Tips from ODSW December 2017:Behavioural Insights and Social Work

Behavioural Insights & Social work TWO BRAIN OPERATING SYSTEMS Traditional economic theory assumes that humans make every decision rationally - we don't. Rational decisions Reﬂective an Systemic and deliberate anaysis Automatic Irrational decisions Rapid and instinctive, no "thinking" Cognitive biases (automatic thoughts that affect the way we look at things) operate on the automatic system and influence our behaviour. EXAMPLES OF APPLICATIONS IN INTERVENTIONS Psychological Barriers faced by Clients Job Search Facilitation Improving Hotline Services Implications for Designing Intervention Messaging that comes off as uncaring can cause clients to associate negative feelings with job searching. Emphasise clients' strengths and successes to prevent undesirable emotional associations from emerging. Clients may see job search as a passive activity that is an extension of previous experiences, and not "salient". Specify clear and achievable goals and give reminders to keep the message salient. Clients may be too overwhelmed to absorb the information presented to them. Design written materials and forms to be clear and contain positive messaging. Waiting on the line increases anxiety and uncertainty. Such highly emotional memories are more salient, thus clients may not call back. Provide an outgoing message early in the call. Not explaining the reason for the wait increases stress. Emotional associations with anxiety may influence clients' actions later on. Explain that callers are waiting because of other callers ahead of them. This also helps reinforce that they are not alone. Adapted from "Social Insights: Letters by DSW" by Ang Bee Lian, pg 102-108. Available at https://www.msf.gov.sg/publications/Pages/Social-Insights-Letters-by-DSW.aspx Created by: MSF Office of the Director of Social Welfare | Dec 2017