Following her recognition with the XVII BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences, social psychologist Dolores Albarracín explains how her research on persuasion and behavior change shows that shifting broad beliefs alone is not enough to transform actions. She highlights that, to encourage behaviors such as vaccination, it is more effective to facilitate access, activate routines, and provide concrete instructions rather than directly confronting misinformation. Albarracín also underscores that the social sciences are essential to addressing global challenges —from public health to violence and climate change— by clarifying the links between attitudes, beliefs and behavior.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences has gone in this seventeenth edition to social psychologists Icek Ajzen, Dolores Albarracín, Mahzarin Banaji, Anthony Green
Following her recognition with the XVII BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences, social psychologist Dolores Albarracín explains how her research on persuasion and behavior change shows that shifting broad beliefs alone is not enough to transform actions. She highlights that, to encourage behaviors such as vaccination, it is more effective to facilitate access, activate routines, and provide concrete instructions rather than directly confronting misinformation. Albarracín also underscores that the social sciences are essential to addressing global challenges —from public health to violence and climate change— by clarifying the links between attitudes, beliefs and behavior.
The BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Social Sciences has gone in this seventeenth edition to social psychologists Icek Ajzen, Dolores Albarracín, Mahzarin Banaji, Anthony Greenwald and Richard Petty for “revolutionizing the way we understand and measure attitudes” with an influence that extends to “psychology, sociology, political science, education, health, economics and other areas.”
00:00 Introduction
00:04 Professor Albarracín, the jury’s report highlights your contribution to understanding how attitudes and behaviors can be modified through persuasion. How would you explain your contribution to the field?
03:59 From your experience, what recommendations or strategies are most efficient to modify behaviors, specifically in health and to confront misinformation and conspiracy theories?
06:10 How does the connection between beliefs, attitudes and behaviors work, and to what extent can they be influenced?
09:17 To what extent and in what sense are social sciences in general and social psychology in particular relevant in the advancement of knowledge?
