Building Societies that Thrive, Not Just Survive: A Behavioral Science Perspective

Living Long

With people living longer than ever—global life expectancy has doubled over the last two centuries—longevity and its determinants have been a topic of scientific interest. While genetics account for around 20% of longevity, extrinsic factors which include our environment and behavioral lifestyles make up around 80%. This means we have more control over how long we live than we might think!

In the pursuit of longevity, researchers have discovered geographic pockets where people consistently outlive the average. These so-called Blue Zones, scattered across the globe from Sardinia in Italy to Okinawa in Japan, all exhibit an exceptional concentration of centenarians. Studies conducted within these hotspots of longevity revealed that there are seven lifestyle habits to live longer: “moving naturally, eating wisely, improving resilience to stress, getting adequate sleep, keeping strong family ties and stimulating strong community support, respecting the planet, and having a purpose in life.”¹

These learnings are not completely revolutionary. We’ve heard these time and time again, and know that these behaviors are good for us, so what is preventing most of us from living up to 100? This is where the complexity of behavior change comes in.

Habit formation is a challenge that behavioral scientists and researchers have long been studying. Especially in today’s modern and fast-paced world, adopting and sticking to healthy habits is easier said than done. For the rest of us, forming these habits requires overcoming deeply ingrained mental patterns or cognitive biases. For example, we have a tendency to prioritize immediate pleasures over long-term benefits, also known as hyperbolic discounting. We also find ourselves trapped in the same behavioral cycles as we cling to the comforts of the familiar over the potential disruption of new habits or change. This tendency known as the status quo bias can perpetuate our unhealthy routines and resist the introduction of lifestyle changes.

Interestingly, people in the Blue Zones live in supportive environments that naturally nudge them toward these behaviors. These habits are often deeply ingrained in their cultures, passed over generations, and reinforced by cues in their surroundings that make it easier to make longevity-promoting choices. This highlights the indispensable role of policy and environmental design in shaping our choices and ultimately our lifespans. Later, we’ll dive into real-life examples of how governments are leveraging behavioral science to design policies toward longer lives.

Living Well

When it comes to measuring how well people live, the WELLBY approach uses subjective well-being with people being asked to rate how they think or feel about their lives. This self-report approach paints a picture of our happiness or life satisfaction without assigning weight to traditional factors that define the quality of life such as income, education, health, or social support.

But how can we boost our happiness? What behaviors have been proven to move the needle of life satisfaction? Research has linked several behavioral determinants to increased life satisfaction: health-promoting behaviors², active social participatory behaviors³, pro-environmental behaviors⁴, and pro-social behaviors⁵ (such as charitable giving, volunteering, blood or organ donation, or offering advice). These behaviors trigger neural pathways that are associated with happiness. Think of it this way: financial generosity, for example, lights up the same areas in the brain associated with pleasure and reward.⁶ Even simple gratitude practices can significantly enhance our happiness and well-being.⁷

What is the common thread among these behaviors? Social norms. When we see others around us engaging in these actions, it subtly nudges us to do the same. Our behavior is influenced by what we perceive as normal or desirable within our social circles. For instance, if environmental conservation is commonplace in our community, we are more likely to adopt these practices ourselves. 

Additionally, positive reinforcement from the people around us and the sense of belonging that comes from participating in collective actions further contribute to our overall happiness. Essentially, when these behaviors are woven into the fabric of our social norms, they become self-reinforcing and easier to maintain.

However, while encouraging these behaviors that lead to life satisfaction as norms is desirable, it is important to recognize the challenges involved. Similar to the barriers to habit formation, certain cognitive biases and heuristics can get in the way. For example, our preference for the familiar over the unknown leads some people to reject change, even if it is linked to greater life satisfaction. Impact bias also leads us to underestimate the impact of small, positive actions on our overall well-being. 

Emotional reactions, information we're already familiar with, and images or events that stick in our memory tend to influence our decision-making. If volunteering, for instance, is not prominently observed in one’s immediate environment, it may be perceived as unimportant. For pro-social behaviors specifically, people feel demotivated to engage due to a diffusion of responsibility assuming that others will or are already taking action. 

Understanding these psychological barriers is crucial for designing interventions and policies that can effectively promote happiness-enhancing behaviors as social norms. 

As we reflect on these insights, we recognize the role that public policy plays in driving WELLBYs and the important role behavioral science plays in providing opportunities for constituents to live longer and live well. 

By addressing biases and behavioral barriers, we can foster environments where positive behaviors are visible, supported, and rewarded, ultimately cultivating a culture that encourages actions promoting longevity and life satisfaction.

Behaviorally informed policies, grounded in an evidence-based understanding of individual decision-making, have the power to nudge people toward behaviors that promote individual well-being and societal welfare. The challenge lies in ensuring these policies effectively leverage behavior change frameworks to maximize WELLBYs per dollar spent. Here are some ways governments are rising to this challenge and using behavioral science to create policies that center on WELLBYs:

Environmental restructuring

By adding cues and intentionally creating an environment conducive to the behavior, desired behaviors are enabled. For example, countries like the Netherlands, Denmark, and Germany have coordinated a wide range of policies and infrastructure that promote safe cycling and walking. This push for active transportation leads not only to healthier lifestyles but also to improved environmental quality.⁸

Choice architecture and regulatory nudging

Cultivating respect for the planet not only appears as a factor in driving a well-lived life but also a longer life. One of the ways societies promote environmental sustainability is through choice architecture or the deliberate design of context such that the better option—in this case, the more environmentally friendly option—is made easier and accessible or even unavoidable.

Particularly, ‘green’ defaults are slowly being implemented around the globe where the desired behavior is made into a norm. In some municipalities in Germany, the opt-out approach to using green energy has resulted in residents staying with the default option which is renewable energy, even if it means being slightly more expensive than ‘gray’ options.⁹ Their environment has been designed in such a way that they are automatically enrolled in renewable energy programs and will face friction if they choose to opt out of green energy since they would have to find alternatives themselves. 

Incentivized actions

Improving physiological functioning through active movement is a key driver of WELLBY. In Singapore, the government is taking an innovative incentivization approach to get its citizens to move through the National Steps Challenge™, the world’s first population-level physical activity intervention. It aims to encourage Singaporeans to walk more by providing them with wearable fitness trackers and financially rewarding them for every milestone reached. This attracted over one-third of Singapore’s population and increased the average daily step count of people by about 1500 steps.¹⁰

Gamification has been an evidence-backed way to motivate behavior change by injecting competition and a sense of progress. Individual or collective incentives such as monetary benefits also serve as effective positive reinforcement in physical activity promotion.¹¹ Such initiative was scaled up through not only extensive multisectoral partnerships but also launching booster initiatives as maintenance to sustain engagement in the behavior.

Framing of messaging

Effective public policy entails effective public communication. Awareness and messaging campaigns are the first step to driving individuals’ behaviors. However, these campaigns should be crafted through an evidence-based understanding of human behavior. Failing to consider behavioral science can be counterproductive and can even have fatal consequences. 

For example, we have identified social engagement to be a determinant of WELLBY. With a downline trend in global voter turnout¹² and civic engagement especially among younger voters, normalizing active social participation has been a challenge of most nations.

In one of our collaborations with the City of Rome, we used insights from behavioral science research to improve citizen engagement in the participatory budgeting initiative of the city. We tested message-framing strategies to drive Roman’s intent to participate and found that social norms and traditional family values (“Family matters. Join thousands of Romans who’ve already voted.”) are strong influences to citizens’ everyday decision-making. Applying this insight, the modified campaign materials resulted in up to a 150% increase in response rate.

We need to shift our focus from building nations that not only succeed economically, but also nurture the physical, emotional, and social health of all their people. By understanding the behavioral blueprints of thriving societies, we can chart a course toward a future where everyone lives long and lives well, adding both years to our lives and life to our years.