We are all bombarded with the message that we should practice social distancing, but each of us has likely seen striking violations of the goal. What can behavioral sciences uniquely contribute? The recommendations detailed in the infographic and video below were made by the Behavioral Science Response to COVID-19 Working Group. The goal of the group is to disseminate evidence-based recommendations in areas where behavioral science can make a positive contribution.

Most recommendations from the World Health Organization and the Center for Disease Control and Prevention are fundamentally behavioral in nature because the spread of COVID-19 is, in part, based on human behavior. Behavioral scientists are a unique resource for changing human behavior in ways that may reduce the spread of the novel coronavirus.

The infographic translations are available here.

Social distancing

Social distancing is a prime example, as we are confronted with a myriad of decisions that we rapidly make while moving through the world. Because many localities are under stay-at-home orders, we succeed in keeping up our social distance by staying at home in our family unit. Over time, stay-at-home orders are likely to be gradually lifted in many localities. In this context, it is more important than ever that we strengthen our ability to successfully social distance. Our recommendations are informed by perception, action, and cognition, as well as persuasion science, learning, and behavior modification (some of the references are listed at the end of this post).

Your neighbors are practicing socially distancing (e.g., while getting groceries), and your neighbors will call you a cheater if you don’t socially distance.

Transcript

Why should you keep your social distancing up?

• To flatten the rise in COVID-19 transmissions
• To not overwhelm hospital resources
• It’s a way you can help, even if you don’t have any medical expertise
• And it’s also a way you can help protect your loved ones

Who needs to practice social distancing? All of us!

• Practice social distancing with everyone, except for the people you live with
• Remember who you’re protecting – your parents, your grandparents, your friends, and your neighbors
• Social distancing needs to be done by everyone all the time

What’s effective about social distancing?

• The risk of spreading COVID-19 goes down when social distance is high
• Of course, there are trade-offs between the safety of staying indoors and away from people entirely, and the reality that you need food and other basic supplies to live
• So wherever you are, stay 6 feet or 2 meters away from other people, except for the people you live with
• It will help decrease the risk of getting COVID-19 or spreading it to others.

How do you maintain proper social distance?

• One way is to picture yourself staying 6 feet or 2 meters from everyone.
  • Imagine stretching your hands above your head and then rotating so you’re parallel to the ground.
  • From your hands to your toes is at least the distance that you should always keep between you and any people you don’t live with.
• Another tip is to think about how you’ll behave before you go out.
  • For example, if you’re going to the store, picture yourself there moving throughout while keeping up the distance between you and the other shoppers.

And finally, don’t cheat!

• Most people are practicing social distancing, do your part, and keep your distance up.
• It’s just one way you can help reduce the spread of COVID-19.

The Members of the Behavioral Science Response to COVID-19 Working Group

The members of the Behavioral Science Response to COVID-19 Working Group includes expertise in perception, action, and cognition, as well as in learning and behavior modification. The group is comprised of the following academics:

• Jonathon Crystal (Chair)
• Jim Pomerantz (Co-Chair)
• Kate Bruce
• Andy Delamater
• Wayne Fuqua
• Mark Galizio
• Megan Heinicke
• Debbie Kelly
• Olga Lazareva
• Linda LeBlanc
• Mark McDaniel
• Laura Mickes
• Raymond Miltenberger
• Matthew Normand
• Amy Odum
• Danielle Panoz-Brown
• Gordon Pennycook
• Penny Pexman
• Suparna Rajaram
• Timothy Raymond
• Phil Reed
• Sachiko Koyama
• Crystal Slanzi
• Carole Van Camp
• Wendy Donlin Washington
• Doug Woods
• Jessica Witt

References

The following are many of the references to the scientific papers that informed the above recommendations.

Atkinson, J., Chartier, Y., Pessoa-Silva, C.L., Jensen, P., Li, Y., Seto, W.-H. (Eds). (2009). Natural Ventilation for Infection Control in Health-Care Settings. World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland. ISBN 978 92 4 154785 7 (NLM classification:WX 167)

Block, P., Hoffman, M., Raabe, I. J., Dowd, J. B., Rahal, C., Kashyap, R., & Mills, M. C. (2020). Social network-based distancing strategies to flatten the COVID 19 curve in a post-lockdown world. arXiv preprint arXiv:2004.07052.

Cialdini, R.B. (2001). Harnessing the Science of Persuasion. Harvard Business Review, October 2001, Reprint r0109d.

Cialdini, R.B. (2006). Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion, Revised Edition. Harper Business.

Cialdini, R. B. (2020). Reducing Undesirable COVID-19 Behaviors. https://www.influenceatwork.com/inside-influence-report/advice-for-reducing-undesirable-covid-19-behaviors/

Gollwitzer, P. M. (1999). Implementation intentions: strong effects of simple plans. American psychologist, 54(7), 493. https://doi.org/10.1037/0003-066X.54.7.493

Linkenauger, S. A., Bulthoff, H. H., & Mohler, B. J. (2015). Virtual arm’s reach influences perceived distance but only after experience reaching. Neuropsychologia, 70, 393–401. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.neuropsychologia.2014.10.034.

Linkenauger, S. A., Leyrer, M., Bülthoff, H. H., & Mohler, B. J. (2013). Welcome to wonderland: the influence of the size and shape of a virtual hand on the perceived size and shape of virtual objects. PloS one, 8(7), e68594. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pone.0068594

Liu, L. L., & Park, D. C. (2004). Aging and medical adherence: the use of automatic processes to achieve effortful things. Psychology and aging, 19(2), 318. https://doi.org/10.1037/0882-7974.19.2.318

Locey, M. L., & Rachlin, H. (2015). Altruism and anonymity: A behavioral analysis. Behavioural Processes, 118, 71–75. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.beproc.2015.06.002

Jones, B. A., & Rachlin, H. (2009). Delay, probability, and social discounting in a public goods game. Journal of the Experimental Analysis of Behavior, 91(1), 61–73. https://doi.org/10.1901/jeab.2009.91-61

Martin S. J., Goldstein, N., & Cialdini, R. B. (2014), The small BIG: small changes that spark big influence. Grand Central Publishing.

McFarland, C., & Glisky, E. (2012). Implementation intentions and imagery: Individual and combined effects on prospective memory among young adults. Memory & cognition, 40(1), 62-69. https://doi.org/10.3758/s13421-011-0126-8

Parshina-Kottas, Y., Saget, B., Patanjali, K., Fleisher, O., Gianordoli, G. (2020). This 3-D simulation shows why social distancing is so important. The New York Times, April 14. https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2020/04/14/science/coronavirus-transmission-cough-6-feet-ar-ul.html

Proffitt, D. R. & Linkenauger, S. A. (2013). Perception viewed as a phenotypic expression. In: Action science: Foundations of an emerging discipline, ed. W. Prinz, M. Beisert & A. Herwig, pp. 171–98. MIT Press.

Stevens, H. (2020).  Why outbreaks like coronavirus spread exponentially, and how to “flatten the curve”. Washington Post, March. https://www.washingtonpost.com/graphics/2020/world/corona-simulator/

Yang, S., Lee, G.W.M., Chen, C.-M., Wu, C.-C., Yu, K.-P. (2007). The size and concentration of droplets generated by coughing in human subjects. Journal of Aerosol Medicine, 20(4), 484-494.

Witt, J. K., Proffitt, D.R., & Epstein, W. (2005).  Tool use affects perceived distance but only when you intend to use it.  Journal of Experimental Psychology: Human Perception and Performance, 31, 880-888.

World NHK-Report, SARS-CoV-2 Coronavirus Micro-droplets, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vBvFkQizTT4

Additional information

American Psychological Association