bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Reimagining Accountability in K–12 Education
Authors: Gill Brian P. , Lerner Jennifer S. , Meosky Paul
Published: September 2023

Since the passage of the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB) in 2002, American policymakers have relied primarily on outcome-based accountability in the form of high-stakes testing to improve public school performance. With NCLB supplanted in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act—which gives states far greater discretion in the design of accountability systems—the time is ripe for policymakers to consider extensive behavioral science literature that shows outcome-based accountability is only one of multiple forms of accountability, each invoking distinct motivational mechanisms. We review rule-based, market-based, and professional accountability alongside outcome-based accountability, using evidence from the laboratory and the field to describe how each can produce favorable or unfavorable effects. We conclude that policymakers should (a) make greater use of professional accountability, which has historically been underutilized in education; (b) use transparency to promote professional accountability; and (c) use multiple, complementary forms of accountability, creating a complete system that encourages and supports the continuous improvement of educational practice.
Healthy through Habit: Interventions for Initiating & Maintaining Health Behavior Change
Authors: Wood Wendy , Neal David T.
Published: September 2023

Interventions to change health behaviors have had limited success to date at establishing enduring healthy lifestyle habits. Despite successfully increasing people's knowledge and favorable intentions to adopt healthy behaviors, interventions typically induce only short-term behavior changes. Thus, most weight loss is temporary, and stepped-up exercise regimens soon fade. Few health behavior change interventions have been successful in the longer term. In this article, we unpack the behavioral science of health-habit interventions. We outline habit-forming approaches to promote the repetition of healthy behaviors, along with habit-breaking approaches to disrupt unhealthy patterns. We show that this two-pronged approach—breaking existing unhealthy habits while simultaneously promoting and establishing healthful ones—is best for long-term beneficial results. Through specific examples, we identify multiple intervention components for health policymakers to use as a framework to bring about lasting behavioral public health benefits.
Making the Truth Stick & the Myths Fade: Lessons from Cognitive Psychology
Authors: Schwarz Norbert , Newman Eryn , Leach William
Published: September 2023

Erroneous beliefs are difficult to correct. Worse, popular correction strategies, such as the myth-versus-fact article format, may backfire because they subtly reinforce the myths through repetition and further increase the spread and acceptance of misinformation. Here we identify five key criteria people employ as they evaluate the truth of a statement: They assess general acceptance by others, gauge the amount of supporting evidence, determine its compatibility with their beliefs, assess the general coherence of the statement, and judge the credibility of the source of the information. In assessing these five criteria, people can actively seek additional information (an effortful analytic strategy) or attend to the subjective experience of easy mental processing—what psychologists call fluent processing—and simply draw conclusions on the basis of what feels right (a less effortful intuitive strategy). Throughout this truth-evaluation effort, fluent processing can facilitate acceptance of the statement: When thoughts flow smoothly, people nod along. Unfortunately, many correction strategies inadvertently make the false information more easily acceptable by, for example, repeating it or illustrating it with anecdotes and pictures. This, ironically, increases the likelihood that the false information the communicator wanted to debunk will be believed later. A more promising correction strategy is to focus on making the true information as easy to process as possible. We review recent research and offer recommendations for more effective presentation and correction strategies.
Nudging by Government: Progress, Impact, & Lessons Learned
Authors: Halpern David , Sanders Michael
Published: September 2023

“Nudge units” within governments, most notably in the United Kingdom and the United States, seek to encourage people to behave a certain way by using insights gained from behavioral science. The aim is to influence people's choices through policies that offer the right incentive or hurdle so that people choose the more economically beneficial options. Getting people to save for retirement, eat more healthful foods, and pay their taxes on time are some examples of institutionally desirable activities The 10-fold rise in “nudge” projects undertaken since 2010—more than 20 countries have deployed or expressed interest in them—have revealed many lessons for policymakers. Chief among these lessons: the necessity of obtaining buy-in from key political leaders and other stakeholders, and the benefits of testing multiple intervention strategies at once. Although detailed cost-benefit analyses are not yet available, we estimate that behaviorally inspired interventions can help government agencies save hundreds of millions of dollars per year.
Using Organizational Science Research to Address U.S. Federal Agencies’ Management & Labor Needs
Authors: Aguinis Herman , Davis Gerald F. , Detert James R. , Glynn Mary Ann , Jackson Susan E. , Kochan Tom , Kossek Ellen Ernst , Leana Carrie , Lee Thomas W. , Morrison Elizabeth , Pearce Jone , Pfeffer Jeffrey , Rousseau Denise , Sutcliffe Kathleen M.
Published: September 2023

Employee performance often moves in lockstep with job satisfaction. Using the 2015 Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey we have identified important and common management and labor needs across more than 80 federal agencies. Drawing on the vast trove of organizational science research that examines the effects of organizational designs and processes on employees’ and organizations’ behaviors and outcomes, we offer specific evidence-based interventions for addressing employee dissatisfaction or uncertainty that breeds lackluster performance, managerial shortcomings, and needed supports. Our intervention and policy recommendations have the synergistic goals of improving employee well-being, employee productivity, agency performance, and agency innovation, all resulting in increased efficiency and effectiveness, which benefit the taxpayer. Our top recommendations directly target the goals of improving employee motivation through engagement, empowerment, and embeddedness; enhancing the employees’ voice; and fostering both internal and across-agency cooperation, communication, and collaboration. These recommendations are general enough to apply across diverse government agencies yet specific enough to yield results in discrete agency units.
Combating Biased Decisionmaking & Promoting Justice & Equal Treatment
Authors: Sah Sunita , Tannenbaum David , Cleary Hayley , Feldman Yuval , Glaser Jack , Lerman Amy , MacCoun Robert , Maguire Edward , Slovic Paul , Spellman Barbara , Spohn Cassia , Winship Cristopher
Published: September 2023

This article draws on the behavioral science literature to offer empirically driven policy prescriptions that can reduce the effect of bias and ameliorate unequal treatment in policing, the criminal justice system, employment, and national security.
Behavioral Policy Interventions to Address Education Inequality
Authors: Castleman Ben , Haskins Ron , Akers Beth , Baron Jon , Dynarski Susan , Farran Dale , Feldman Andy , Jones Damon , Keys Benjamin , Maynard Rebecca , Sirinides Philip , Zinman Jonathan
Published: September 2023

Children from low-income families arrive at kindergarten already behind academically, do not overcome these gaps during the school years, and are much less likely to attend and graduate from college. Many programs aim to help these children before they enter formal schooling, as well as during their kindergarten through 12th grade years and on the road to and through college; too often, though, the services go underutilized In recent years, behavioral scientists have designed interventions meant to increase participation in such programs. Rigorous experiments have shown that a number of these approaches work well, enabling students to perform better academically and reach higher levels of education. Here, we propose four more interventions that federal agencies should test.
Overcoming Behavioral Obstacles to Escaping Poverty
Authors: Bryan Christopher J. , Mazar Nina , Jamison Julian , Braithwaite Jeanine , Dechausay Nadine , Fishbane Alissa , Fox Elizabeth , Gauri Varun , Glennerster Rachel , Haushofer Johannes , Karlan Dean , Vakis Renos
Published: September 2023

International development policy is ripe for an overhaul. Behavioral science can help policymakers to spur changes in behaviors that are difficult to explain from a conventional economic perspective and impede economic development. We focus here on two well-documented, often coinciding psychological phenomena that have particularly wide-ranging implications for development policy: present bias (favoring immediate rewards over long-term considerations) and limited attention. We present a number of general policy recommendations that are informed by insight into these phenomena and offer concrete examples of how the recommendations can be implemented to help low-income individuals improve their lives and reach their long-term goals.
Choice Architecture 2.0: Behavioral Policy as an Implicit Social Interaction
Authors: Krijnen Job M. T. , Tannenbaum David , Fox Craig R.
Published: September 2023

We propose a new conceptual framework for behavioral policy design that we call choice architecture 2.0. We argue that in addition to considering how different choice environments affect decisions (as in conventional choice architecture), choice architects should also be aware of the implicit interaction taking place between the targets of the choice architecture and themselves. When confronting a decision, people often engage in a social sensemaking process that entails an assessment of (a) the beliefs and intentions of the choice architect and (b) how their decision will be construed by the choice architect and other observers. We present examples of how this choice architecture 2.0 framework can be used to anticipate factors that moderate the success or failure of behavioral policy interventions, and we provide examples of factors that may trigger social sensemaking. We also present a template for a social sensemaking audit that policymakers can perform before implementing any particular design of choice architecture.
The Role of Choice Architecture in Promoting Saving at Tax Time: Evidence from a Large–Scale Field Experiment
Authors: Grinstein-Weiss Michal , Cryder Cynthia , Despard Mathieu R. , Perantie Dana C. , Oliphant Jane E. , Ariely Dan
Published: September 2023

Tax refunds give many low- and moderate-income (LMI) households a rare opportunity to save for unexpected expenses. We conducted three experiments aimed at increasing tax-time savings by LMI consumers. In a large field experiment, the most effective intervention increased the average savings deposits by about 50%. Delivered as people filed taxes online, this treatment consisted of a choice architecture intervention (a presentation of action choices that emphasized options for putting money into savings), combined with a message highlighting the need to save for emergencies. Two follow-up experiments simulated the tax-time situation and parsed components of the intervention. The first showed that the choice architecture and messaging interventions increased savings deposits independently. The second, assessing individual elements of the choice architecture intervention, showed that the mention of a savings option did not increase allocations by itself, but a heavy emphasis on savings or the ability to easily put money into savings did increase allocations.
Phasing Out a Risky Technology: An Endgame Problem in German Nuclear Power Plants?
Authors: Schöbel Markus , Hertwig Ralph , Rieskamp Jörg
Published: September 2023

Germany has twice decided to abandon nuclear energy. The first time, it set somewhat dynamic shutdown dates for plants before changing course. The second time, it set fixed shutdown dates. Game theory holds that awareness of shutdown dates may lead to endgame behavior, in which people at all levels of the industry behave more self-interestedly, thus potentially jeopardizing public safety, as the end dates approach. We examine whether such behavior is occurring in Germany by drawing on three sources of evidence: the public record, the frequencies of reportable safety-related events, and experimental data. The findings are inconclusive but suggest that the concerns merit consideration by policymakers in Germany or wherever policies need to be designed for the phaseout of dying industries. Counterintuitively, a policy designed to increase public safety may inadvertently create novel risks if it does not attend closely enough to the behavioral factors involved in its implementation.
Using Behavioral Ethics to Curb Corruption
Authors: Feldman Yuval
Published: September 2023

Even people who think of themselves as being ethical (“good people”) may engage in corrupt actions. In fact, the situations that seem least problematic can sometimes cause good people to behave immorally. Behavioral ethics research has demonstrated that various unconscious and self-deceptive mental processes promote such behavior in those individuals. To reduce the frequency of misbehavior by normally well-intentioned individuals, policymakers need to be aware that classic approaches to limiting corruption sometimes increase the likelihood that good people will engage in misconduct. Regulators also need to expand their toolbox beyond formal ethical codes and financial incentives by adding preventive interventions that are based on behavioral ethics research.
Using Pay-for-Success Financing for Supportive Housing Interventions: Promise & Challenges
Authors: Lantz Paula M. , Iovan Samantha
Published: September 2023

Pay for success (PFS) is an emerging public—private partnership strategy for providing housing to chronically homeless individuals, people with mental or behavioral disorders, and adults recently released from prison. Socially minded private investors from both for-profit and nonprofit organizations provide the up-front funding for the projects. If an independent evaluation demonstrates that the intervention achieved predetermined metrics of success—such as decreasing the number of days children spend in foster care or increasing the number of people with stable housing—the public sector then “pays for success” by repaying the private investors, sometimes with interest. In this article, we describe seven ongoing PFS housing projects in the United States. Most are “housing first” interventions that provide permanent supportive housing to a chronically homeless population without setting any preconditions, such as sobriety. As projects are completed, analyses of the results should provide further insights into the complexities of designing behavioral-based PFS housing programs.
Does Changing Defaults save Lives? Effects of Presumed Consent Organ Donation Policies
Authors: Steffel Mary , Williams Elanor F. , Tannenbaum David
Published: September 2023

In this review, we examine whether presumed consent organ donation policies save lives. We compare presumed consent defaults (where people are considered organ donors by default but can opt out of donation) with explicit consent defaults (where people are considered nondonors by default but can opt in to be considered donors). Experimental, cross-sectional, and longitudinal evidence indicates that rates of consent, donation, and transplantation are higher under presumed consent policies than under explicit consent policies. The evidence also suggests, however, that presumed consent is one factor among many that determine the number of organs donated and lives saved; policymakers must balance a number of other considerations to ensure that shifting to a presumed consent system will boost donation and transplantation rates. We underscore the importance of investing in health care infrastructure to support organ procurement and transplantation and offer empirically informed recommendations to enable consent policies to save the most lives.
Policy insights from the new science of well-being
Authors: Graham Carol , MacLennan Sara
Published: September 2023

Nations routinely assess economic and social progress by measuring productivity, growth, longevity, and other objective indicators, and they then use the measures to guide policy. Yet the classic metrics do not directly assess an important goal of economic and social policies: improvements in people's own evaluations of their well-being. Improving people's feelings of well-being is important in its own right and can lead to enhanced personal and national economic prosperity. Today, governments at all levels—as well as businesses and community organizations—are increasingly complementing the standard measures with data from surveys that ask respondents about their day-to-day happiness, overall satisfaction with life, and sense of purpose. In this article, the authors describe many examples of how governments and other organizations are applying these measures of subjective well-being to inform and improve policy decisions.
Synergy from diversity: Managing team diversity to enhance performance
Authors: Van Knippenberg Daan , Nishii Lisa H. , Dwertmann David J. G.
Published: September 2023

The business case for diversity holds that diversity leads to synergy; that is, having multiple perspectives results in performance benefits, such as improvements in decisionmaking, problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. Research on diversity in teams has documented conditions under which it leads to improved performance. Current diversity management practices in organizations, however, focus more on preventing the negative effects that can follow from diversity (such as discrimination and lack of inclusion) than on how to gain the performance benefits that diversity can afford. In this article, we draw on recent reviews of the team diversity and diversity management literatures to suggest strategies likely to stimulate synergy from diversity. We conclude that diversity management practices must include actions that are designed specifically to spur teams to integrate diverse information and perspectives. In addition, such practices are most likely to enhance performance if they are deployed as part of a bundle of diversity management practices (rather than as stand-alone initiatives) and if formal human resources diversity practices are complemented both with informal diversity-supporting leadership actions and with formal accountability systems for monitoring whether practices are implemented as intended.
Communicating about diseases that originate in animals: Lessons from the psychology of inductive reasoning
Authors: Davis Tyler , LaCour Mark , Goldwater Micah , Hughes Brent , Ireland Molly E. , Worthy Darrell A. , Gaylord Nick , Van Allen Jason
Published: September 2023

Many emerging diseases (diseases that are increasing or likely to increase in prevalence) are zoonotic: that is, transmitted between animals and people. Behavioral science researchers have only begun to examine how health communications influence the public's response to zoonotic diseases. In this article, we discuss how cognitive research on inductive reasoning—that is, on how people make generalizations from evidence-might be leveraged to craft public health communications that most effectively encourage people to engage in behaviors that limit the spread of zoonotic diseases, including COVID-19. Before describing the relevant research, we present experimental data demonstrating that the way communications describe the animal source of a zoonotic disease can affect how people generalize from the information to infer whether other animals may be susceptible, what their own risks are, and what actions they should take to limit disease transmission. We then propose various strategies that public health communicators can enact to encourage broad or narrow generalization, depending on the target audience and the context.
Graphs with logarithmic axes distort lay judgments
Authors: Ryan William H. , Evers Ellen R. K.
Published: September 2023

Graphs that depict numbers of COVID-19 cases often use a linear or logarithmic scale on the y-axis. To examine the effect of scale on how the general public interprets the curves and uses that understanding to infer the urgency of the need for protective actions, we conducted a series of experiments that presented laypeople with the same data plotted on one scale or the other. We found that graphs with a logarithmic, as opposed to a linear, scale resulted in laypeople making less accurate predictions of how fast cases would increase, viewing COVID-19 as less dangerous, and expressing both less support for policy interventions and less intention to take personal actions to combat the disease. Education about the differences between linear and logarithmic graphs reduces but does not eliminate these effects. These results suggest that communications to the general public should mostly use linear graphs. When logarithmic graphs must be used, they should be presented alongside linear graphs of the same data and with guidance on how to interpret the plots.
Psychological predictors of prevention behaviors during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Broomell Stephen B. , Chapman Gretchen B. , Downs Julie S.
Published: September 2023

Widespread public adoption of behaviors that can prevent the spread of COVID-19 is key to controlling the infection rate. In a nationally representative survey administered April 24 to May 11, 2020, we identified psychological predictors of three preventive behaviors: social distancing, practicing respiratory hygiene (such as hand washing and coughing into a tissue), and mask wearing. All three behaviors were strongly predicted by their perceived effectiveness and were moderately predicted by anxiety about COVID-19 and by perceived behavioral norms. The perceived effectiveness of social distancing also predicted the self-reported number of exposures to people outside the household, and this relationship was mediated by social distancing behavior. In other words, greater perceived effectiveness of social distancing predicted greater compliance with distancing recommendations, which in turn was linked to lower exposure. On the basis of our findings, we suggest some actions that might promote long-term adherence to preventive behaviors even if rapidly shifting beliefs about the risks posed by the virus diminish the public's susceptibility to intervention.
Nudges emphasizing social norms increased hospital visitors’ hand sanitizer use
Authors: Mobekk Hilde , Stokke Laila
Published: September 2023

Hand hygiene has taken on new importance as a key behavior for limiting the spread of COVID-19. In the study reported here, we tested ways to increase hand sanitizer use by hospital visitors. We placed dispensers at entrances to hospital units and compared the effect of simply having the dispenser readily accessible (the control condition) with the effects of two nudges: combining the dispenser with an eye-catching sign emphasizing that hand sanitizer use is the norm (“Here we use HAND DISINFECTANT”) or with the same sign except for the addition of an altruistic motive for the norm-emphasizing message (“Here we use HAND DISINFECTANT … to protect your relatives”). Both signs greatly improved compliance, although including the altruistic element did not significantly add to the impact of stating the norm. The results indicate that to improve hand hygiene, hospitals should go beyond locating hand sanitizer dispensers conveniently: they should make the dispensers more visible and stress that using hand sanitizer is the norm.
Preserving employee trust during crisis
Authors: Gillespie Nicole , Searle Rosalind , Gustafsson Stefanie , Hailey Veronica Hope
Published: September 2023

Employees’ trust in their organization is vital during crises and disruption. It powerfully facilitates employees’ ability to respond constructively to crises and change, and it underpins organizational agility and resilience. Yet it is during such episodes that trust is most threatened. During the COVID-19 pandemic, this conundrum has organizational leaders asking, How can we preserve employee trust in the face of the financial and other challenges posed by the outbreak? In this article, we synthesize and extrapolate from related research on trust to delineate the key practical actions that leaders can take to preserve trust. The research shows that during crises, employee trust can not only be preserved, it can even be enhanced.
Adapting the U.S. Air Force's combat rescue management practices could improve organizational responses to challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Whiting Vicki , Wierman Brian , Whiting Phillip
Published: September 2023

In this article, we argue that U.S. Air Force Special Operations Command (AFSOC) pararescue teams offer a model of best practices that could be adapted by leaders of other organizations during the COVID-19 crisis. AFSOC teams recover and provide medical treatment to personnel in unpredictable and dangerous environments. Our research suggests that the ability of AFSOC teams to operate effectively in situations of uncertainty, complexity, and urgency depends on several critical factors: an operational tempo that includes time for reflection; effective assessment, selection, and training of team members; risk assessment and ongoing revision of the planning process; and fluid leadership with a chief executive who maintains ultimate accountability. These same management practices could be adapted by organizational leaders to help them respond more effectively to the challenges posed by the constantly changing COVID-19 pandemic.
How behavioral science can inform policies to prevent discrimination against the Asian community in the era of COVID-19
Authors: Corrington Abby , Hebl Mikki , Ng Linnea C. , Watson Ivy , Bilotta Isabel , Cheng Shannon K. , King Eden
Published: September 2023

The Asian community in the United States has seen an enormous uptick in discriminatory experiences since the start of the COVID-19 pandemic. Asian individuals have reported discrimination within their workplaces, in their communities, and against Asian-owned businesses. Many for-profit organizations have failed to acknowledge this surge. We argue that organizations should adopt policies to protect their Asian employees and clientele. On the basis of behavioral science research and knowledge of best practices for promoting diversity and inclusion, we suggest that organizational leaders create crisis task forces to find ways to reduce discrimination against Asian employees and that the leaders more generally reaffirm organizational commitments to diversity and inclusion, communicate those commitments to stakeholders, visibly enact expected organizational norms related to diversity and inclusion, and establish or reassess accountability systems to ensure that policies and norms are followed.
Behavioral insights for minimizing loneliness during the COVID-19 pandemic
Authors: Nault Kelly A. , Rogers Benjamin A. , Sezer Ovul , Klein Nadav
Published: September 2023

Social distancing is a necessary policy with an unfortunate name. Although maintaining geographical, or physical, distance from one another is important for slowing the spread of COVID-19, people should strive to maintain social connections even while physically apart. That is because the lack of connection and the attendant loneliness that can result from physical distancing are not benign: loneliness can impair well-being and harm health. In this article, we review evidence demonstrating the ill effects of loneliness and summarize actions that psychological science suggests can enhance social connection during the COVID-19 pandemic despite physical distancing. We also discuss ways that governments, nonprofit organizations, and for-profit organizations can help motivate people to adopt these actions. Efforts to mitigate the medical risks of COVID-19 should not have to exacerbate the public health problem of loneliness.
Unlocking Human Potential through Leadership Training & Development Initiatives
Authors: Day David , Bastardoz Nicolas , Bisbey Tiffany , Reyes Denise , Salas Eduardo
Published: September 2023

Most organizations invest in leadership training and development initiatives, but which programs are worth the money is not always clear. To help leaders and policymakers make informed decisions about their leadership investments, we review empirical research from the organizational sciences and provide evidence-based guidance regarding the appropriate design and delivery of such interventions. Leadership training and development are distinct initiatives based on different needs and targeted at distinct albeit interrelated goals. We describe important characteristics of both kinds of interventions, detailing features with the most potential for influencing effectiveness and maximizing returns. Our recommendations provide clear and actionable suggestions for choosing the right interventions, providing the necessary resources to set the stage for success, and evaluating such programs.
Behavioral Insights into Cash Transfers to Families with Children
Authors: Gennetian Lisa A. , Shafir Eldar , Aber J. Lawrence , De Hoop Jacobus
Published: September 2023

Cash transfer programs aim to lessen the harmful effects of economic deprivation by giving cash or its equivalent directly to people in need. In this article, we combine insights from three areas of behavioral science-economics, child development, and cognitive psychology (including behavioral economics and the psychology of poverty)—to shed light on the logic behind providing cash transfers to families with children and to identify specific design features that policymakers should consider when creating these programs. We also summarize key research findings on the outcomes of such programs and present case studies of projects that have been evaluated in randomized controlled studies. We argue that unconditional cash transfers (which provide the money with no strings attached) are preferable to conditional cash transfers (which require recipients to meet specified conditions) for providing economic security and improving children's life outcomes. Conditional cash transfers can achieve similar goals, however, if they impose little administrative burden on parents and if infrastructure is in place to support meeting the conditions for receiving the cash. We end with recommendations for how best to design cash transfer programs for families with children.
Improving the Effectiveness of Time-of-Use Pricing to Make Household Electricity Consumption More Sustainable
Authors: Peters Kelly , Thomson David R. , Barr Nathaniel
Published: September 2023

To increase efficiencies and reduce greenhouse gas emissions, policymakers and electric utility providers are increasingly adopting time-of-use (TOU) pricing policies, which charge the most for electricity consumption during on-peak hours, the times when the demand for electricity is greatest. TOU policies aim to disincentivize on-peak electricity use in favor of use during usually low-demand, off-peak periods to reduce the suppliers’ need to augment electricity generated by low- or nonemitting sources (such as hydro-electric and nuclear power) with electricity generated by high-emitting sources (such as coal- or gas-fired power plants). Researchers and policymakers are attempting to apply behavioral science tactics to enhance the effectiveness of TOU pricing by making behavioral science-based changes to electricity bills or delivering personalized information about electricity use and pricing, or doing both. In this article, we describe several studies we conducted in Ontario, Canada, in which we examined customer responses to various bill designs and communications. Simplifying bills and emphasizing the high cost of on-peak use (that is, making on-peak pricing more salient) were effective at shifting behavior, as was the delivery of nudge reports, which compared a household's electricity use with its past consumption, offered conservation tips, and asked customers to make a pledge to reduce consumption. These studies demonstrate that incorporating behavioral tactics into existing consumer-facing communications can be an effective, low-cost, and scalable way to induce customers to increase off-peak electricity use and thus limit greenhouse gas emissions.
Leveraging the Motivational Effects of Labels: Lessons from Retrofitting
Authors: Comerford David A. , Moro Mirko , Sejas-Portillo Rodolfo , Stowasser Till
Published: September 2023

Retrofitting—replacing obsolete home infrastructure with more energy-efficient substitutes—will be essential to reducing energy use and carbon emissions in the future. Yet European and American households have proved reluctant to undertake these changes. Evidence has shown that a home energy audit can motivate people to retrofit their homes. In this article, we show that including the EU energy label—which displays the property's energy-efficiency rating—in energy audit reports is a simple way to enhance the audit's effectiveness: When energy labels are required as part of the process of selling a property, home sellers become motivated to retrofit if doing so boosts their property into a higher efficiency category on the label. Drawing on insights from the behavioral science literature, we offer suggestions for how policymakers can leverage this motivation to expand household investments in retrofitting. Although our proposals focus on retrofitting, some of them could also encourage other actions that would reduce energy consumption.
Harnessing Behavioral Science to Design Disposable Shopping Bag Regulations
Authors: Homonoff Tatiana , Taylor Rebecca L. C. , Kao Lee-Sien , Palmer Doug
Published: September 2023

Policies to curb the use of disposable shopping bags take two main forms: (a) They provide market-based incentives, imposing fees or taxes on disposable shopping bags or offering rewards for bringing reusable bags from home, or (b) they impose command -and -control policies, which ban certain types of disposable shopping bags altogether. In this article, we review evidence on the effectiveness of these policy design choices through a behavioral economics lens and highlight best practices for policymakers considering similar legislation.
Six Behaviors Policymakers Should Promote to Mitigate Climate Change
Authors: Heller Kate , Berger Michael , Gagern Antonius , Rakhimov Abdurakhim , Thomas John , Thulin Erik
Published: September 2023

Policymakers have a crucial role to play in averting climate catastrophe. Policies that rely on behavioral science principles to encourage individuals to reduce emissions of carbon dioxide and other greenhouse gases can be an effective complement to broader top-down policies, such as charging for carbon emissions—provided that the behavior-based policies focus on actions with the highest potential to reduce emissions. We conducted an analysis to identify behaviors that have the greatest practical potential to reduce emissions in the United States and modeled the effects of their uptake. Our analysis identified six behaviors to prioritize: If adopted by 5%–10% of the U.S. population, these actions can collectively lower current national emissions by 464 million metric tons of carbon dioxide equivalent per year, or 7% overall annually. We identify behavioral mechanisms that can inform policy design for promoting each of these behaviors.
Institutional Policies for a Healthy Anthropocene Society
Authors: Hoffman Andrew J. , Jennings P. Devereaux , Poggioli Nicholas A.
Published: September 2023

The Anthropocene epoch refers to the geological epoch, now underway, that is defined by monumental, human-caused geophysical changes in planetary ecosystems. Human society is also changing, marked by an equally profound shift in attitudes, beliefs, and practices. In this article, we apply research on social change in institutions—that is, in the enduring belief systems, ideas, and practices that guide organizations and society— to propose policies that could prepare Anthropocene society to change in ways that would ensure healthier ecosystems. These policies would alter the institutions driving corporate governance, patterns of consumption, the role of science in business and society, and the time horizons used by governments and organizations to plan, and they would help society adapt to unpredictable changes in the climate and in ecosystems. Ultimately, the policies would shift long-standing institutional structures, or logics, that support market capitalism and the belief in technology's ability to solve all problems to help create a more enlightened culture and more stable ecosystems on a rapidly changing planet.
How to choose a default
Authors: Beshears John , Mason Richard T. , Benartzi Shlomo
Published: September 2023

We have developed a model for setting a default when a population is choosing among ordered choices—that is, ones listed in ascending or descending order. A company, for instance, might want to set a default contribution rate that will increase employees’ average contributions to a retirement savings plan. A key input of the model is the distribution of latent options—the percentages of a population that select each available choice in the absence of a preset default. The model treats the default as an attraction point that causes some people to shift from their latent preference toward the default. It specifies the strength of each possible default's pull on each latent option and thereby points policymakers to the default most likely to achieve a desired aim. We tested our model using data from field experiments relating to retirement savings. In addition to presenting the results, which support the model's validity, we discuss how the model relates to prior empirical evidence on defaults.
Ventilator Allocations: The Effect of Mere Identifiability
Authors: Ritov Ilana , Garcia Stephen M.
Published: September 2023

The COVID-19 crisis has raised a dire dilemma among medical professionals. Faced with a shortage of critical equipment and supplies, how do hospital administrators and physicians determine whether to divert resources from one patient to another? Most decision-makers will prioritize saving younger patients over older ones, because older patients generally have a much shorter life expectancy. But emotions, such as those elicited when a patient's name is known and the patient is thereby humanized, can interfere with rational decision-making. At the height of the pandemic, we conducted three studies in which participants were asked to imagine being hospital officials tasked with allocating ventilators under two conditions: when the affected patients were and were not identified by name. Participants were less likely to reassign a ventilator from an older patient to a younger one when the patients had been named than when they had not. These results suggest that decisionmakers are more likely to make the efficient choice—the one that should save more years of life—when the individuals affected by the choice remain anonymous. When patients are humanized by being named, less rational and more emotional considerations appear to govern how people choose to distribute lifesaving equipment. Our findings imply that keeping patients anonymous may help facilitate the efficient allocation of scarce medical resources.
Encouraging employees’ active feedback & participation when rolling out major changes
Authors: Hood Elizabeth A. , Bartunek Jean M.
Published: September 2023

When managers and other leaders of organizational change (change agents) introduce and implement major changes, responses from other members of the organization can fall along both passive-active and positive-negative dimensions. Change agents usually treat positive (approving) responses as good and negative (disapproving) responses as bad. They often ignore the passive-active dimension—that is, the degree of energy with which organizational members affected by change (change recipients) respond to the initiative. We suggest that change agents instead focus more on this passive-active dimension and work to elicit active responses to change even when these responses are negative, because active responses can lead to valuable improvements in the initiative. We provide three recommendations for assisting organizational leaders in encouraging and learning from the active feedback of change recipients.
“Braking” bad: How managers can respond to employee misbehavior
Authors: Frey Erin L. , Adams Gabrielle S. , Bruno Evan A. , Detert James R.
Published: September 2023

Employee misbehavior can be defined as transgressions that go beyond unintentional mistakes but do not rise to the level of criminal offenses. Managers are often given substantial discretion over how to handle such behavior, but they may be unsure about what their response should be or unaware of the extent to which others will care about their response. We offer a framework to help managers respond to misbehavior, particularly when firing the offender is not an option. We identify types of formal and informal responses that not only deter future offenses but also help to restore perceptions of justice within the organization. We also provide guidance on how managers should select and communicate these responses to other employees. Finally, we highlight two supplementary actions that managers can consider to restore perceptions of justice: victim restitution (that is, providing compensation to or otherwise helping to assuage the distress of the wronged party) and offender reintegration (that is, helping the wrongdoer get back to work within the organization).
Penalties for Going Against Type: How Sexism Shapes Voters’ Perceptions of Candidate Character
Authors: McDonald Jared , Piatak Jaclyn
Published: September 2023

Although women are increasingly represented in elected office, little is known about how a female candidate's gender influences voter approval when her messaging emphasizes her strong leadership ability—a character trait generally regarded as masculine. Drawing from theories of social cognition and gender stereotypes, we examine in this article how citizens react to male and female politicians who emphasize particular character traits. After synthesizing relevant literature, we report on a study conducted to see whether women lose public support for emphasizing their leadership ability—thus “going against type.” In a survey of more than 800 American adults, we found that respondents penalized a fictional woman running for Congress when her messaging to voters emphasized the core character trait of leadership, as opposed to compassion (a trait traditionally associated with women) or no character trait at all. In contrast, respondents viewed a fictional man more favorably when his messaging to voters went against type by highlighting compassion than when he emphasized leadership. These findings suggest that female candidates have fewer options than men do when selecting which personal characteristics to present in their messaging to gain the approval of the voting public. This result underscores the need for policies and programs that promote female leadership in all walks of life, thereby leading the public to associate leadership skill with both genders equally.
Leadership & overconfidence
Authors: Moore Don A. , Bazerman Max H.
Published: September 2023

Expressions of confidence can give leaders credibility. In the political realm, they can earn votes and public approval for decisions made in office. Such support is justified when the confidence displayed is truly a sign that a leader (whether a candidate or an incumbent) is competent. However, when politicians are overconfident, the result can be the election of incompetent leaders and the adoption of misguided policies. In this article, we discuss processes that can lead to a confidence “arms race” that encourages politicians to display more confidence than their rivals do. We also illustrate how overconfidence and hyperbole have impaired responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in many nations and offer guidance for distinguishing politicians who display levels of confidence that reflect their true assessment of a situation from those who fake their self-assurance. We then suggest ways that leaders in all spheres can convey uncertainty honestly without losing credibility, and we propose a way to prevent overconfidence from resulting in ineffective or counterproductive legislation.
Manual Scavenging in Urban Tamil Nadu: An Indelible Blot on Dalit Women with Respect to Caste Discrimination
Authors: Kalyani S.
Published: September 2023

We are presently living in a world that is striving for development with each flicker of our eyelids. The world might be changing, but a large portion of the discernments are not. This article addresses the profundity of the most sensitive issue of basic freedom infringement of ‘Manual Scavengers’. In the rouse of basic rights evolving widely, there is ceaseless conversation about laws on manual scavenging being based on the convergence of caste and labour. Conducted among 152 women manual scavengers in urban Chennai, this article features the caste-based act of manual scavenging, which is a type of constrained work in the pretence of caste assignment, the types of caste discriminations faced and the challenges and factors associated with it. This study also recommends suggestions for the elimination of the endlessly evil practice of manual scavenging. The personal encounters of manual scavengers in Chennai illustrate the corresponding cycle of caste discrimination and untouchability.
Role of Migration in Urbanisation in the Himalayan Foothill Region of West Bengal, India: A Geospatial Analysis
Authors: Debnath Manoj , Islam Nazrul , Roy Piyal Basu , Ray Sheuli , Sarkar Bappa , Roy Ranjan
Published: September 2023

The present study analyses rural to urban migration and the growth of urban centres in the Himalayan foothill region (Jalpaiguri, Alipurduar and Koch Bihar) of West Bengal and investigates the role of migration in urban growth and processes in this region. The study is based on data from the Census of India (migration table and general population table) from 1951 to 2011. Geospatial techniques have been used to show the evaluation, spatial distribution and growth of urban centres in the recent past. The study found that from 1951 to 2011, the total population increased by 4 times, while the total urban population increased by 10 times, and the number of urban centres increased by 7 times, which is higher than the national level. The proportion of the urban population and the concentration of urban centres show that urbanisation in the Himalayan foothill region is mainly concentrated in the district headquarters. The study also illustrates that migration towards urban centres is a dominant factor contributing to the progress and growth of urban centres in this region. Moreover, the growth of new urban centres, the direction of urban growth and the contribution of migration to urban growth predict that Koch Bihar and Alipurduar urban agglomerations will join together and emerge as twin cities in the Himalayan foothill region.