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Articles on Behavioral science

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Changes in behavior can lead to significant emission reductions. Getty Images

Persuading businesses and people to reduce climate emissions is key to slowing climate change – research-based techniques and new approaches from the behavioral sciences can show how to do it

How much does human behavior influence climate change? Can it be changed, and how? In June, climate change experts and behavioral scientists came together to answer these important questions.
Video calls often show people an image of themselves. SDI Productions/E+ via Getty Images

Staring at an image of yourself on Zoom has serious consequences for mental health – especially for women

Mirrors, selfies and knowing other people are looking at you all cause people to think of themselves as objects. Video calls are all three in one and are likely increasing the harms of self-objectification.
The maker of Bud Light says it will give all Americans over 21 a free beer if the U.S. reaches Biden’s 70% vaccination goal. Andrew Burton/Getty Images

Free beer, doughnuts and a $1 million lottery – how vaccine incentives and other behavioral tools are helping the US reach herd immunity

Governments and companies are using incentives in hopes of getting more Americans to get a COVID-19 shot. A behavioral economist explains how they work.
Feeling ‘addicted to sex’ has more to do with one’s values than frequency of behavior. Terraxplorer/E+ via Getty Images

‘Sex addiction’ isn’t a justification for killing, or really an addiction – it reflects a person’s own moral misgivings about sex

‘Sex addiction’ isn’t a diagnosable disorder, but the turmoil religious men feel over the disconnect between their sexual values and behavior can lead to real psychological distress.
Protective measures and their safety assurances can change how people act around risk. Alfredo Falcone/LaPresse via AP

When safety measures lead to riskier behavior by more people

Behavioral economists explain how widespread use of face masks, hand sanitizer and other preventive measures could counterintuitively encourage riskier behaviors around coronavirus.
Why do people constantly ‘move the goalposts’ when making judgments? JoeNattapon/Shutterstock.com

Why your brain never runs out of problems to find

It’s a psychological quirk that when something becomes rarer, people may spot it in more places than ever. What is the ‘concept creep’ that lets context change how we categorize the world around us?
Richard Thaler, laureate in economics, receives his Nobel in Stockholm in December. TT News Agency/Jonas Ekstromer via Reuters

Behavioral economics finally goes mainstream: 4 essential reads

After two Nobel prize wins for behavioral economists, the burgeoning field has demonstrated its importance in shaping effective economic and government policy.

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