Area: Behavioral Decision Making
Is a Bad Deed That Goes Unpunished Less Bad?
In experiments, immorality and harm are deemed more extreme merely because an act was punished
Institutions Make Mistakes: Which Should We Seek to Prevent; Which Ought We Fix After the Fact?
In experiments, people endorsed seemingly harsh policies — only to reverse course after the fact
In Pleas to Remedy Economic Inequality, Babies’ Faces Outperform Adults’
It’s harder to hold an infant responsible for being poor
In Adversity, Some High Performers Give Up Rather than Dig In
The world of tennis sheds light on a potential downside to office ranking systems
How to Spot a Nudge Gone Rogue
Researchers find common warning signs in persuasion projects that went wrong
How Organizational Hierarchy Hinders a Platform Aimed at Worker Collaboration
NASA employees engaged when it was clear their bosses were on board
Holiday Meals Shortened by Political Divide
Cell phone location data and local voting records measure discord
Graphic Presentation of COVID-19 Data Can Skew Perceptions of Risk
Showing cumulative cases — not day-to-day trends — could nudge people to avoid reckless behavior
Gesturing Left to Right for Passage of Time Occurs by Age 6
Cultural norms — reading and the calendar — affect native English-speakers’ motioning constructs
Future-self Nudge Works Even Better in Reverse
Starting with your future self and looking back to your current self increases likelihood of saving
Future Bias Is Present by Middle School
By age 10 or earlier, kids are putting more weight on the future than the past — just like adults
Fresh-Start Framing Boosts Retirement Plan Participation
A behavioral nudge passes a real-world test with 6,000 workers
Free Shipping: Our Preference to Spend on Ultimate Goals vs. Preliminary Steps
Prerequisites are valued poorly in a series of six experiments
Fairness in the Allocation of Scarce Goods and Services
As alternative pricing schemes proliferate, researchers examine beliefs about their fairness