Awareness Doesn't Trigger Behaviour Change.

 
 
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The ever widening say-do or more eloquently put, attitude-behaviour gap is relentless. To bring about any behaviour change in communities or organisations, most people start with 'education' or increasing awareness. The hope is that awareness will lead to people wanting to do things differently & hence see change.

The premise itself, that awareness should lead to behaviour change is not incorrect. However, let's understand our mindsets around awareness & the context in which we desire change, to better understand this.

1) For every opinion, there is an equal & opposite opinion

The book #Sapiens (one of my favourite books, I might add) talks about how us homo sapiens in our industrial societies know a lot about our tiny field of expertise but largely rely on others in other fields for their expertise. So, basically, our expertise is limited and we rely heavily on others for theirs. What happens when there are multiple opposing views on the topic? Inaction. How many times have you felt like you formed and opinion and then you hear an equally convincing opposing opinion? Failure to act doesn't necessarily stem from lack of understanding (which awareness can solve), it stems from no clear way forward.

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Let's take our current pandemic situation. While most countries are following social isolation & a complete lockdown, Netherlands was a proponent of herd immunity (which they then later changed to light lockdown), Japan continued life as usual despite an older population, South Korea focussed on test & isolate... you get the drift, many convincing opposing points of view leaves people confused.

 

2) Facts don't change our minds

Consider what’s become known as 'confirmation bias', the tendency people have to embrace information that supports their beliefs and reject information that contradicts them. Simply raising awareness in this case as well doesn't leads to behaviour change. Research suggests that people experience genuine pleasure—a rush of dopamine—when processing information that supports their beliefs.

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Let's take another safety issue as an example. Many believe that it is safe to not wear a seatbelt if you are riding in the backseat. The last time I checked, the front and the backseat travel at the same speed!

 

3) Knowledge doesn't guarantee action, simplification & progress does

One of the main barriers to turning knowledge into action is the tendency to equate talking about something with actually doing something. What helps trigger action is progress. Find ways to easily measure progress because this serves as real evidence that motivates confidence and turns knowledge into action. Look out for Pensaar Design's views on progress...coming soon...

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Let's take physical wellbeing & health as an issue. Physical activity has been closely linked with health & wellbeing - this was something most of us were aware of. It wasn't until wearables came along and helped us measure activity in a simple & easy way did many of us change behaviour and be more active.

 

When we care about an issue or a cause, it’s natural to want others to care as much as we do and hence we spread awareness. Sadly, while awareness is a necessary condition it isn't nearly enough to change behaviour.