synthesis - Setting Ourselves Up For Social Failure - Reinforcement

SEATTLE, Sept. 10 /PRNewswire/ -- The following blog post was published on September 7, 2010, by Shafeen Charania, author of the synthesis blog, winner of the 2008 Weblog award for best new blog, and Time.com's 25 best blogs of 2009.

How do we regard and celebrate good behavior? What would have happened during the 1992 Democratic Primary if Bill Clinton had said: "You know, while I'm devoted to my wife, I view sex as something altogether different. My wife and I have an arrangement, I do and will have other women in my life, but that in no way compromises my leadership"? He would have been truthful, but would he have even won the Primary?

Our social system is defined by what we should NOT do; the laws, incentives, etc. are all geared to anticipate and police transgressions vs. reward and motivate goodness. The only positive reinforcement example I have found is where convicts can earn time off for good behavior. How ironic.

We can be a much more successful (and enriched) society if we motivate good outcomes in addition to policing bad ones.

To learn more, please visit: http://interacc.typepad.com/synthesis/2010/09/reinforcement.html.

Thank you

SOURCE synthesis