Mark A. Mattaini’s research while affiliated with University of Illinois Chicago and other places

Busch, Santana, & Mattaini (2023) Behaviour Analyst as Changemaker: Science, Advocacy and Activism in Practice. In People Skills for Behaviour Analysis, Routledge. As scientist-practitioners, behaviour analysts work to understand the contextual variables that contribute to social challenges with a goal of making the world a better place. If “saving the world” is to be the true goal of a science of human behaviour, behaviour analysts must commit to an agenda of social justice and extend its reach to collective action at the level of cultural systems. In addition to striving to become effective scientist-practitioners, behaviour analysts should strive to become effective scientist-advocates. This monograph provides a practical overview of advocacy and activism with a focus on the reasons, targets and methods of the endeavoring scientist-advocate.

At least 80% of the world’s population has been significantly impacted by climate change; the most vulnerable around the world are already facing dramatic, severe costs due to emissions produced by wealthy nations. In fact, “climate change is not just an environmental issue—it is an economic issue, a social issue, a security issue, and, above all, a moral issue” (Freer-Smith et al., 2007, p. xiii; see also Shue, 2020, “Distant Strangers and the Illusion of Separation”). Despite decades of work, none of the current models for mitigating climate change offers a realistic route toward stable end-state solutions, even in the wealthiest nations, much less the world (Brooks, 2020; Bordoff & O’Sullivan (2022). Efforts to affect climate change have typically been viewed as the province of engineers and policy makers, but achieving timely and adequate cultural shifts as required to support global climate justice (GCJ), is a question of behavior, and thereby calls out to our science. Taking a constructional approach, behavior science is in a position to offer and construct conceptual and experimental tools for understanding, studying, and contributing to cultural systems that have the potential to lead to meaningful climate change responses. Drawing on what is known about (a) contingencies of reinforcement; (b) delay and probability discounting, and related levels of demand; (c) firmly embedded, widely established patterns of derived relational responding, (d) emerging conceptual models of strategic cultural-systems analysis, and (e) what is now known about the power of narrative, behavior science offers intriguing systemic possibilities for engaging in strategic, science-based social action supporting GCJ. Included in the possibilities explored here are community and societal interventions, policy advocacy, and other forms of activism, framed in behavior science terms. The paper ends with an example of how our discipline can contribute to climate change mitigation through narrative and activism supporting forests and other natural ecosystems.

Behavioral science has a long history of engaging in efforts to understand and address socially important issues. Poverty and inequities in health and development are among the most important and complex social issues facing the world today. With its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), the United Nations (2015) has focused attention and guidance on addressing key global challenges, including to “end poverty” (SDG 1), “ensure good health and well-being for all” (SDG3), and “reduce inequality within and among countries” (SDG 10). In this paper, we provide a framework and illustrative examples of contributions of behavioral science to these issues. We feature illustrative behavioral interventions at the individual, relationship, community, and societal levels. We highlight the diversity of issues, intervention methods, and settings reflected in applications of behavioral science. By joining methods from behavioral science, public health, and other disciplines—and the experiential knowledge of those most affected by inequities—behavioral methods can make significant contributions to collaborative efforts to assure health and well-being for all.

Does contemporary behavior science have the capacity to meaningfully contribute to global justice, and if so, do culturo-behavior scientists carry a moral obligation to do so? These are challenging questions for a science that began in the laboratory and whose applications have primarily targeted microsystemic interventions. Although justice and injustice can only be enacted through behavior, effective action supporting social (including economic) and ecological (including environmental) justice will require collective action focused on shifts in cultural practices. As discussed in this article, contemporary culturo-behavior science (CBS) has begun shifting disciplinary attention toward potential contributions to critical dimensions of global justice. A key contemporary challenge for CBS in these areas is the development of meaningful conceptual and experimental approaches that can simultaneously advance rigorous science (in most cases, necessarily across disciplines) and offer meaningful utility in public sectors.

B. F. Skinner noted in 1971 that “there are many reasons why people should now be concerned for the good of all mankind” (p. 137). There is good reason to do so, and given that the most critical contemporary social and environmental issues—and the primary potential steps to address them—are grounded in human behavior, good reason for behavior science to be active in doing so. Even given the limitations of current knowledge, behavior science carries a substantial obligation to work toward rigorous contributions, but also toward their broad applications. As effective interventive directions are identified, it is often challenging to convincingly move toward implementation of those advances through public policy. The authors here explore directions to facilitate applications of behavior science to advance policy decisions that support social and environmental justice, sustainability, and further scientific advances more broadly. Research and practice related to this task requires (a) a firm grounding in essential values and ethics that have not been commonly discussed in behavior analysis, (b) a behaviorally formulated understanding of the public policy process, and (c) behaviorally framed strategic analysis and tools for active participation in that process.