We make knee-jerk spontaneous decisions that can cause regretful damage
Though it has its benefits, our instinctive tendency to preserve mental ‘bandwidth’ and make fast decisions can instead lead us to poor ones.
Heller, Shah, Guryan, Ludwig, Mullainathan & Pollack (2017). Thinking, fast and slow? Field experiments to reduce crime … in Chicago. Quarterly Journal of Economics.
The study
2,064 male students from 9 schools in Chicago were enrolled in a two-year-long program that encouraged system-two slow thinking on how to manage situations of conflict.
Participation in the program reduced total arrests by 35% and violent crime arrests by 50%.
Heller, Shah, Guryan, Ludwig, Mullainathan & Pollack (2017). Thinking, fast and slow? Field experiments to reduce crime … in Chicago. Quarterly Journal of Economics.
Key Takeaways
Add a little friction.
We constantly weigh up effort vs rewards, so seeing one long sign-up form can lead us to make a fast system-one decision not to do so.
A process that’s Chunked, features reflective Goal Primes and clearly shows the product benefits will work better.
Build in reflective periods for big decisions.
Knee-jerk, short-term decisions can harm our longer-term goals. E.g., financial firms can help us make smarter decisions about withdrawing all our savings by building in a reflective delay, especially when such decisions conflict with our prior Commitments and goals.
In further detail
We make knee-jerk spontaneous decisions that can cause regretful damage
Though it has its benefits, our instinctive tendency to preserve mental ‘bandwidth’ and make fast decisions can instead lead us to poor ones.
Heller, Shah, Guryan, Ludwig, Mullainathan & Pollack (2017). Thinking, fast and slow? Field experiments to reduce crime … in Chicago. Quarterly Journal of Economics.
The study
2,064 male students from 9 schools in Chicago were enrolled in a two-year-long program that encouraged system-two slow thinking on how to manage situations of conflict.
Participation in the program reduced total arrests by 35% and violent crime arrests by 50%.
Heller, Shah, Guryan, Ludwig, Mullainathan & Pollack (2017). Thinking, fast and slow? Field experiments to reduce crime … in Chicago. Quarterly Journal of Economics.
Key Takeaways
Add a little friction.
We constantly weigh up effort vs rewards, so seeing one long sign-up form can lead us to make a fast system-one decision not to do so.
A process that’s Chunked, features reflective Goal Primes and clearly shows the product benefits will work better.
Build in reflective periods for big decisions.
Knee-jerk, short-term decisions can harm our longer-term goals. E.g., financial firms can help us make smarter decisions about withdrawing all our savings by building in a reflective delay, especially when such decisions conflict with our prior Commitments and goals.
We make knee-jerk spontaneous decisions that can cause regretful damage
The study
2,064 male students from 9 schools in Chicago were enrolled in a two-year-long program that encouraged system-two slow thinking on how to manage situations of conflict.
Participation in the program reduced total arrests by 35% and violent crime arrests by 50%.
In detail
Scarcity
We value things more when they’re in limited supply
Social Proof
We copy the behaviors of others, especially in unfamiliar situations
Prospect Theory
A loss hurts more than an equal gain feels good
Reciprocity
We’re hardwired to return kindness received
Framing
We make very different decisions based on how a fact is presented
Loss Aversion
We feel more negative when losing something than positive when we gain it
Default Effect
We tend to accept the option pre-chosen for us
Anchoring
What we see first affects our judgement of everything thereafter
Fast & Slow Thinking
We make knee-jerk spontaneous decisions that can cause regretful damage
Dynamic Norms
We’re more likely to change if we can see a new behavior developing
Salience
Our choices are determined by the information we're shown