Return of 'the nudge' in fight against extremism

The government is using behavioural psychology to try to deal with some of the most controversial and problematic issues facing the country, such as illegal immigration and radical extremism.

In 2010, ministers set up a new behavioural insights team in the cabinet office, which has set about applying psychological techniques to tackle public policy. And already, the department has achieved "remarkable early results", The Independent says.

Some of the early successes credited to the team include an increase of 100,000 extra organ donors each year, a 20 per cent increase in people considering changing energy supplier and a dramatic increase in army recruits.

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The team, overseen by psychologist David Halpern (pictured above), has been influential in applying "nudge theory" to roll out government policies.

Nudge theory was first popularised by a best-selling book by economist Richard H Thaler and argues that indirect suggestion and positive reinforcement can bring about changes in behaviour and attitudes in large numbers of individuals.

The UK government's behavioural insights team has had success in policy areas as diverse as army recruitment, adult education, pensions, taxes, e-cigarette use, foster care and charitable giving, The Guardian reports.

"Essentially we respond to the priorities of government," Halpern says. "The key point is that it has to be social purpose."

So how does nudge theory work?

Most of the techniques used by the behavioural insight team involve tiny changes, such as a personalised text message or rewording of a letter.

One of the team's "longest-running and most successful" projects has been in reducing tax fraud, the Guardian says. By simply sending a reminder letter that told recipients that most of their neighbours had already paid, the team claim to have increased income tax payment by £30m a year.

The unit also encouraged people to change energy suppliers by printing "Many people save up to £200 on their energy bills by switching tariff" on envelopes sent to millions of winter-fuel allowance recipients. The small change increased inquiries by up to 20 per cent.

Other countries including Australia, Singapore, Germany and the US are now setting up nudge teams of their own. In the US, a behavioural psychology team funded by Bloomberg Philanthropies is setting out to tackle violent crime, homelessness and joblessness.

"We have a sharp sense that we are still just scratching the surface," Halpern says. "There's so much more we can do."