Corporations and governments are increasingly using behavioral insights to help them solve problems. The applied behavioral science profession, however, is largely unregulated, and practitioners often rely on their own intuitions and experiences to address ethical challenges. If you are an individual or organization in the field, developing ethical literacy will allow you to take your work to the next level and remain competitive. Our new course on applied behavioral science ethics helps you get there.
Who is this course for?
This course provides an introduction to ethics relevant to behavioral science practitioners—professionals who apply ideas from behavioral economics, social psychology, cognitive science, and related fields, in business, public policy, and other domains. The course is designed for anyone with a basic understanding of behavioral science:
- Individuals and organizations who would like to build an ethical behavioral science practice
- Current students and academics who have an interest in professional applications of behavioral science
- Job seekers who want to stand out from the crowd on the behavioral insights job market
What will I get out of the course?
You will gain important information about the fundamentals of ethics, professional codes, as well as the relevant ideas and concerns surrounding the ethics of nudging. The course also provides resources for your everyday practice and introduces tools that can help you think about ethical challenges, including SMILE, the course’s ethical decision aid. The course’s goals are to
- build an understanding of basic concepts and debates;
- foster critical thinking about problems and solutions; and
- provide tools and resources to tackle ethical challenges in practice.
At the end of the course, you will be given a final quiz and an opportunity to earn your certificate of completion. You will also be able to download course materials, which you can use as a resource in your professional practice or further studies.
How is the course taught?
Designed by the makers of the Behavioral Economics Guide in collaboration with experts in ethics and applied behavioral science, this course is a self-paced online program with short videos, text, and exercises. Examples from different domains of practice are used throughout the course to bring the subject matter to life.
It contains seven lessons and takes about eight hours to complete.