Hal Hershfield
Professor of Marketing and Behavioral Decision Making
About
Psychologist Hal Hershfield studies how thinking about time transforms the emotions and alters the judgments and decisions people make. One of Hershfield’s most well known discoveries suggests that when people are confronted with their “future selves,” they experience an emotional sense of connection that can influence long-term financial and ethical decision making.
Topics
21 Articles
Major Adolescent Stress Reduces Connection to Future Self
And thinking less about one’s adult life can reduce the pursuit of higher education
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
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
The Sad Fact of Reminiscing About Good Times
Happy memories of life-stage transitions can be bittersweet
Too Much Free Time? Blame Solitude or Lack of Productive Activity
Even abundant free time, used in meaningful pursuits, brings happiness
Alcohol Use and Violent Crime: a 36% Shorter Sentence
Intoxication seems to work as an unofficial mitigating factor
How to — and How Not to — Message Older Americans
Practitioners often ignore decades of progress in understanding what works
Does Spending Mean You’re Wealthy?
To many, yes, and that belief leads to lower levels of financial well-being
Did You Forget, or Never Know? How It Impacts Purchasing
A different decision tree is used when product information is forgotten, rather than just unknown
Americans Sacrifice $3.4 Trillion by Claiming Social Security Too Soon
Can nudges, tailored to personality traits, persuade retirees to wait?
Good Information Alone Won’t Drive Financial Well-Being
A review of academic research finds the path to saving more and spending less often involves emotional prompts
Origin Story of Products: To Consumers, How Big a Team Seems Right?
Buyers value team over individual effort but are sensitive to invention-by-committee
Creative People Really Do Think Differently
Employing a distinct part of the brain, they’re better at imagining a distant future and seeing others’ points of view
Advancing the Study of Using Future-Self Images to Alter Behavior
Successful projects suggest a more thorough cataloging of how “vividness” nudges can help us delay gratification
The Healthy Upside of Thinking about an Older You
Consciously imagining our older self can spur us to take better care of ourselves now
An Aerial, as Opposed to Ground-Level, View of Time
A novel framework proposes to reduce angst over schedules and lives
Behavioral Nudges Timed to Certain Days are Effective Motivator
Dates of milestones — major and minor — can spur us to action
Thinking Small Could Deliver Bigger Retirement Success for Gig Workers
Daily, weekly and monthly contribution schemes gauge behavior
Our Flawed Pursuit of Happiness — and How to Get It Right
New approaches to spending and time-management examine how our actions do or don't influence our level of satisfaction
Sensitivity to Debt Type Predicts Financial Health
Research reveals that those wary of payday loans tend to manage their finances better