Involvement of behavioural scientists

Investigate the extent to which behavioural science has been used to inform policy, influence public behaviour and importantly, whether politicians have been "nudged" into making extreme choices that they may otherwise have avoided.

The Behavioural Insights Team provides an example of how politicians can be predicted to react depending on how information is framed for the "outbreak of an unusual Asian disease" scenario ("Behavioural Government", July 2018, pages 22-23):

"That study found that, when the disease was described in terms of losses (how many people would die), 80% of the politicians selected the risky option. When the disease was described in terms of gains (how many people would live), only 42% did so."

Fear has been used to manipulate the population throughout this pandemic. This is unethical and has unknown long-term consequences.