Seeds of trust – The daily blog of behavioral and cognitive economics

The Hard Truths Behavioral Science Must Face in Conflict Settings

Approximately 2 billion people live in conflict-affected areas. Yet the field of behavioral science has developed most of its theories, run most of its experiments, and built most of its interventions in stable contexts. When behavioral scientists do work in conflict settings, we tend to follow a familiar pattern: take what worked elsewhere, “localize” it, and evaluate it. But this isn’t enough. This is an urgent problem. Conflict is reshaping lives globally at an unprecedented scale. In 2024, 123 million people were forcibly displaced—the highest number on record. Civilian casualties in Gaza, Lebanon, and Ukraine have reached levels unseen in over a decade, including for children. ….[READ]