'Charm' Offensive Could Pinpoint Ways To Change People's Social Habits
Saturday, May 30, 2009 - 23:28
in Psychology & Sociology
People like to believe their actions are driven by their own free will and are not unduly affected by other people. Research, though, shows the way we act is often subconsciously influenced by what we believe to be ‘normal’ behavior. A new research project is about to take this finding to the next level by investigating whether it is possible to nudge individual behavior in a socially-desirable direction, simply by telling people what others are doing.