Area: Behavioral Decision Making
Major Adolescent Stress Reduces Connection to Future Self
And thinking less about one’s adult life can reduce the pursuit of higher education
The Case for Field Experiments in Behavioral Research
Nudges already proven to work in the real-world increased uptake of COVID-19 boosters; nudges based on lab findings and expert insights, not so much
Smartphone Records Reveal Racial Disparities in Neighborhood Policing
Police patrol Black areas more frequently than others with similar homicide rates and income levels
Experts Struggle to Accurately Forecast Societal Change
On COVID-19’s impacts, social scientists’ predictions weren’t much better than those of laypeople
Why We Think Differently About Money Than About Probabilities
Learning gradually versus all at once and how we estimate value
Overcoming Obstacles to Taking Better Care of Your Future Self
Hal Hershfield’s book offers research-backed methods to build a healthier, happier, more financially secure life
Kids Who Moved from Public Housing More Likely to Vote as Adults
Demolition of Chicago projects dispersed thousands to other areas
Another Political Trick? Inducing Forgetting By Mentioning Irrelevant Information
Positive views on, say, a social policy are more easily suppressed than negative ones
Lack of Urgency Can Undermine a Popular Behavioral Nudge
Encouraging pre-commitment to a future behavior helps people do hard things — but it can backfire
People Prioritize Shared Experiences, Even When Apart
People will endure inconvenience to synchronize events, regardless of proximity
The Relationship Between Adoption of Rooftop Solar and Attachment to One’s Surroundings
Applying the behavioral concept of “place attachment” to the logistics of battling climate change
A Method to Happiness: Tested in the Lab and in Life
Cassie Holmes’ book combines social science and personal history; jilted on the way to the altar
Exhausted Doctors Less Likely to Prescribe Pain Meds
At the end of a night shift, empathy for patients’ hurting seems diminished
The Sad Fact of Reminiscing About Good Times
Happy memories of life-stage transitions can be bittersweet
Boring Tasks We Abandon Too Soon: a Method to Finish the Job
Pairing the mundane — hand washing, teeth brushing — with more engaging activities
Gesturing Left to Right for Passage of Time Occurs by Age 6
Cultural norms — reading and the calendar — affect native English-speakers’ motioning constructs