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Publication Self-Oriented or Other-Oriented Empathic Concern Behind Altruism(2019-08-09) Yan, Zih-YunIt is hypothesized that empathic concern evokes altruistic motivation (Batson, 1991). As we can see in our daily life, stimulating empathy to the suffering is a common advertising strategy for charitable donation. While empathizing, we adopt the perspective of others and share their feelings so we can understand their need. Then, these empathic responses motivate us to have concern for others’ well-being and save them from any negative outcomes. However, whether altruistic behaviors are truly other-oriented or actually self-benefit motivated is still controversial. In this study, we focus on the empathy network in the human brain and use Multi- Voxel Pattern Analysis (MVPA) to provide new evidence in this debate. Adapting an established protocol of empathy-for-pain studies (Singer et al. 2004, 2006; Hein et al. 2010), we tested whether the neural activities of empathy can predict altruistic behaviors and how kin relationship modulate the willingness to take altruistic actions. In the experiment, daughters faced two types of conditions: in “Forced Choices” trials, subjects either passively received the shock or observed their mothers or strangers receiving the shock; in “Free Choices” trials, daughters had to actively decide whether to receive the shock themselves or to defer the shock to mothers and strangers. We find that when daughter chose to sacrifice themselves to receive the shock, the neural pattern in empathy network is more similar to when daughters themselves were in pain rather than observing others in pain. These finding suggest that altruistic choices are self-oriented process. We do not find a distinct neural pattern when subjects had to make the altruistic choices facing their mother or a stranger, however, the shock deferring rate to stranger is significantly higher than mother at the behavior level.Publication Ergodicity and You: Adaptive Heuristics in an Uncertain World(2019-12-02) Zovas, JustinLife requires making decisions under uncertainty. Facing complex, dynamic environments, decision-making processes should focus on the consequences of choices with time as a fundamental consideration. To that end, I recommend honing adaptive heuristics through trial and error while maintaining a margin of safety from ruin.Publication Heuristics & Biases Simplified: Easy to Understand One-Pagers that Use Plain Language & Examples to Simplify Human Judgement and Decision-Making Concepts(2019-08-09) Gullone, BrittanyBehavioral Science is a new and quickly growing field of study that has found ways of capturing readers’ attention across a variety of industries. The popularity of this field has led to a wealth of terms, concepts, and materials that describe human behavior and decision making. Many of these resources are lengthy and complex and thus, may stand in the way of sharing knowledge. The intent of this document is to simplify a few key heuristics and biases. This will help the audience quickly and effectively communicate with others less familiar with these concepts. Each one-pager will highlight one concept with the following components:1)The definition using plain language 2) Real-world examples observed 3) Effective behavioral interventions 4) Additional resources for further learning. This document is NOT a comprehensive list of all heuristics, biases, or behavioral science concepts, nor does it capture all of the research, applications, or interventions to date. If effective, this document will serve as a quick reference guide or an introductory resource to a variety of audiences. This “bite-size” and high-level approach is intended to be easy to digest and captivating -consuming the least amount of readers’ time and cognitive effort possible.Publication Using a Social Norms Framework to Study Latino Youth Beliefs about Sexual Harassment in High Schools(2019-08-09) Levano Gavidia, Maria LorenaSexual harassment, defined as making an unwelcome behavior of a sexual nature, is highly prevalent all over the world. In this study sexual harassment in high schools is studied as this is one of the places where it has the highest prevalence and a time in life where an intervention can have the highest impact. Even though there are studies about sexual harassment preventive programs in schools, few of them consider the cultural differences, beliefs, and expectations of specific communities. This study fills that gap by focusing on the social norms around the behavior. Mixed methods were used, combining quantitative and qualitative techniques. Focus groups were done and a questionnaire was applied to identify the most common sexual harassment behaviors, as well as the existence or absence of personal normative beliefs, empirical expectations, and normative expectations around the phenomenon. Results evidenced that there are different normative and empirical expectations for girls and for boys that also vary depending on the specific type of harassment. Subtle types of sexual harassment for boys can be classified as a social norms; in other words, their motivations are not independent but socially conditioned. Furthermore, students expressed different factual beliefs about victims and perpetrators depending on their gender. The findings provide diverse evidence about how individual and interpersonal beliefs and expectations are related to sexual harassment in schools. Understanding these social processes is useful for designing culturally and socially grounded interventions for sexual harassment prevention in high schools.Publication One Measly Change: An Unorthodox Approach to Addressing Ultra-Orthodox Measles Outbreak(2019-08-09) Blas, ElishevaSince October 2018, over 400 individuals in the Ultra-Orthodox (Haredi) community in Brooklyn, New York have contracted measles, a disease once eradicated in the United States.This disease, preventable through a two-dose measles-mumps-rubella (MMR) vaccine, is one of the most contagious infections and has serious long term health consequences. Both public and private officials—namely, the New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene(DOHMH) and individuals within the Haredi community—have taken a number of steps to address the measles outbreak, implementing policies to increase vaccination rates. This paper details those interventions and points out how many of such policies do not properly account for the idiosyncrasies of the Haredi community, such as its hierarchical structure and its insularnature. The paper concludes with specific recommendations on how policies could be improved to address the particular biases related to vaccination uptake among Haredim.Publication A Behavioral Approach to Relationship Building: Optimizing Mystery Shopping Communication(2019-08-09) Cheng, AnliToday email plays a crucial role in establishing and maintaining business relationships, both within a company and with external contacts.This paper attempts to propose communication strategies leveraging behavioral sciences bases on a case study of a company that serves as an intermediary between companies and mystery shoppers.The proposed strategy aims to generate more mystery shopping task completions and new shoppers’ signups through improved communication (primarily through emails) between the intermediary company and mystery shoppers. The improvement of communication is executed through a redesign of the company’s current email communication which can be tested through potential experiments. Prior to this, survey design is proposed to better inform the redesign of the company’s current email communication and general advice given to the company to achieve its paramount goal i.e. more mystery shopping task completions and new shoppers’ signups.Publication The Behavioral Case for B Corporations(2019-08-09) Guarna, NatalieIn recent years, consumers have started increasingly prioritizing the social and environmental impacts of the brands they support. Quick to notice this trend, companies have taken advantage of it, incorporating green claims, true or not, into their marketing materials. From a consumer perspective, it can be mentally taxing to navigate through these claims to find companies whose values align with their own. The B Corp Certification, which verifies the positive impacts of for-profit companies, has emerged as an objective way for consumers to identify conscious companies. The financial benefit of B Corp Certification has been well established: B Corps enjoy higher-than-average rates of financial success. The behavioral case for B Corps, on the other hand, remains relatively unexplored. Behavioral science, a relatively new field of study that considers the influences of human behavior beyond rationality, offers new insights as to why the B Corp Certification resonates well with modern consumers. The appeal of (1) self-image preservation, (2) social conformity, and (3) trust/transparency draw consumers to the B Corp Certification. These appeals, however, are strongly limited by lack of consumer recognition of the B Corp logo. In today’s economy, B Corps are well poised to create meaningful impact, but increasing consumer awareness is key to these companies achieving their full potential.Publication The Relationship between Complexity and Behavioral Bias(2019-08-09) Noel, HamiltonIn the corporate workplace employees are routinely asked to do analysis of impacts, outcomes, demographics, and economic opportunities just to name a few. While these projects vary greatly in regard to their subject matter, they also vary in terms of complexity. Some are straightforward with few moving parts while others entail dozens of confounding variables and noise. Knowing that humans are not able to treat problems systematically and without bias, we propose the question: how do complexity and behavioral biases interact? Using case studies from an analysis done at an eCommerce company located in the Mountain West, this research found that different levels of complexity lend themselves to different behavioral biases. Complex problems create an environment where employees are more susceptible to creative interpretation, social pressure, and incentives. Less complex problems leave less room for creative interpretation but create situations where assumptions and findings are overstated.Publication Analyzing and Applying Behavioral Science to Philadelphia’s Sugar Sweetened Beverage (SSB) Tax(2019-09-15) Apichaidejudom, AnandPublication Optimal Bias: Truth-Seeking vs. Decision-Making(2019-08-09) Peterson, JaredAt the foundation of current statistical practices and good decision making is the idea that there is a trade-off. Due to life’s uncertainties we must decide how good it is to be right and how bad it is to be wrong. Understanding the cost-benefits of being right or wrong helps us to understand systematic biases which may appear to be irrational on the surface but in actuality serve a rational function. Such an understanding may persuade decision-makers to introduce intentional bias into their decisions. Using the example of the Replication Crisis in Psychology, I will show that science is another form of decision-making which has intentional biases built in. Being consciously aware of this bias, and planning to have an optimal bias, will make for a healthier science.