Beyond the work itself, I’ve been enjoying the lunches and coffee chats with my team members. There is so much to be learnt from their rich and diverse experience, and I’m grateful to be able to engage with them in-person. I’ve learnt a great deal – from the behavioral science themes, methodological challenges, all the way to navigating the complexities of the World Bank system.
Something that stood out to me during one of these conversations was the topic of social norms. Thanks to my Anthropology background, I was very aware of how social norms influence behavior. Interestingly, I learnt from my manager that social norms were not spoken about enough in behavioral science circles when she started her career a few decades ago. She mentioned that the narrative was more focused on cognitive factors as drivers of behavior. However, the obvious pitfall was that this approach negated the power of social and cultural context in dictating behavior. Individuals and their cognitive processes do not operate in a vacuum, and the same situation can have very different outcomes based on the context.
Social norms are now a large part of behavioral science work. Behavioral scientists focus extensively on social and cultural norms that drive certain behaviors and how they can be nudged more positively. It was fascinating to learn about the diverse levers eMBeD was using to address social norms in different contexts. In the gender project in MENA, social and behavior change communication (SBCC) was being used to change the social norms surrounding women not joining the formal labor force and men not engaging in domestic and childcare responsibilities. In another project, WhatsApp groups were being used to drive discussions and engagement on certain nutrition topics to generate and normalize new social norms. On a different waste management project, influential community members were suggested as knowledge disseminators to address the social norm of not sorting or recycling waste.
In addition to these learnings, this internship has also made me surprisingly aware of the impact of behavioral science in my own life! Default options, loss aversion, biases – these drive my decisions and behaviors on the daily without me even realizing. Take for example the stuffed llama next to the corridor where my office is. This has unintentionally become the mental nudge for everyone locating which direction to turn in while getting out of the elevators. My colleague who’s been on the same floor for over two years stills scans the floor for the llama to decide which way to turn!
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