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4 - Social Incentives for Health Behaviours

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  18 May 2023

Joan Costa-Font
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Tony Hockley
Affiliation:
London School of Economics and Political Science
Caroline Rudisill
Affiliation:
University of South Carolina
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Summary

The purpose of this chapter is to investigate the role of social incentives, specifically how changes in the social environment such as esteem, identity, cultural social norms, and social reference points affect individuals' behaviours. We will look into the role of envy and guilt as behavioural motivators, as well as the role of social norms as external signals and constraints on people's behaviours. Human interaction produces norms and social divisions, which create disutility or utility (oppositional or transgressive norms). Social norms are informal rules that govern behaviour in society and include shared social values, beliefs, attitudes, and/or behaviours. Social incentives are defined as "extraneous non-monetary stimuli" that influence an individual's perceived marginal benefit or cost of effort. Social incentives operate through social norms, social image, herd or social multiplier effects, narratives and can be strengthened through praise, attention, esteem, sense of belonging, feelings of meaning and loyalty. Stigma and status both are part of what we can define more widely as ‘esteem’, and can be both a positive or negative, and influence behaviour very much like a price in a market.

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Behavioural Incentive Design for Health Policy
Steering for Health
, pp. 61 - 74
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2023

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