At TCC we specialise in social research and behaviour change. This is your guide to what we’ve been reading.

Good afternoon and welcome to the TCC Weekly.

With the approach of August, famously the least busy month in politics (most years, anyway), we thought we’d kick back and bring you the Silly Season edition. We’ve got superstitious pigeons, guides to the threat of sharks and seagulls, and the health risks of eating Doritos.
 
And of course, be sure to head on up to Charlie’s Attic, where Silly Season lasts from January to December.

Also this week we give our readers the opportunity to let us know whether TCC Weekly should go on a slimming programme, or rather add on some weight. Please vote in our poll!
 
David Evans
Director

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• Behaviour Change ~ The woes of overconfidence and the superstitions of pigeons
• Polls, Policies and Politics ~ Is Labour destined for the Premiership or League One?
• Health Hub ~ Seagulls, sharks and … spicy crisps: the health scares sweeping the nation
• Values Lab ~ Which values group is most excluded by the Westminster bubble?
• Charlie’s Attic ~ Drunk squirrels, giant dogs and the best social media blunders by British politicians

• Writing for the Guardian, David Shariatmadari has produced a profile of Nobel laureate Daniel Kahneman, whose number one enemy is overconfidence. But if underconfidence is the issue then here are three ways to say that most difficult of words. No, not antidisestablishmentarianism, but in fact… “no”.
• Meanwhile, Dan O’Brien says well-designed nudges can make the world (a bit) better. On which note, have a look at this “comically simple” way of increasing donations that seems to have gone over the heads of most charities (ahem, that joke will become very funny once you’ve read the article).
• And in the wake of Nudgestock, Daniel Bennett takes a look back at some of the successes of behavioural economics. Plus the Behavioural Insights Team release an update based on two years of hard work. On the topic of nudging people into doing things, the Guardian has set this challenge for readers: if you were the nation’s family planning tsar, what (humane) policy would you invent to increase the ratio of girls to boys?
• A new study by researchers at the University of Vermont has found that the best way to fight one’s racial prejudices is to be aware of them.
• And take a look at this extra credit exam question set by a professor with twin proclivities for social psychology and acts of pure evil. And then read his defence.
• With Shy Toryism sweeping the nation, getting people to be honest about their voting intentions can be as difficult as getting people to fess up to viewing internet pornography. Now researchers have found a way of doing both.
• And finally, next time someone tells you that pigeons aren’t superstitious, you can direct them towards this podcast from the British Psychological Society.

• First up, The Economist asks why is Britain making it harder to strike? And a strong Tory party isn’t just bad for the opposition, but for Boris Johnson, too, writes Dave Hill.
• Meanwhile, Progress look at Labour’s “Pensioner Problem”. But pensioners aren’t the only problem for Labour, who are having their seats stolen in the House of Commons.
• Chuka Umunna has called for an English Parliament.
  • However, Alison Gardner argues that, combined with spending cuts, sub-regional devolution has distanced councils from the communities they serve.
  • And with Tim Farron elected as leader of the Lib Dems, what direction he will take the party in.
• The burning question of what went wrong for pollsters at the last election simmers on.
  • However, it wasn’t just a bad election for Labour, the Lib Dems and psephology – now Returning Officers, too, have been criticised for widespread failure.
  • Still, compared to the upcoming North Korean local elections, perhaps things aren’t really so bad.
• And with 10,000 new Lib Dem members since the election, and 30,000 new Labour members, the BBC asks: why do people join losing parties?
• And finally, cross the Atlantic now to have a snoop around Hilary Clinton’s Brooklyn-based campaign office, which US news magazine Politico has photographed in forensic detail.

• This week the Guardian, for whom no question is too small, asks why do babies cry?
• According the Royal Society for Public Health, people’s access to services such as weight management and smoking cessation have been severely restricted – with disastrous effects for public wellbeing.
• And 1 in 5 NHS patients report not being treated with dignity and respect.
• In the New Statesman, Josh Cohen has written a thoughtful piece about loneliness, middle age and ambiguous promises of social media. 
• And with sharks swarming to the Sussex coast, surviving an attack may be easier than you thought. But don’t be complacent: watch out for spicy crisps and killer seagulls.

• Laugh at these 11 social media blunders by British politicians.
• Look at this rather odd way of keeping the streets litter-free.
• Fear for the marriages of 37 million adulterers who are at risk of being caught, after massive hack on a cheating website.
• Understand how social media sites like Twitter and Facebook have become major sources of news.
• Ask yourself whether pictures of the Pluto flyby last week were real or fake.
• Understand the dangers of the social media echo chamber.
• Read the Sun’s defence of its decision to publish images of a young Queen Elizabeth doing a Nazi salute.
• Condemn in the strongest terms possible the reckless behaviour of this drunk squirrel.
• And tremble in fear at these perfectly-timed photographs of giant dogs.