What behavioral economics has to do with scary statistics.
I suspect most people believe that the shock of statistics will make Christians gird up their loins and change. Citing ways that most Christians are behaving badly is a way for pastors and pundits to build a case.
But research shows that statistics have a life of their own. They’re not just reports on what is happening; they change what is happening. From what behavioral economists have found from experiments about the psychology of decision-making, statistics often inspire the exact actions Christian leaders don’t want.
Basically, people tend to move closer to the behavior they perceive as normative, whether it's worse or better than their current behavior. This is called social proof. When people change for the worse, it's called a boomerang effect. It might be just as helpful to think of it as a Nobody Wants to Be a Weirdo (Especially When It’s Hard) Effect. Read more
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