Research Handbook on Nudges and Society

Edited by Cass R. Sunstein and Lucia A. Reisch 

This Research Handbook offers offers a comprehensive examination of the growing field of nudging and its impact on society. It includes a chapter on Behavioural science: ethics, expertise and systemic risk, authored by Liam Delaney, Atrina Oraee and Jet G. Sanders. 

A Theory of Everyone: Who We Are, How We Got Here, and Where We’re Going 

By Michael Muthukrishna (Basic Books, UK and MIT Press, US)

Michael's book offers a unified theory of human behaviour, culture, and society. It attempts to provide solutions for some of the most pressing problems of our collective future, such as polarization, inequality, the "great stagnation" in productivity, and the energy crisis.

Science communication : taking a step back to move forward

'Science communication: taking a step back to move forward' is the book from the first post-Covid19 in-person conference ‘Science & You Metz 2021’. The book aims to examine and elaborate on challenges in science communication.

The Perfection Trap 

by Thomas Curran (Penguin, UK and Simon & Schuster, US, 2023)

In his book, Dr Thomas Curran explores explores the paradoxical effects of perfectionism on everything from performance to social and financial inequality, and shows what we can do as individuals to resist the modern-day pressure to be perfect - and how we can create a culture that celebrates the joys of imperfection. 

Wellbeing: Alternative Policy Perspectives

Edited by Timothy Besley, Irene Bucelli (LSE Press, 2022)

Bringing together scholars from economics, psychology and behavioural science, philosophy and political science, the authors explore how different disciplinary approaches can contribute to the study of wellbeing and how this can shape policy priorities.

Professor Paul Dolan contributes the chapter Accounting for Consequences and Claims in Policy.

Professor Liam Delaney co-authors Incorporating Wellbeing and Mental Health Research to Improve Pandemic Response.

The publication is available open-access via LSE Press.

Public Communication of Research Universities: ‘Arms Race’ for Visibility or Science Substance?

Edited by Marta Entradas and Martin W. Bauer (Routledge, 2022)

This book sets the scene for research into institutional science communication and offers a framework to analyse public communication at the level of research institutes. One thing becomes clear in the light of the ‘Decentralisation Hypothesis’: there is work in progress to build capacity for communication at the level of research institutes, which potentially fosters capacity for open-ended civic science communication beyond the university marketing function. 

Health Communication and Disease in Africa: Beliefs, Traditions and Stigma

Edited by Bankole Falade and Mercy Murire (Palgrave MacMillan, 2021)

This book addresses different health issues across the African continent, bringing together multidisciplinary authors from across Africa and the rest of the world. 

A Handbook for Wellbeing Policy-Making: History, Theory, Measurement, Implementation, and Examples

by Paul Frijters and Christian Krekel (Oxford University Press, 2021).

This volume shows how direct measures of subjective wellbeing can be used in policy evaluation and appraisal and provides a history on why governments should care about the happiness of their citizens.

Available open-access here.

Think Big: Take Small Steps and Build The Future You Want 

by Grace Lordan (Penguin Life, 2021)

In this publication, Dr Grace Lordan looks at the small steps people can take to make big changes overall, as well as the behaviours that hold people back, drawing on research from behavioural science.

The Psychology of Social Influence: Modes and Modalities of Shifting Common Sense

by Gordon Sammut and Martin W. Bauer (Cambridge University Press, 2021)

This volume brings together the full range of modalities of social influence - from crowding, leadership, and norm formation to resistance and mass mediation - to set out a challenge-and-response 'cyclone' model. 

Happy Ever After: A Radical New Approach to Living Well 

by Paul Dolan (Penguin, 2019)

Professor Paul Dolan draws on a variety of studies from wellbeing, inequality and discrimination to bust the common myths about our sources of happiness.

Watch Paul Dolan speak about the book in this LSE event: Happy Ever After, 25 February 2019.

Knowledge in Context: Representations, Community and Culture (Classics Edition)

by Sandra Jovchelovitch (Routledge, 2019)

In this classics edition, Professor Sandra Jovchelovitch revisits her influential work on the societal and cultural processes that shape the development of representational processes in humans.

The Cultural Authority of Science: Comparing Across Europe, Asia, Africa and the Americas

Edited By Martin W Bauer, Petra Pansegrau, Rajesh Shukla (Routledge, 2019).

This Indo-European led collaboration aims to map the cultural authority of science, and to construct a system of indicators to observe this ‘science culture’ based on artefacts (science news analysis) and espoused beliefs and evaluations (public attitude data). 

Installation Theory: The Societal Construction and Regulation of Behaviour

by Saadi Lahlou (Cambridge University Press, 2018)

In this publication, Professor Lahlou provides researchers and practitioners a simple and powerful framework to analyse and change behaviour.

Watch Saadi Lahlou speak about Installation Theory at the LSE event from 25 October 2017.