Dual System Theory

Dual System Theory: How to engage people in sustainable development through two different thinking systems of decision making?

MA Sustainable Design 2017/18 Tutor: Paul Micklethwaite Tzu-Yun Liu - K1732342

Introduction Sustainable development is perhaps the greatest challenge of our time, if human want to conquer and improve the situation, that we faced, needs everyone’s effort and contribution. The concept of sustainability has been published for ages, but until the last several years people begin to realize that it is time to face the challenge and actually put into action. However, no nation, organization or group can hope to face the challenges of sustainable development alone and make changes by themselves. Thus, experts and scholars try to spread the idea of living a sustainable life to the public, which is to raise awareness of people.

But how to attract and engage more people into sustainable development? For most people, sustainable issues seem massive and untouchable, and it seems not their responsibility to improve situations like climate change, water privatization or poverty. In order to persuade more people participate in a sustainable future, designers are trying to utilize their specialty to make the sustainable development more achievable and simplify sustainable issues into daily goals. For example, if you take public transportation instead of driving, you are tackling climate change. People are more interested in these kind of promoting approaches.

This essay focuses on the application of dual process theory in behavior changing. In psychology, the concept of dual process theory has been discussed for decades, dual process theories can be found in social, personality, cognitive, and clinical psychology. It has also been applied to economics through prospect theory and behavioral economics, and increasingly in sociology through cultural analysis. (Vaisey, 2009) A number of case studies for enhancing sustainability to the public are presented in this essay, and they are assorted to two different ways, which are system one thinking and system two thinking approaches. man behavior? and how to influence human behavior?

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What is human behavior? and how to influence human behavior?

All behaviors follow an underlying pattern which is governed by the constituents of our personalities such as our values, beliefs, priorities, drives, ambitions, cultural upbringing, genetics and so on. An attitude, which is one of the factors of human behavior, is an expression of favor or disfavor toward a person, place, thing, or event. It alters between each individual, so everyone has a different attitude towards different things. Attitudes can sculpt personalities and the way people view who we are. Attitudes have a lot to do with the mind which highly relates to human behavior. The way a human behaves depends a lot on how they look at the situation and what they expect to gain from it.

Attitude is made up of three components: Affect, Behavior, and Cognition. (Breckler, 1984) In the research, behavior is a set of affect-behavior-cognition ( see figure 1) corresponding a specific situation which may or may not repeat when circumstances change. (Weiner, 1980) There exist as many behaviors for one personality, as are situations and therefore the possibilities of behaviors are limitless.

Figure 1. The Cognitive Triangle.

Cognitive (Thoughts)

Affect (Emotion)

Behavior (Action) (Breckler, 1984)

This essay focuses on dual system cognitive theory, and how it influences human behavior on sustainable development. The idea that there are two distinct kinds of reasoning has been around for as long as philosophers and psychologists have written about the nature of human thought. However, it is only in recent years that cognitive scientists have proposed the striking and strong claim that there are two quite separate cognitive systems underlying thinking and reasoning with distinct evolutionary histories.

These two systems are sometimes described as Implicit and Explicit. (Frankish, 2010)

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Two different approaches to engage people in sustainability.

What is dual-system theory?

There are many factors may influence human behaviors, and dual system theory is one of the factors. The theory states that there are two different cognitive systems in the brain. These two different systems, developed through evolution, are responsible for our decision-making. (Kahneman, 2015) Two systems are almost exact opposites, which system one is instinctual, fast, and emotional while system two is rational, slow, and logical. In addition, system one is automatic and requires little effort to use, but system two is controlled and requires plenty of effort to use. ( see figure 2) Figure 2. Dual System Theory

(Bryn Farnsworth, 2018)

This theory suggests that human everyday decisions are progressed into one of these two systems, from buying coffee in the morning, to making business choices. We will use different approaches depending on different situations. When human making big decisions, they are more likely to use the slow and effortful, but reliable process of system two, because it is more likely to get it right. On the other hand, everyday and common decisions are more likely to engage our system one approach to thinking, so the brain can save energy to deal with more important decisions.

System one has a large capacity, which means it can be always on without issue. On the contrary, system two has a much smaller capacity, meaning it gets tired and begins defaulting to whatever system one thinks, even if it’s needed. So it usually accepts what system one tells it. (Kahneman, 2015)

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How to apply dual system theory for engaging people?

In this section, we learn many different perspectives and practices of sustainable development, and we keep saying take an action before its too late. We all understand if we want to change the situation of the world, it needs everyone’s effort. Hence, designers are trying to engage people in sustainable issue through a creative way.

Utilizing the concept of dual system theory into promoting sustainability, it can be classified into two different approaches. System one is fast thinking refers to the automatic processes of the mind that operate below the level of consciousness, so a better approach is to give people direct and simple instructions to change their behavior of daily things such as drinking tap water, paying attention to labels, taking public transportation and so on. Thus, people can take an action on sustainable issues without doing their own study. People even might not realize that their behavior is beneficial to the sustainable future. So “just tell people what to do”, when you try to engage people through system one thinking.

As for the system two, it is slow thinking refers to a more deliberate, conscious processes that we identify with rational decision-making. Decision making is seen as a knowledge intensive activity, and a decision makers productivity is seen as being highly dependent on what knowledge is available and what skills exist for processing that knowledge. (Holsapple, 1995) In order to let people make their own judgement and take an effort on sustainable issues, people need to be educated with the knowledge of sustainable development. So for the system two approach, the most important part is the education for sustainability. The system two approach allows people to be more critical in sustainable issue. Although, it may take more time to engage people through education, the outcome is way bigger and more influential. “Someone was educated by others, may become educator itself one day.”

System Two

“ Why, how, what should I do? ”

System One

“ Just tell me what to do ”

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The Case Studies for System One “ Just tell me what to do ”

Hubbub Hubbub is a charity that creates environmental campaigns with a difference. The purpose of these campaigns is for inspiring people to make healthier, greener lifestyle choices, which more often than not help save money and bring people together. They concentrate on things people are passionate about and are related to their daily life, such as fashion, food, homes and neighborhoods. As you can see in their website, they use simple and attractive words to offer practical and realistic solutions that encourage people to take an effort for the environment ( see figure 3).

One of their successful campaigns is Let’s Go Plastic Fishing ( see figure 4), which run 55 free educational Plastic Fishing trips for school children in London. The idea came from Canary Wharf College who ran a series of trial trips with their students. They discovered that Plastic Fishing helped students connect with their local environment, cleared the waterways of litter and showed that waste plastic can have a real value. ( Hubbub Foundation, 2018) Through this interesting campaign, Hubbub invited many young children to take their first step to a sustainable future, even if they did not notice what impact they can do for the world. By means of direct lead and clearly instructions, people can participate in the sustainable issue without too many concerns, which is why system one is easier to approach people and be able to have an immediate effect.

Figure 3. The webpage of Hubbub.

( Hubbub Foundation, 2018)

Figure 4. Let’s Go Plastic Fishing

( Hubbub Foundation, 2018)

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Love Food Hate Waste Love Food Hate Waste aims to raise people’s awareness of the demand to reduce food waste. By doing some easy and practical everyday things at home, people can waste less food, which will ultimately benefit their purses and the environment too. Many articles are published on the website, which are mostly about useful tricks or recipes that help people deal with their food.( see figure 5)For example, “Make Toast, Not Waste” teach people how to keep bread for longer by putting it in the freezer and then use it straight from frozen to make toast. ( see figure 6)Utilizing small behavior changing, people can form a habit of preserving their food longer and cook creative dishes with the recipes. (Lovefoodhatewaste.com, n.d.)

There are some similarities between“ Hubbub” and“ Love Food Hate Waste”. For example, they would teach people about specific daily behaviors step by step, or using simple and attractive topics to engage people in the sustainable issues. People are able to choose the themes, which they are interested in, to develop better behaviors in their life, although it might not be extensive knowledge in sustainable development with only one campaign or article.

Figure 5. Love Food Hate Waste.

(Lovefoodhatewaste.com, n.d.)

Figure 6. Make Toast, Not Waste.

(Lovefoodhatewaste.com, n.d.)

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ALLOTINABOX Brand Packaging: Box and Contents ALLOTINABOX produce and deliver Grow Your Own boxes for people of all ages, encouraging them to get growing in tiny urban spaces. They want to help people discover how wonderful it is to grow fresh fruit and vegetables. And you don’t need a great deal of space to get growing. Their GYO boxes ( see figure 7) can help anyone from city dwellers to country kitchen gardeners tap into the joy of growing and harvesting fresh food at home. The box contains many useful tools such as the grow wheel ( see figure 8), which tells you when to sow, grow and harvest your crops from the seeds that you receive in the box. Thus, the box turns gardening as an easy and accessible thing for everyone. (Allotinabox.com, n.d.)

From an environmental perspective, GYO can reduce your food’s carbon footprint. The industrial food system relies on intensive use of pesticides and fertilizers, farm machinary, food processing, refrigeration, transportation and packaging, which together make a significant contribution to CO2 emissions.( Cambridgecarbonfootprint.org, n.d.)

ALLOTINABOX does not emphasize on the specialty knowledge of climate change. But with the box, people not only can have healthy produce, but also help keep the soil healthy, reduce the carbon footprint and benefits the planet. Due to growing their own food, people can rebuild the connection to the environment and be more cherish for the food, which could reduce the massive food waste. A creative design can change human behaviors and then have a tremendous influence to the world.

Figure 7. ALLOTINABOX.

(Allotinabox.com, n.d.)

Figure 8. The grow wheel.

(Allotinabox.com, n.d.)

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The Case Studies for System Two “ Why, how, what should I do? ”

The Story of Stuff Project The story of stuff project founded by Annie Leonard, who is an advocate for the environment and a longtime leader in the movement to change the way we make, use, and throw away Stuff. They utilize movies and attractive animations to convey the right information about the lifecycle of material goods. The documentary is critical of excessive consumerism and promotes sustainability. Except for education sustainability, they invite people to take part in the environment and social issue by their movies, which instructs how to make a practical action to the sustainable issues in people’s daily life.

We believe that dramatically increasing civic participation, not just refining our consumer choices, is the key to unlocking the profound challenges we face. And our campaigns provide diverse, engaging opportunities for our Community members to get involved, from the global level down to where they live and work. (The Story of Stuff Project, n.d.)

The Story helps the public go deeper in sustainable issues like drinking bottled waters, plastic pollution and so on. Using bottled water as an example ( see figure 9), the film explores the bottled water industry’s attacks on tap water ( see figure 10) so that the public would buy products they do not need, which not only damage the environment, also cost thousand times of money. At the end of the movie is a call for viewers to make a personal commitment to avoid bottled water and support public investment in clean, available tap water for all. The story of stuff project educates people to be more critical on business strategies and also take an effort to sustainable development.

Figure 9. The Story of Bottled Water.

(The Story of Stuff Project, n.d.)

Figure 10. The Water Industry’s Attacks.

(The Story of Stuff Project, n.d.)

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D& Department D&Department is a multi-level retail and lifestyle concept space for educating citizens the concept of Long Life Design in Japan. They pick up products that have been used and loved by people for many years. Identifying their unique characteristics, new products are made to enhance their lives of people today. (Denizen Navigator, n.d.) The shop is spacious, which create a comfortable and relax atmosphere for their clients to spend time communicating with the employees and find the suitable product. ( see figure 11) In the era of materialism, the founder tried to create a platform for customers and designers to communicate. The employees are the bridge for customers and designers, which make sure their customers understand how their products come from and how much effort is required, so the customers could buy the products they really need and be more cherish. In order to acquire the ability to introduce all the products, D&D would arrange their employees to visit the factories to observe the production process and get the first hand experience. On the other hand, D&Department makes sure all their products are repairable ,can be used for a long time, and also have local characteristics.

The aim is to correct people’s consumption habits and preserve local culture and traditional industry.

D& Department is engaged in a wide variety of other activities, and is constantly exploring new ways to highlight the unique qualities of Japan’s regions through avenues such as retail, dining, publishing, and tourism. (D&DEPARTMENT, n.d.)They launched “d design travel,” a guide book reflecting a new approach to tourism. ( see figure 12) It introduces Japanese prefectures from the perspective of long life design. The editorial team spends two months living and traveling in the prefecture covered to find places that are unique to it. (see figure 9.)

Figure 11. D&Department OKINAWA.

(Calend-okinawa.com, 2018)

Figure 12. D Design Travel.

(D&DEPARTMENT, n.d.)

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The World of 100 Despite the thousands of differences between you and the person next to you, you can’t escape from your identity as a member of the world. Agree? Well then, better to face it than to run away. In 2008, designer Toby Ng gathered statistics about the diversity of the world’s population and turned the numbers into a series of 20 posters – The World of 100, posing this question: If the world were a village of 100 people, what would its composition be? (Toby-ng.com, n.d.)

Toby Ng turns complicated statistic into simple, informative, and fun graphic to give people sense of the world. When the world becomes a village of 100 people, it is shocked that those least consequential issues conspicuously appear. People started to realize what is happening to the world and how serious it is. For example, half of the world did not have reliable food supply (see figure 13), and without the simplified data people is blinded. Although, there is not numerous knowledge and instruction about what to do in the poster. Toby Ng tried to convey a message to everyone that stop neglecting the world is changing exaggeratedly and there are plenty of problems we need to face.

Figure 13. The World of 100.

(Toby-ng.com, n.d.)

Although the essential element of system two approach is education, in the case studied above, designers use their creativity to transform boring knowledge into vivid visualizing pictures or animations, which is more attractive and easier to gain new knowledge.

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Make sustainable issues smaller and more achievable.

What is behavior economics?

Most people claimed that they make decisions through system two thinking, which is rational and effortful. People usually identify themselves are very thoughtful. Unfortunately, considering the many decisions we have to make every day in a world, sometimes, people are too lazy to use system two thinking. System one operates quickly and requires less cognitive effort, thus providing certain advantages. Therefore, many scholars such as Richard Thaler, who was awarded the Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences in 2017, started research about “ Behavior Economics”.

Behavioral economics incorporates the study of psychology into the analysis of the decision-making behind an economic outcome, such as the factors leading up to a consumer buying one product instead of another. Behavioral science dramatically influences our everyday lives, from helping us make better choices in finance and healthcare, to guiding us to work more effectively, to influencing how we shop on the high street and online and nudging us to be more generous. Humans are characterized by bounded rationality, bounded willpower and bounded self-interest. Cognitive limitations constrain human judgement and choice, people occasionally make choices that are against their own interests and people are often altruistic. (Mullainathan and Thaler, 2000) Behavior economics is now being used to solve more complex behavioral problems, such as improving an individual’s financial well-being, enhancing users’ experiences and gathering better data on the nation’s habitual levels of physical activity. Sustainable development is the most complex and endless issue at present. Moreover, sustainable issue seems too massive and hard to change by individuals, so it is difficult to engage a great deal of people, who mostly neglect the problems.

In order to increase the participation rate of sustainable development, utilizing the concept of behavioral economics can easier to approach many people in a short time. Take the case study” Hubbub” as an example, the campaigns hold by Hubbub turn massive sustainable issue into daily topic and achievable behavior. People do not have to put too much energy on concerning how to solve the world problems. Instead, they can focus on the small actions, which they can achieve in their daily life with simple instructions.

However, it seems that the approach of system one is the best way to promote sustainability, but there is never a perfect way. If people always follow the instructions and keep acting without rational thinking, it is easy to make regular, predictable errors in judgment, which is said being greenwashed.

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What is greenwashing? and how to avoid it?

“Greenwashing” became a slogan in the 1980s after American environmentalist Jay Westerveld used it to criticize hotels which supported reuse of towels, but lacked concrete recycling strategies. When a company or organization spends more time and money claiming to be “green” through advertising and marketing than actually carrying out business practices that reduce environmental impact, it is greenwashing, which plays into consumers’ desire to live a green life without necessarily creating a sustainable product and on a deeper level one of the sustainable behaviors to do is to buy fewer things. So no matter how great the product is, the behavior of stimulating consumption is still harmful to the environment.

Greenwashing occurs in almost every sector of the consumer market, from bath products to meat packaging. Changing the name or label to arouse the natural environment on a product that contains harmful chemicals is one of the classic approach. For example, the disposable diapers from Huggies ( see figure 14), which they are calling“ Pure &Natural”, featuring natural ingredients. (Huggies.co.uk, n.d.) After some experiments, the diapers indeed contain organic cotton, however, this material is only used on the outside of the diaper. The material that is actually in touch with the children’s skin, is not this “organic cotton”. The“ Pure &Natural” line and green color packaging design mislead parents into believing their diapers are better than others on the market.

Figure 14. Huggies’ Pure and Natural Disposable Diapers.

(Huggies.co.uk, 2018)

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In addition, advertising campaigns run by businessmen is another common and easier approach to greenwash people. A famous instance of greenwash is the advertising campaign hold by Fiji water. They claim that their water products are carbon negative, which means that the production, packaging and shipment of the water removes more carbon pollution from the atmosphere than it releases into it.

In their latest advertisement, they used many nature and green images and contrasted with the dark cityscape, in order to emphasize the connection of Fuji water and nature. ( see figure 15) Moreover, the exaggerate words used in the advertisement, such as “bottled at the source, untouched by man.”, mislead people into buying bottle water instead of drinking tap water. In fact, it takes an average of 450 years for plastic bottles to break down in the environment, and 47% people, who live in Fuji, do not have access to clean , safe drinking water. (YouTube, 2015)

Figure 15. Fuji water.

(YouTube, 2018)

Nowadays, there are a large number of greenwashing advertisements everywhere. So as to avoid greenwashing, it is important that system two is able to take part in the decision making, and then people would make their own judgment to determine sustainable products and avoid being manipulated by merchants. These two systems are not black and white. Just because system two made a rational decision, doesn’t mean it was the best one. System one also can make perfectly logical, useful decisions.

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Conclusion Designers are starting to realize what they can do to address sustainability, and how they can promote the sustainable future and approach more people through their design. David Berman said, “We have the opportunity to decide whether we will simply do good design or we will do good with design�.

Human behavior is never simply explained, so designers should utilize their creativity when stimulate sustainable development. None of us can change the world all by ourselves, but by taking small effort in the daily life and encouraging others to do the same, a snowball effect occurs, that can influence the whole planet.

This essay considers two different approaches to invite people take part in the sustainable future and the objective is to remind designers, who try to engage people in sustainable issues, that there are two different ways can be used, neither is dispensable. So no matter which system you want to apply, always remember to integrate with the other.

There is no good or bad between these two approaches. They both have their own superiority and influence by each other.

When people are used to do sustainable behaviors, they would start to realize what happens to the world, and have a connection to the environment and nature, which lead people to learn sustainability and take more effort in the future. In this way, people would switch from system one to system two approach. On the contrast, after being educated all the knowledge of sustainability, people would naturally tend to be sustainability. So the sustainable actions can occur unconsciously and form as a habit. In order to embrace a better and sustainable future, design needs to change, and designers themselves need to change.

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