Farrow Katherine, Grolleau Gilles, Mzoughi Naoufel
EconomiX, University of Paris Nanterre, France.
ESSCA School of Management, Lyon, France.
Adm Soc. 2023 Feb;55(2):294-307. doi: 10.1177/00953997221133498.
Behavioral public administration theory suggests that seemingly irrelevant word choice manipulations can influence behavior. We contend that the power of words has frequently been overlooked in the COVID-19 crisis. Given that most decisions mobilize System 1 cognition, words can be an important tool in pursuing socially-desirable outcomes. Beyond their substantive content, words choice matters because language operates largely via automatic processes. Based on findings from this literature, words can be harnessed to induce behavioral change aligned with public health objectives. We elucidate several mechanisms through which these effects are likely to occur and suggests concrete applications to the COVID-19 crisis.
行为公共行政理论表明，看似无关紧要的措辞操纵可以影响行为。我们认为，在新冠疫情危机中，语言的力量常常被忽视。鉴于大多数决策调动的是系统1认知，语言可以成为实现社会期望结果的重要工具。除了其实质性内容外，措辞很重要，因为语言主要通过自动过程发挥作用。基于该文献的研究结果，语言可以被用来促使行为改变，以符合公共卫生目标。我们阐明了这些影响可能发生的几种机制，并提出了针对新冠疫情危机的具体应用。
