UoN BI Soc: Who We Are

Last year the British government changed its policy on organ donation from an “opt in” system to an “opt out” system. While the change seems slight, there was a drastic improvement to the rate of consent. Numerous other countries have already implemented an “opt out” scheme. Spain was the first country to implement such legislation back in 1979 and a multitude of countries such as Portugal, Belgium and now the UK have followed suit since. Data from Thaler (2009) encapsulates this perfectly, finding that two economically similar European countries, Austria and Germany, which employ different organ donation standards, have drastically differing organ donor consent rates. Austria, which practises an opt-out scheme had a rate of 99% while Germany, operating under an opt-in scheme sported a mere 12%. This change is deeply rooted within behavioural science, exploiting the innate inertia we experience to help us behave in a way that more closely lines up with attitudes towards organ donation.

Behavioural science is a very broad field that seeks to understand how people behave, often looking at how this behaviour differs from expectations, like how changing the system for consenting to organ donation can have such a staggering effect. Behavioural Science is a fast growing area of research with a wide background in social sciences including psychology, sociology and economics. The field has a seemingly endless set of applications, from tackling behavioural disorders, to more everyday nudges employed by supermarkets and marketing campaigns.

The Behavioural Insights Society aims to raise awareness of the widespread applications and underlying theory of behavioural insights through a number of channels such as this newsletter. By providing an empowering and inclusive environment, we aim to promote discussions catered to all abilities, developing our collective understanding of behavioural science and bringing together different thoughts and perspectives.

If you have any questions or are interested in joining the society, please contact behavioural-insights@uonsu.com or find us on our socials. We hope you enjoy reading our newsletter.

References

Thaler, R. (2009). 'Opting in vs. Opting Out', The New York Times, 26th September 2009, Retrieved 22nd July 2021, from: https://www.nytimes.com/2009/09/27/business/economy/27view.html