BEHAVIOURAL PSYCHOLOGY

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Behavioural psychology is the connection between our minds and our behaviour, both of which are shaped by factors around us.  It shows that all people will commonly behave in the same manner based on our natural conditioning, and particularly our common desire for social acceptance and to elevate our status in society. 

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Specific actions or conditions can be used to trigger positive responses in people.  An understanding of psychology is the foundation for making improvements to employees’ attitude, motivation and performance at the workplace. 

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Mirroring

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Mirroring is a common behaviour where one person unconsciously imitates the behaviour of others.  It often occurs in social situations and arises as a natural desire to build rapport with other people.  An organisation with senior managers who exhibit high standards will find employees mirroring those standards.  This can be traced back to human origins where people used mirroring of the ‘stronger, smarter, more honoured individuals’ to show respect and improve their social status in order to survive.  

 

Domino Effect

 

The domino effect is when you change one behaviour and you activate a chain reaction of related behaviours.  For example, a senior manager agrees to give an induction talk to new staff.  The manager's self-perception adjusts to accommodate the experience, learning, and new persona (I communicate with new staff).  As a direct result, the manager is now more open to engaging with new staff and their work in the following months and years.  

 

It can lead to a separate chain reaction of positive behaviours.  For example a senior manager increasing communications with employees can lead to a greater understanding of their concerns, seeking to address them.  This, in turn, generates a ‘feel good’ response from the employees, including increased motivation towards their work. 

 

Implementation Intention

 

There are some tasks and projects that we put off because there is no immediate urgency, and procrastination takes over.  Research has found that those who make a plan are more likely to deliver their intentions, because it clarifies when the moment of action should occur.  You set out beforehand, in a plan, where and when to act and this strengthens your likelihood of following through and taking the action to deliver.  Those who do not make a plan will, with the best intention in the world, often get distracted by other issues.  Planning tackles the problem of procrastination.

 

Optimism Bias

 

Optimism bias is a tendency to be over-optimistic when estimating favourable and pleasing outcomes.  For example, it leads us to consistently underestimate the costs and the duration of basically every project we undertake.  Individuals will perceive events more favourably if it is the outcome they want to see.  It is a common trait, and transcends gender, ethnicity, nationality, and age.  It is not helped by the fact that individuals who present a pessimistic or more difficult outlook are often less accepted by the rest of society.  This can steer them to not speaking their mind, and leading to an apparent consensus of optimistic attitudes.

 

Stereotyping

 

Stereotyping is a commonplace short-cut solution that people use to form opinions or make judgments about things they have never seen or experienced.  It is used to assess everything from the status of a person (based on their gender, ethnic background, name etc.) to whether their opinions are of value (based on their job grade).  It is a particular problem when recruiting when it is easy to mis-categorise people based on a few basic facts and the wider understanding of a person’s abilities are unknown.

 

The lessons from behavioural psychology are embedded in the guidance on this website and, in particular, within the policy instructions that are available.  The policy instructions seek to realise the benefits to be gained from providing positive information and stimuli to managers and employees.