Behavioral Change and Heterogeneity

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Abstract

The experimental paradigm and, in particular, randomized studies with control groups are also used in large-scale experimental studies that have a great potential for sustainable innovation (SI) programs. The inattentiveness of sampling in empirical tests has quite clearly reduced or eliminated the possibility of widely extending their results. This situation opens the door to a new era where the heterogeneity of behavior will be the focus of experimental design in every empirical or practical verification, to extend results to real-world settings. Individual and cultural differences in the agentivity as the ability to transform culture and lifestyles are at the origin of the heterogeneity of behaviors. When we study behaviors and their evolution, how they change spontaneously, and how they can be influenced by a selective pressure until new habits are formed, we are in fact looking at how lifestyles and cultures change.

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Notes

  1. 1.

    The replicability crisis (also called the replication crisis) has greatly affected experimental research in humanities (human sciences). Unlike medical, clinical, or biological research, psychology has devoted limited attention to the definition of the experimental sample. The so-called inattentiveness of sampling makes the possibility of replicating or extending lab research results very unlikely. See McShane et al. [1]. Also see Kenny and Judd [2].

  2. 2.

    As well as the notion of linear and multiple regression, Galton’s early research introduced notions such as median, standard deviation, and correlation.

  3. 3.

    In statistics, variability is not the same as variance. The latter refers to the shift from the average or mean, thus making it possible to determine the statistical distance among the individuals in a group. Variance is a statistical index to ascertain or disprove the veracity of the causal effect, while variability measures the absence of the effect.

  4. 4.

    The UNESCO General Conference established three points: to gather scientific data on race-related issues, to circulate the said scientific data and to prepare an educational campaign based on the data. The anthropologist’s work was published by UNESCO. See Lévi-Strauss C. “Race et histoire.” The text was then modified, specified, and clarified in the subsequent one called “Race et culture”. UNESCO/Albin Michel; Paris: 2001. https://openlibrary.org/works/OL11315676W/Race_et_histoire

  5. 5.

    Müller-Wille [3].

  6. 6.

    Lévi-Strauss [4].

  7. 7.

    Ibid. Chap. 5.

  8. 8.

    In the mentioned text, Lévi-Strauss compares cultural development and the evolution of biological traits, highlighting how some genes of the human genome have a function that regulates so as to adapt genetic traits to cultural modifications and lifestyles. For instance, in some areas, innovations following irrigation in agriculture, a product of human labor, led to malaria and in some zones to thalassemia and sickle cell anemia, a genetic mutation that has a selective advantage in that those who suffer from it are immune to malaria.

  9. 9.

    Lévi-Strauss [5].

  10. 10.

    A negative coefficient indicates a weakening of the variable’s causal effect on the behavior determinant; a positive coefficient indicated a stronger causal effect.

  11. 11.

    In epidemiology and prevention of syndromes with a risk of becoming chronic, researchers are starting to test how effective these taxonomies are in generating predictive models of chronic diseases and preventive models with targeted programs. For instance, see “Lifepath” a program on the elderly and chronicity funded by the EU https://www.lifepathproject.eu/

  12. 12.

    Thunström et al. ([6].

  13. 13.

    Zellermayer [7].

  14. 14.

    See Chap. 5, Part II.

  15. 15.

    Kim et al. [8].

  16. 16.

    For instance, see Hershfield et al. [9]. Also, Franklin and Hochlaf [10].

  17. 17.

    Benartzi et al. [11].

  18. 18.

    Shah et al. [12].

  19. 19.

    Mrkva et al. [13].

  20. 20.

    See Mrkva, K. et al. ibid. for the scales used for each profile.

  21. 21.

    Behavioral economics suggest that mental automatisms or biases concern everyone and that generally all behavior is characterized by systematic tendencies we are unaware of.

  22. 22.

    Also see Chap. 5.

  23. 23.

    For a more comprehensive description of the behavior model, see Chap. 5.

  24. 24.

    Ethnographic research in design uses a number of books and technical handbooks and guides, thus covering a wide range of developments and methodological depths. EPIC is still the international reference community for corporate ethnographic research professionals (see Jordan [14]). EPIC is a global community of practitioners doing ethnography for impact in businesses and organizations. Their selection of guides and bibliographies is especially rich and focused https://www.epicpeople.org/bookshelf/

  25. 25.

    See further in the text for the statistical importance of distance between clusters.

  26. 26.

    Selection includes the use of questionnaires published in scientific journals on lifestyles, propensity to continued mental work, self-control, and self-effectiveness and questions on relevant expertise.

  27. 27.

    Research sessions may span from a few hours to days in person and from weeks to months remotely.

  28. 28.

    Bryan et al. [15].

  29. 29.

    See Daniel Kahneman’s interview in Edge on so-called adversarial collaboration https://www.edge.org/adversarial-collaboration-daniel-kahneman. March 2022.

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Visciola, M. (2022). Behavioral Change and Heterogeneity. In: Sustainable Innovation. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-18751-3_8

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