Some of the editors of this blog (and their kids) have long believed that hugs can make pain go away. Sometimes that healing hug is the last arrow in the parental quiver. Researchers (you knew we were heading that way) at the University of Colorado at...
Why do some people succeed with so little, while some fail with so much? Rice University professor Scott Sonenshein, as part of a panel at September’s Behavioral Science and Policy Association Conference in Manhattan, discussed this question and his book Stretch: Unlock the Power of...
Why In-Depth Interviews? It's About Diving Deep. Whenever you want an audience to buy into your ideas, your story, or your product, you need to know what they’re thinking vis-à-vis your presentation. We’ve found that one of the best ways to begin that process is a...
Groups tend to innovate and catch mistakes faster, and find better solutions to problems. Employees have higher job satisfaction. Profitability increases. If it’s a good team, that is. Google (already measuring every aspect of their employees’ lives) assembled a team to, yes, study teams, and turn their...
A recent study found that men selling items on eBay get higher prices than women selling the same items. Researchers acknowledged this finding as one more affirmation that people have different expectations of men and women, and treat them differently. And yes, they found it depressing (at...
When political partisans use behavioral nudges in public policy, their opponents question the science. Vigorously. In the UK, when conservative Prime Minister David Cameron applied behavioral insights to policy, the left was suspicious. In the US, when President Obama did the same thing, the right...