Behaviour Onam-ally!
September 2024
Behavioural scientists have a knack for spotting the subtle ways human behaviour unfolds in everyday life and festivals are no exception. This month’s blog features Sneha Shyam’s fascinating take on the festival of Onam, Kerala’s vibrant harvest celebration. She uncovers how Onam is more than a feast of tradition and community and reveals how behavioural science principles are inherent in the celebration. Read to find out more about the ways culture and behavioural science intertwine during this festive season.
Here are some ways you can see BeSci at work in Onam traditions-
Pookkalam (Flower Carpets): Creating Pookkalams reflects collective decision-making, cultural conformity, and social learning, especially between generations. It emphasizes the emotional reward of collaboration.
Onam Sadya (Feast): The multi-course meal is an example of choice architecture, engaging the "peak-end rule" with its structure and highlighting reciprocal altruism as community members come together to prepare and share the meal.
Onam Games: The tug-of-war (Vadamvali) demonstrates teamwork and Social Identity Theory, while the pot-breaking game (Uriyadi) highlights biases like loss aversion and overconfidence. Vadamvali also shows how group members instinctively organize themselves based on their strengths, promoting collective effort toward a shared goal. In Uriyadi, the crowd’s influence further exemplifies social proof, as participants rely on the collective guidance to make decisions under uncertainty.
Onam Shopping: Consumer behavior during Onam is influenced by marketing strategies, showcasing biases such as scarcity, FOMO, and reciprocity through the tradition of gifting clothes (Onakkodi).
Read for more insights on this topic!
📝 The Benefits of Deep Breathing and Why It WorksThe benefits of slow paced breathing exercises is well recognised by various studies on the topic. However, researchers are now shifting their focus to find out what goes on in the brain during deep breathing. This article proposes two explanations that researchers are studying- Read to find out more.
📝 Can We Create a Pattern Language for Behavioral Design?Global behavioral science research often relies on Western populations, limiting the universality of its findings. This article highlights the challenges of conducting truly global, cross-cultural studies, particularly the lack of sample diversity on popular research platforms like Prolific and Amazon Mechanical Turk. The research article takes a bird’s eye view on the status of research in behavioural science, and it is a recommended read.
🎧 How to be Lucky in Business and LifeLuck is often understood as an arbitrary factor influencing the success of ventures-business or personal. This podcast looks to shift this perception by giving principles to manage your luck. It’s a fresh take that is intriguing to listen to.
Did you enjoy this edition of the Behavioural Science Digest? Forward this email and share the knowledge with other Behavioural Science enthusiasts.
If this email was forwarded to you, please subscribe here.
Brought to you with 💛 from India Behavioural Economics Network (Facebook | LinkedIn | Twitter) and Beyond Nudge Consulting (Instagram | LinkedIn | Twitter)
Editors: Junofy Anto Rozarina and Abhishek Chauhan