Outline of My Tenth Required Weekly Outline (Oral)

Motivation for Safety and Heath

This is a presentation of Target Risk (Reference 12)

Gerald J.S. Wilde; Published by PDE Publications, 1994; Chapter 11

By: Julia Mae Geraghty

Instructions for this oral presentation are found at:

www.soc.hawaii.edu/leonj/leonj/leonpsy22/g22-oral.htm

I. What can we us to motivate people to use safe conduct and discourage risky behavior?

a. Four Tactics Used for Motivation

i. Tactic A – Increasing the perceived benefit of cautious behavior

ii. Tactic B – Decreasing the perceived cost of cautious behavior

iii. Tactic C – Increasing the perceived cost of risky behavior

iv. Tactic D – Decreasing the perceived benefit of risky behavior

b. Examples

i. Discounts, free license renewals

ii. Enhancing the efficiency of public transit, tax exemptions on safety equipment

iii. Building vehicles that become noisy at high speeds, restrict the right to restitution for damages incurred by people not wearing a seat belt

iv. Paying taxi drivers per time unit instead of per mile (or another employee involved in a risky job)

c. Opinion

i. Although many of these see like great ideas on the outside I think that it is possible that some of these may backfire. (i.e. if in an accident people may become too concerned about quickly putting their seatbelt on rather than making sure the road is safe… or taxing liquor to excessive amounts (people may try to make their own and become ill))

II. So, can we just punish people for unsafe acts?

a. Yes, but it may not be the best way.

i. Frequently declaring something a crime may not reduce the rate of occurrence; however treating that crime on a higher level might.

1. i.e. Chicago Crackdown

b. Negative side effects of punishment

i. Self-fulfilling prophecy

1. labeling people with undesirable characteristics may cause them to believe that they have these characteristics

a. i.e. bank going bankrupt

b. i.e. activation the electronic devices installed along highways

ii. “Process Controls”

1. do not clearly communicate what action should be taken

a. i.e. no left turn vs. left turn ok

b. cumbersome to design and implement

c. Opinion

i. After studying behavior in Psychology classes I can see where many people would commit the behavior more often if punished for it. It seems like a rebellion and almost a form of excitement. (i.e. smoking and drinking underage)

III. Or is it better to just extend incentives?

a. Creating positive side effects for creating a more favorable social climate

i. Financial incentives (i.e. free 12 month extension on their license, German branch of Kraft Foods Corp. ex.)

b. Outcome? They have been working very well and the statistics show it.

c. Opinion

i. I think that creating incentives is a very good idea. For example, getting Cs or better on my WS 360 class will make the final non-cumulative. Although, I think that you need punishment because incentives do not always work; they need to walk hand in hand.

My Homepage:

http://www.soc.hawaii.edu/leon/409as2005/geraghty/homepage.htm

Helpful Links:

http://psyc.queensu.ca/target/

http://www.accel-team.com/pygmalion/

http://www.inc.com/magazine/19900901/5341.html