In the years 2020-2 the global pandemic has led me to contemplate the impact of my work, the role that psychologists in society, and our potential impact on doing good in the world. I’ve tried to gain some understanding of this domain through my various activities in judgment and decision making (why people do not act, action versus inaction), and open science and meta research (replications in the domain of environmental psychology), but these seemed too small and too slow.
In 2022 I decided to try and leverage my teaching and research to try and promote “Doing more good, doing good better” aiming to support human flourishing and reduce death, pain, and suffering. The most useful framework I found was that by the Effective Altruism movement, especially with the science based approach to helping, giving, and addressing the world’s biggest and most urgent challenges.
I first shifted my UG courses from an emphasis on open-science to exploring effectiveness and impact through psychological science. Once I gain a better understanding of this domain I hope to follow by better aligning my research in these directions.
For an overview of the work I do with students related to “Doing more good” and “Doing more better” here are some initial thoughts shared in a talk to Effective Altruism Hong Kong on November 2023:
For an overview with some suggestions on increasing impact with “Doing more good” and “Doing more better” here are some initial thoughts shared in a talk at BI Norwegian Business School on July 2023:
Related work with students in courses oriented towards “Doing more good, doing good better”:
- “Advanced Social Psychology” 2023 course syllabus
- “Advanced Social Psychology” 2022 course syllabus
- “Judgment and Decision Making” 2022 course syllabus
Resources created in those courses:
- Effective altruism collaborative guide [ongoing]
- Effective altruism using psychological science book [2022 courses]
- Doing good interventions book [2022 courses]
- Evaluating charities collaborative book [2022 courses]
- “Comparing charities: Psychological science factors in charitable giving” research project [2023 course]
Related research I do:
- Action and inaction: When and why people prefer inaction to action
- Heuristics and biases that impend and improve helping and giving.
- Morality: How do people think about helping and giving.