Behavioural Science and the Pandemic
Analysis20 Jul 2020

Behavioural Science and the Pandemic

There were two narratives that emerged in the week before we locked down on 23rd March that could go some way to explaining why the UK was relatively slow to lockdown. One was the idea of “herd immunity” - that the virus was always going to spread throughout the population to some extent, and that should be allowed to happen to build up immunity.

That theory may have been based on a misunderstanding of how this particular virus behaved.

The second narrative was based on the idea of “behavioural fatigue”. This centred around the notion that the public will only tolerate a lockdown for so long so it was crucial to wait for the right moment to initiate it. Go too soon, and you might find that people would not comply later on.

It turns out that this theory was also wrong. And based on a fundamental misunderstanding of human behaviour.

Despite photos of packed parks, crammed beaches and VE day conga lines, on the whole the British public complied beyond most people’s expectations.

So what informed the government’s decision making?In this programme we ask, what is “behavioural fatigue”, where did it come from, how much influence did it have on the UK’s late lockdown, and where does Nudge theory fit into the narrative?

Presenter: Sonia Sodha Producer: Gemma Newby Editor: Jasper Corbett

Episoder(389)

Hospital Trust?

Hospital Trust?

Is public affection for the NHS preventing it from becoming fit for the future? Polling suggests that despite many complaints about the public health service, it is regarded as a much-loved and unique...

23 Jan 201728min

Brexit: What Europe Wants

Brexit: What Europe Wants

How political forces in other countries will shape any future UK-EU deal.As a younger man, Anand Menon spent a care-free summer Inter-railing around Europe. Some decades later, and now a professor of ...

14 Nov 201628min

How Did We Save the Ozone Layer?

How Did We Save the Ozone Layer?

On 30 June this year, a study was released in one of the world's top scientific journals. It explained how a group of scientists who had been measuring the amount of ozone in the stratosphere had made...

7 Nov 201628min

Trusting Inmates

Trusting Inmates

Should we place more trust in prisoners to help them change their lives? "Trust is the only thing that changes people," says Professor Alison Liebling, the director of the Prisons Research Centre at t...

31 Okt 201628min

The Myth of Mobs

The Myth of Mobs

In popular imagination, being in a crowd makes people scary and irrational. But is this true? In this edition of Analysis, David Edmonds asks social psychologists - including a leading expert on group...

24 Okt 201628min

Brexit and Northern Ireland

Brexit and Northern Ireland

Is the island of Ireland where Brexit will matter most? Edward Stourton visits Londonderry, right on the Irish border, to explore what's at stake as the UK leaves the EU. Some locals fear the border a...

17 Okt 201628min

Gentrification

Gentrification

Can the process of gentrification be controlled? It is often hailed as a sign of social and economic progress. Places which were originally poor and downtrodden are transformed into prosperous and vib...

10 Okt 201628min

Breaking Promises

Breaking Promises

Paul Johnson, director of the Institute of Fiscal Studies, asks if the time has come for the government to break pledges made to pensioners. He charts how the average income of senior citizens has ris...

3 Okt 201628min

Populært innen Politikk og nyheter

giver-og-gjengen-vg
aftenpodden-usa
aftenpodden
stopp-verden
forklart
i-retten
popradet
det-store-bildet
fotballpodden-2
nokon-ma-ga
dine-penger-pengeradet
rss-gukild-johaug
bt-dokumentar-2
aftenbla-bla
hanna-de-heldige
rss-ness
frokostshowet-pa-p5
rss-penger-polser-og-politikk
rss-dannet-uten-piano
e24-podden