Why it's so hard to make healthy decisions | David Asch
Jon Corzine's Car Accident
The speaker discusses the car accident involving Jon Corzine, highlighting the importance of behavioral change in health decisions.
Jon Corzine's Behavior Deficit
- Jon Corzine's lack of seat belt usage despite knowing its life-saving benefits.
- Emphasizing a behavior deficit over a knowledge deficit in health behavior.
- The challenge of changing behaviors even when information is known.
Behavioral Economics in Health Care
Behavioral economics' role in understanding and influencing health-related behaviors is explored.
Insights on Human Behavior
- Conventional vs. behavioral economics approaches to human motivation.
- Recognizing predictable irrationalities for designing effective strategies.
Present Bias and Decision Making
Present bias and its impact on decision-making processes are discussed within the context of health choices.
Present Bias Effects
- Illustration of present bias with examples like resisting chocolate cake or medication adherence.
Lotteries and Behavioral Economics
The speaker discusses the concept of lotteries, irrational behavior, and the impact of incentives on decision-making processes.
Lotteries and Regret
- The speaker initially criticizes lotteries as a tax on those who can't do math but later worries about missing out if colleagues win.
- Experiments show that people dislike missing out, leading to increased compliance when rewards are tied to specific behaviors.
Irrationality in Decision Making
- Understanding irrationality allows for better assistance. Example: reducing restroom mess by etching flies in urinals.
- In healthcare, defaulting prescriptions to generics significantly reduced costs and improved outcomes.
Incentives and Motivation
The discussion focuses on how different types of incentives influence behavior and motivation.
Framing Incentives
- Financial incentives framed as losses rather than gains proved more effective in motivating desired behaviors.
- Loss-framed incentives led to a 50% increase in goal achievement compared to gain-based incentives.
Psychological Impact of Incentives
- Losses have a greater psychological impact than gains, influencing behavior positively when used effectively.
Impact of Financial Incentives
Examining the effects of financial incentives on intrinsic motivations and social contracts.
Negative Effects of Financial Incentives
- A daycare program's introduction of fines for late pickups backfired, highlighting how financial incentives can undermine intrinsic motivations.
Poisoning Social Contracts
Health Behavior and Social Interactions
The speaker discusses the influence of social interactions on health behavior, emphasizing the impact of social engagement in healthcare settings.
Social Influence on Health Behavior
- Making activities witnessable to others can significantly change behavior.
- Study in a hospital ICU showed that pasting a picture of eyes over the sink doubled handwashing rates.
- Modeling behaviors based on what others do, like wearing seat belts after seeing Batman and Robin do so in a TV show.
- Social influence works in healthcare; doctors use antibiotics more appropriately when observing peers.
Utilizing Nonrational Parts for Health Behavior Improvement
The speaker highlights the importance of working with nonrational aspects of human nature to enhance health behavior rather than solely relying on rationality.
Leveraging Nonrational Aspects
- Courage, creativity, and inspiration stem from nonrational parts of our minds.