Using shame for social change

hat shame is a powerful force for creating good behavior is known to every parent. All those "I am sorry"s accompanying returning the other kid's toys or not pulling the cat's tail come from a genuine desire to distance oneself from the bad (when they don't just come from a fear of punishment). Can this same emotion be harnessed to nudge adults into doing 'the right thing'? I recently came across three stories suggesting just how powerful this appeal to the better you can be -- via shame. 

The first story is the more profound one. This is from the Boston Globe, "Bribe Fighter", by Jeremy Kahn. It is about fighting corruption in India in a unique way that harnesses shame.

The "zero rupee note", which resembles the 50 rupee note but clearly shows it's zero value (and the fact that it is not legal tender)is given to the person who was expecting a petty bribe, "tea money". Hundreds of cases have been reported where the message on the note, "I will neither accept nor give bribe", actually gets through!  People change their behavior. The World Bank has noted this success and countries like Argentina, Mexico and Nepal want to use the concept. It is the brainchild of Satindar Mohan Bhagat, a professor at the University of Maryland.  Read the article -- it really is a revolutionary idea.

My second story is from NBC New York's Feast under Trend Watch, "Communal Checks Shame Diners into Tipping More", by Matt Duckor. Some Boston restaurants have started doing this. When several people want to split the bill after a meal, the diners don't get individual checks. Rather, the individual amounts are listed on a single paper bill, with separate lines to list the tips, and separate lines for the signatures for the different credit cards. By losing the anonymity of the usual "pool" or individual checks, the diners end up being shamed into tipping more than they normally would.

The third story is actually a TED video, "Gary Lauder's new traffic sign: Take Turns". Here the shame factor is more indirect as an appeal to being polite.  Lauder has come up with a new sign for intersections. It's a "Stop" combined with "Yield": "Take Turns", where rather than having a car "yield" by waiting for several cars to go by to get onto a busy road, the cars on the busy road are told, "if cars are waiting, please stop and alternate".

All this suggests that shame has more use than just at a fund-raiser for a good charity or cause...

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