“Behaviour is the mirror in which everyone sees their image” - Johann Wolfgang Von Goethe
Having discussed the numerous applications of behavioural science in various fields ranging from marketing to medicine to education and technology, we at India Behavioural Economics Network thought that it might be an interesting exercise to explore how we can incorporate insights from Behavioural Sciences in our daily lives.
The very core of behavioural sciences is perhaps the various biases which rule our thinking and behaviour. Read 10 cognitive biases that can lead to investment mistakes to identify the most common biases which can impact our investment decisions and what can be done to prevent them.
How many times have you heard the phase that your behaviour makes you who you are? Read this paper titled How to use behavioural science to build new habits to explore the motivating factors behind everything we do and how they can be leveraged to not only build but sustain new habits. Have you ever procrastinated to start a big project? Read Getting It Done – The Behavioral Way to discover the 10 step guide to beating procrastination and finishing big tasks.
There has been an increasing amount of discourse about the importance of retirement savings across economies as economists predict the possibility of a retirement crisis. Have you ever worried about your retirement, feeling that your actions are inadequate? If yes, then you are not alone. A study by Deloitte showed that about 50% of respondents in a study felt insecure about their retirement planning. Read Covering all the bases to explore the various biases we as savers face and what can be done to overcome these challenges. Also, read How does behavioural science help improve the workplace? to find ways to build a more effective, efficient and productive team.
The 2022 UN Behavioural Science Week was held this month from 6th to 10th June. Given the increasing momentum behind the application of behavioural science in the various verticals of UN, this conference aims to explore how insights from Behavioural Sciences can be used to attain and progress the mandates of all UN entities. To gain more insights, head over to United Nations Behavioural Science Week to browse all the webinars.
The 2022 Behavioural Economics Guide was also released this month which aims to bridge the gap between theory and practice by bringing together behavioural science practitioners and scholars from renowned institutes and coalescing insights from their experience and work.
Increasing The Pull Of The Future Self
Have you ever wondered why it is difficult to do what is the best for us? Commonly known as inter-temporal discounting in the fields of psychology, behavioral economics, and marketing, humans have a tendency to choose an immediate smaller reward over a later bigger reward. Read this article to find out why we find it easier to ignore our future selves and how insights from behavioural science can be used to design interventions to deal with the incentive mismatch between our present and future selves.
The oil slick effect, or why we systematically overgeneralise
We, humans believe ourselves to be competent and systematic all the time. However, our views of world often are painted in black and white. We have a systematic tendency to overgeneralise both praise and blame. Read on to find out about the ‘oil slick effect’ and how we struggle to accept that the same thing can be good in some ways and bad in others.
There is a growing epidemic of climate anxiety
Given the growing consensus across individuals about the need to actively take meaningful actions to avert climate crisis, it becomes imperative to identify misleading practices such as greenwashing. Greenwashing is a marketing strategy often employed by organisations to boast environmental friendly claims. Read this article to explore an online trial which was run to identify the susceptibility of consumers and what can be done to protect them from this misleading practice.
The behavioural biases behind our investments
We’re living in a time where investor freedom and access to information is at its highest. Investing is becoming a side hustle and a hobby for many. However, the biases which affect the way we look at our money continue to hinder our results. This informative podcast by The Decision Corner featuring Clare Flynn Levy - CEO and Founder of Essentia Analytics, a company that uses behavioural data analytics to help professional investors make more skilled investment decisions looks at some of these biases.
How to fix burnouts
Ever felt like your work is just taking too much out of you? You’re not the only one. Extremist attitudes around work can seriously impact personal well-being. As companies and start-ups continue emphasise your role as an employee more than your identity as a human, situations of burnouts arise. Learning how to effectively handle and avoid them is crucial for both organisations and its employees. This podcast from the Behavioral Grooves looks at burnouts from a systemic POV and offers solutions and practices that aren’t just the conventional quick fix 20 minute yoga session.
Why you're smarter than you think
Smartness is a quality all of us wish to possess. Being smart is valued by everyone- your peers, your family, your boss etc. However, conventional notions of indicators of smartness are outdated. This podcast offers an expansive view of what it means to be smart. Hear this one out to understand what we assume smartness is, how there failings in our understandings, and how it actually should be. Featuring Psychologist Scott Barry Kaufman on Hidden Brain, this episode is a must-listen.
Explore. Inform. Nudge. Benefit.
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Editors: Nehal Kaul, Junofy Anto Rozarina
Cannot access the interview through the link.