Skip to content

Busara

Busara Main Logo
  • Publications
  • Our People
  • Collaborate
  • What’s Happening
  • Publications
  • Our People
  • Collaborate
  • What’s Happening
More About Busara
  • Groundwork

From linear insights to systemic solutions: the future of behavioral science

Download PDF

Emiliano Diaz and Jaspreet Singh

  • December 10, 2024
  • 12:07 pm
Groundwork 18 Cover_IG Square 1080x1080px

SECTOR

Applied behavioral science

PROJECT TYPE

Qualitative research

DOI

https://www.doi.org/10.62372/CESI7494

Location

Busara

BEHAVIORAL THEME

Behavioral systems thinking
OVERVIEW

Behavioral Science has traditionally focused on understanding and influencing human behavior by identifying factors driving specific and directly related decisions. This linear approach, simplifies complex scenarios into isolated variables, and has provided the foundational insights for developing targeted interventions. While this perspective has proven effective in many cases, it may only sometimes fully capture the broader context in which behaviors occur, as a linear understanding alone is insufficient to grasp the complexities of human behavior fully. It misses important considerations like ripple effects and second-order effects. This is where systems thinking emerges as a valuable complement to applied behavioral science. By shifting from a singular, cause-and-effect perspective to a multi-layered, multidimensional approach, systems thinking allows us to see behavior not as an isolated event but as part of a broader system influenced by many interconnected factors that interact in dynamic and often unpredictable ways.

THEMATIC AREAS

As we explore this intersection, it becomes clear that combining these approaches doesn’t just add depth to our analysis—it transforms it. We move from a two-dimensional view of behavior to a three or even four-dimensional understanding, where the system as a whole is more than just the sum of its parts. This systemic perspective complements and expands traditional linear methods, providing a more robust framework for addressing the multifaceted challenges we face in understanding and influencing human behavior.

RELATED CONTENT

Stress and Temporal Discounting: Do Domains Matter?

August 2, 2020

How Soon Is Now? Evidence of Present Bias from Convex Time Budget Experiments

August 2, 2020

Measuring Self-Efficacy, Executive Function and Temporal Discounting in Kenya

August 2, 2020

Risky Choices and Solidarity: Why Experimental Design Matters

August 2, 2020
1 2 3 … 5 Next »
  • Home
  • Publications
  • Our people
  • What’s happening
  • Home
  • Publications
  • Our people
  • What’s happening
Facebook Linkedin Twitter Instagram
  • Collaborate
  • More About Busara
  • Join us
  • Collaborate
  • More About Busara
  • Join us
We are proud to be a member of

© 2025 Busara | Privacy Policy

Scroll to Top
Manage Cookies

To provide the best experiences, we use technologies like cookies to store and/or access device information. 

Functional Always active
The technical storage or access is strictly necessary for the legitimate purpose of enabling the use of a specific service explicitly requested by the subscriber or user, or for the sole purpose of carrying out the transmission of a communication over an electronic communications network.
Preferences
The technical storage or access is necessary for the legitimate purpose of storing preferences that are not requested by the subscriber or user.
Statistics
The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for statistical purposes. The technical storage or access that is used exclusively for anonymous statistical purposes. Without a subpoena, voluntary compliance on the part of your Internet Service Provider, or additional records from a third party, information stored or retrieved for this purpose alone cannot usually be used to identify you.
Marketing
The technical storage or access is required to create user profiles to send advertising, or to track the user on a website or across several websites for similar marketing purposes.
Manage options Manage services Manage {vendor_count} vendors Read more about these purposes
View preferences
{title} {title} {title}