniers. Nature Climate Change, 2(8), 600–603.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Carlsson, F., Gravert, C., Johansson-Stenman, O., & Kurz, V. (2021). The use of green nudges as an environmental policy instrument. Review of Environmental Economics and Policy, 15(2), 216–237.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Despard, M., Roll, S., Grinstein-Weiss, M., Hardy, B., & Oliphant, J. (2022). Can behavioral nudges and incentives help lower-income households build emergency savings with tax refunds? Evidence from field and survey experiments. Journal of Consumer Affairs, 57(1), 245–263.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
DiGiacomo, A., Wu, D., Lenkic, P., Fraser, B., Zhao, J., & Kingstone, A. (2018). Convenience improves composting and recycling rates in high-density residential buildings. Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 61, 309–331.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Geiger, S. J., Brick, C., Nalborczyk, L., Bosshard, A., & Jostmann, N. B. (2021). More green than gray? Toward a sustainable overview of environmental spillover effects: A Bayesian meta-analysis. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 78, 101694.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Goldberg, M. H., Gustafson, A., Rosenthal, S. A., & Leiserowitz, A. (2021). Shifting Republican views on climate change through targeted advertising. Nature Climate Change, 11(7), 573–577.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Henn, L., Otto, S., & Kaiser, F. G. (2020). Positive spillover: The result of attitude change. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 69, 101429.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Holz, J. E., List, J. A., Zentner, A., Cardoza, M., & Zentner, J. (2020). The $100 million nudge: Increasing tax compliance of businesses and the self-employed using a natural field experiment (No. w27666). National Bureau of Economic Research.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Hotard, M., Lawrence, D., Laitin, D. D., & Hainmueller, J. (2019). A low-cost information nudge increases citizenship application rates among low-income immigrants. Nature Human Behaviour, 3(7), 678–683.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Krawiec, J. M., Piaskowska, O. M., Piesiewicz, P. F., & Białaszek, W. (2021). Tools for public health policy: Nudges and boosts as active support of the law in special situations such as the COVID-19 pandemic. Globalization and Health, 17(1), 1–14.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Kumar, P., Caggiano, H., Cuite, C., Felder, F., & Shwom, R. (2023). Analyzing spillovers from food, energy and water conservation behaviors using insights from systems perspective. Behavioural Public Policy, 7(3), 773–807.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Luo, Y., & Zhao, J. (2019). Motivated attention in climate change perception and action. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 1541.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Maki, A., Carrico, A. R., Raimi, K. T., Truelove, H. B., Araujo, B., & Yeung, K. L. (2019). Meta-analysis of pro-environmental behaviour spillover. Nature Sustainability, 2(4), 307–315.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Manoli, D., & Turner, N. (2016). Nudges and learning: evidence from informational interventions for low-income taxpayers. NBER Working Paper, 20718.Google Scholar
Metro Vancouver. (2020). 2020 Waste composition study. Retrieved from http://www.metrovancouver.org/services/solid-waste/SolidWastePublications/2020WasteCompositionStudy.pdfGoogle Scholar
Nwafor, O., Singh, R., Collier, C., DeLeon, D., Osborne, J., & DeYoung, J. (2021). Effectiveness of nudges as a tool to promote adherence to guidelines in healthcare and their organizational implications: A systematic review. Social Science & Medicine, 286, 114321.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Page, L. C., Castleman, B. L., & Meyer, K. (2020). Customized nudging to improve FAFSA completion and income verification. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 42(1), 3–21.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Proudfoot, D., & Kay, A. C. (2014). Reactance or rationalization? Predicting public responses to government policy. Policy Insights from the Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 1(1), 256–262.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Schneider, S. M., & Sanguinetti, A. (2021). Positive reinforcement is just the beginning: Associative learning principles for energy efficiency and climate sustainability. Energy Research & Social Science, 74, 101958.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Soman, D. (2015). The last mile: Creating social and economic value from behavioral insights. University of Toronto Press.Google Scholar
Sparkman, G., Attari, S. Z., & Weber, E. U. (2021). Moderating spillover: Focusing on personal sustainable behavior rarely hinders and can boost climate policy support. Energy Research & Social Science, 78, 102150.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Sunstein, C. (2022). The rhetoric of reaction redux. Behavioural Public Policy, 7(3), 825–837.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Thomas, G. O., Sautkina, E., Poortinga, W., Wolstenholme, E., & Whitmarsh, L. (2019). The English plastic bag charge changed behavior and increased support for other charges to reduce plastic waste. Frontiers in Psychology, 10, 266.CrossRefGoogle ScholarPubMed
Umaña, P., Olaniyan, M., Magnelia, S., & Coca, V. (2022). Connecting community college students to SNAP benefits: Lessons learned from a pilot outreach intervention in California. Hope Center for College, Community, and Justice.Google Scholar
Wu, D., Lenkic, P., DiGiacomo, A., Cech, P., Zhao, J., & Kingstone, A. (2018). How does the design of waste disposal signage influence waste disposal behavior? Journal of Environmental Psychology, 58, 77–85.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Xu, L., Zhang, X., & Ling, M. (2018). Pro-environmental spillover under environmental appeals and monetary incentives: Evidence from an intervention study on household waste separation. Journal of Environmental Psychology, 60, 27–33.CrossRefGoogle Scholar
Zhao, J., Radke, J., Chen, F., Sachdeva, S., & Luo, Y. (2023). How do we reinforce climate action? Preprint at PsyArXiv: Retrieved from https://psyarxiv.com/pdxkhCrossRefGoogle Scholar
Target article
The i-frame and the s-frame: How focusing on individual-level solutions has led behavioral public policy astray
Related commentaries (33)
An inconvenient truth: Difficult problems rarely have easy solutions
Behavioral market design
Behavioral mechanism design
Behavioral public policy in practice: Misconceptions and opportunities
Behavioral winter: Disillusionment with applied behavioral science and a path to spring forward
Community-engaged research is best positioned to catalyze systemic change
Conspiracy theory
Don't throw the individual perspective out while waiting for systemic change
Expectations, opportunities, and awareness: A case for combining i- and s-frame interventions
i-Frame interventions enhance s-frame interventions
Individual-level solutions may support system-level change â if they are internalized as part of one's social identity
It's always both: Changing individuals requires changing systems and changing systems requires changing individuals
Misdiagnosing the problem of why behavioural change interventions fail
Moral psychology biases toward individual, not systemic, representations
Moving from i-frame to s-frame focus in equity, diversity, and inclusion research, practice, and policy
Nudges, regulations, and behavioral public choice
Nudging is being framed
On Skinner's pendulum: A framework for assessing s-frame hope
Optimizing behavior change through integration of individual- and system-level intervention approaches
Real systemic solutions to humanity's problems require a radical reshaping of the global political system
Structural problems require structural solutions
The influence of private interests on research in behavioural public policy: A system-level problem
The psychology and policy of overcoming economic inequality
The real cause of our complicity: The preoccupation with human weakness
The social sciences are increasingly ill-equipped to design system-level reforms
The “hearts-and-minds frame”: Not all i-frame interventions are ineffective, but education-based interventions can be particularly bad
Unpacking the nudge muddle
Use behavioral research to improve the feasibility and effectiveness of system-level policy
Using effective psychological techniques to subvert a US sociopolitical context
When nudges have societal-level impact
Why a group-level analysis is essential for effective public policy: The case for a g-frame
Wise interventions consider the person and the situation together
“More effective” is not necessarily “better”: Some ethical considerations when influencing individual behaviour
Author response
Where next for behavioral public policy?