Do minorities like nudges? The role of group norms in attitudes towards behavioral policy

• Published in: Judgment and decision making Vol. 14; no. 1; pp. 40 - 50
• Main Authors: Peer, Eyal, Feldman, Yuval, Gamliel, Eyal, Sahar, Limor, Tikotsky, Ariel, Hod, Nurit, Schupak, Hilla
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: Tallahassee Society for Judgment and Decision Making 01.01.2019; Society for Judgment & Decision Making; Cambridge University Press
• Subjects: Attitudes; Behavior; behavioral policyNAKeywords; Beliefs, opinions and attitudes; group norm; Influence; Intervention (Psychology); Minorities; nudge; Social norms; Ultra-Orthodox Jews; Israel
• ISSN: 1930-2975; 1930-2975
• DOI: 10.1017/S1930297500002898

Abstract Attitudes of public groups towards behavioral policy interventions (or nudges) can be important for both the policy makers who design and deploy nudges, and to researchers who try to understand when and why some nudges are supported while others are not. Until now, research on public attitudes towards nudges has focused on either state- or country-level comparisons, or on correlations with individual-level traits, and has neglected to study how different social groups (such as minorities) might view nudges. Using a large and representative sample, we tested the attitudes of two distinct minority groups in Israel (Israeli Arabs and Ultra-Orthodox Jews), and discovered that nudges that operated against a minority group’s held social norms, promoting a more general societal goal not aligned with the group’s norms, were often less supported by minorities. Contrary to expectations, these differences could not be explained by differences in trust in the government applying these nudges. We discuss implications for public policy and for the research and applications of behavioral interventions.