Cristina Bicchieri (Penn): “In Science we (should) trust: expectations and compliance during the COVID-19 pandemic”

This event will take place online via Zoom. 

Everyone is welcome to join using a computer with access to the internet and Zoom. To take part just follow these instructions:

• Download Zoom
• Join the event using this link: https://lse.zoom.us/j/88937835129

Please note that these events are routinely recorded, with the edited footage being made publicly available on our website and YouTube channel. We will only record the audio, the slides and the speaker and will not include the Q&A section. However, any question asked during the talk itself will feature in the final edit.

Abstract: The magnitude and nature of the COVID-19 pandemic prevents public health policies from relying on coercive enforcement. Practicing social distancing, wearing masks and staying at home are voluntary and conditional on the behavior of others. In this talk, Cristina Bicchieri will present and discuss in detail the results of a large-scale survey experiment she conducted, with a team of researchers at the Center for Social Norms and Behavioral Dynamics. Cristina’s survey experiment spanned 9 countries and shows how expectations, both empirical (what others do) and normative (what others approve of), play a significant role in compliance, beyond the effect of any other individual or group characteristic. Results from Cristina’s groundbreaking research in the field are driven by an asymmetric interaction with individuals’ trust in government and science. This talk sheds light on how — at the macro level — country-level trust in science, and not in government, acts as a strong predictor of compliance during the pandemic.

Cristina Bicchieri is S. J. Patterson Harvie Professor of Social Thought and Comparative Ethics at the University of Pennsylvania.