Fast & Slow Thinking
We take 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
Setup
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.
Results
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.
Fast & Slow Thinking
We take 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
Setup
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.
Results
Participation in the program reduced total arrests by 35% and violent crime arrests by 50%.
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.
Fast & Slow Thinking
We take knee-jerk spontaneous decisions that can cause regretful damage
The study
Setup
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.
Results
Participation in the program reduced total arrests by 35% and violent crime arrests by 50%.
In detail
Pairings
Connected to
Running workshops?
Fast & Slow Thinking
