#64 - Danny Osborne - The courage to choose

In this episode, we speak with Associate Professor Danny Osborne, a political psychologist at the University of Auckland and a researcher with the long-running New Zealand Attitudes and Values Study. If our other guests describe what needs to change, Danny helps explain why change is so hard to set in motion. We talk about the three ingredients he says any collective movement needs – a shared sense of identity, a sense of injustice, and a belief that action can actually make a difference – and why, on housing, it's that last ingredient that has quietly drained away. He explains why loss aversion, one of the most robust findings in his field, makes any reform that touches existing home values so politically dangerous, and shares a striking piece of New Zealand research showing how people right across the political spectrum misjudge how rich or poor their own neighbours really are. And he reflects on a darker possibility: that for some, cultivating a sense that nothing can change is not an accident but a strategy. We'd like to thank Danny for taking the time to speak with us for this episode. And don't forget to subscribe to the CHA Hub Podcast – wherever you get your podcasts from. The CHA Hub Podcast is sponsored by our Founding Partner, Westpac New Zealand.