Ipsos Australia has released an innovative e-book charting the history of behavioural science, the various movements, ideas and techniques that have come, gone and crisscrossed one another, particularly over the past 50 years, and the theories and practices are most likely to lead us down the road to lasting change.
Written by the Director of Behavioural Science at Ipsos Australia, Dr Pascal Bourgeat, the 102-page MAPS The Road to Behaviour Change e-book considers and contrasts the many and varied views (roads) on behaviour change, compares and contrasts current and past theories and emphasises the fundamental tenant that, while many current and past theories have merit, those that fail “to fully grasp what it means to be human in all its complexity and paradoxes” are likely to lead us down the wrong path.
The e-book’s chapters look at everything from emotion and reason (“odd bedfellows”) to individualism versus collectivism, decision-making/cognitive shortcuts, rewards and consequences (“pain and pleasure”), the role and mechanisms of attention and the effect of supernormal stimuli – and our environment – in shaping behaviour.Each chapter is illustrated and supported by Australian and international case studies, with videos embedded in the e-book and further resources provided across the broad behavioural science spectrum.
While acknowledging that “there may not be a detailed map or grand theory of behaviour”, MAPS does suggest that there are five key personal forces that shape behaviour – which are summed up in the video below.MAPS shies away from the hype and distortions of the ‘BeSci buzz’ to present an often amusing view on the state of behavioural science.
MAPS can be downloaded from the Ipsos website here.
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