Behavioral Grooves Podcast

Few psychologists in the world have contributed more to scientific discovery than our guest Richard E. Nisbett. He joins us to discuss his latest book, the title of which embodies one of his favorite activities: Thinking: A Memoir. Thinking weaves Richard’s personal story through his research journey, painting a richer sense of the thought process behind his discoveries.  Richard E. Nisbett is the Theodore M. Newcomb Distinguished Professor of Social Psychology at the University of Michigan. Many of his previous books have been co-authored with his collaborator and friend, the late Lee Ross. The two first met in graduate school when they studied under the ground-breaking researcher Stanley Schachter at Columbia University.  Later in his career, alongside Tim Wilson, the two made the ground-breaking observation: they noted that we can only identify "what people think about how they think," but not "how they really think." Join our podcast conversation with Richard to explore how we can improve our thinking, re

Can we control our unconscious behavior? How much does the situation we’re in control us? Can we prime people to behave a certain way? Is it even ethical to try? To what degree do cultural identity and stereotyping impact the automaticity of our actions? Following on from our discussion with Dr Philip Zimbardo PhD, in our last episode (#247) about the Stanford Prison Experiment, we reached out to our friend and previous guest (episode #155), Dr John Bargh PhD, social psychologist at Yale University. As the world’s leading expert on the unconscious mind, John gave us fresh insight on how our behavior is primed by factors such as our cultural identity and even by who we are thinking about. Interestingly our conversation shifted towards changing attitudes in society and in particular the inspiration stance that athletes such as Simone Biles and Naomi Osaka have taken recently to prioritize their mental health. John describes them as pioneers: “what pioneers and leaders do is they give an alternative example for

The Stanford Prison Experiment has been the topic of movies, newspaper articles, textbooks and TV shows. Extensively published controversy has surrounded the social psychology experiment ever since it was conducted in 1971. Now on the 50th Anniversary, we invite you to listen to a very unique interview with the man who orchestrated it all; Dr Philip Zimbardo PhD.  Was the Stanford Prison Experiment designed to measure the corruption of power? Were participants influenced by the context of the experiment itself and pressured into performing a role? How exactly did the environment influence the behavior of the participants, including Dr Philip Zimbardo himself? As he quotes; “a bad barrel can take a good apple, and make it bad”. At Stanford University in 1971, influenced by the work of his friend Stanley Milgram, Philip Zimbardo assembled a mock prison in the basement of the university and used male student volunteers to become the guards and prisoners. What unfolded in the coming days surprised even Philip

The truth is we divulge more information to Google that we do to our friends, our family or even our doctors. Our social media persona can paint a very different picture to what we secretly search for on Google. So what do search trends in Google tell us about ourselves and our society? Does it matter that we are different on Google than in person? Author of bestseller Everybody Lies (https://amzn.to/32ULlgD), Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, tells us how data can unlock the keys to happier relationships and even how to better parent our children. Topics We Discuss with Seth: (3:15) Welcome and speed round questions. (12:53) Are people more honest with Google or with their friends?  (16:01) The juxtaposition between our social media presence and our Google searches. (21:03) Does everybody really lie?  (26:06) Why people lie about sex. (30:00) Why your children’s outcome is affected by your location.  (36:37) Using more data and less intuition to make decisions.  (44:28) The data to use and not to use for successful

This follow-up episode is a free-flowing Grooving Session where Tim and Kurt chat about their discussion with Seth Stephens-Davidowitz (Episode 246). You’re more than welcome to listen to this as a stand alone episode, but we recommend first tuning in to our interview with Seth, and then joining us here for some banter about Seth’s work.  Questions we discuss:  Are we more likely to be untruthful in certain contexts?  Is lying a useful delusion?  Can we ever justify lies?  How do the connections we make with others affect our relationships and our children?  Does where we are born really influence us the rest of our lives?  What traits should we definitely look for when dating? How is our brain influenced by music? Tim and Kurt chat about these questions and more in this Grooving Session, which follows on from our interview episode with Seth Stephens-Davidowitz, author of bestselling book Everybody Lies (https://amzn.to/32ULlgD). If you are a regular listener to Behavioral Grooves, please consider donating t

What link is there between happiness and income? Does winning the lottery make you happier? What does the research say about poverty and our mental health?  Our guest on this episode has researched the psychological effects money has on our wellbeing and on our society. Johannes Haushofer is the Assistant Professor of Economics at Stockholm University and has taught at Princeton University for the past six years.  Johannes realized that not enough research on these topics has been conducted outside of the Western, educated, industrialized, rich and democratic countries (WEIRD countries). So he founded the Busara Center for Behavioral Economics in Nairobi, Kenya: https://busaracenter.org/. We talk with him about how he founded the center and what research he has been able to do there. A few years ago, in an effort to make a friend feel better Johannes published his ‘CV of Failures’ that detailed every degree program that had rejected him and all the research funding he didn’t get. It went viral as people lappe

Kurt and Tim discuss the links between poverty and mental health, how higher income is linked to better well-being, and the idea of a Universal Basic Income. This is a free-flowing discussion delving into the insights from their most recent interview with Johannes Haushofer (episode #244), Assistant Professor of Economics at Stockholm University. While you are welcome to listen to this episode as a stand-alone, we recommend you download our interview with Johannes first before joining us here.  Topics You Will Learn About: Higher income being related to better well-being. The effects of poverty on cognitive function, creativity, stress, health and long-term outcome decisions. Universal Basic Income; the behavior changes it could induce. The replication crisis of research studies in psychology. The value of Johannes studying poverty outside of WEIRD countries. “So there was a pretty strong relationship between income and happiness, both within and across countries. Rich people are happier than poor people wit

What does your customer want but can’t tell you? What effective marketing techniques use behavioral economics? If only you had a way of understanding how your customer’s brain made decisions. Well our guest, Melina Palmer sits down to discuss exactly that.  Melina Palmer is the founder of The Brainy Business, which provides behavioral economics consulting to businesses of all sizes from around the world. She also hosts a podcast, The Brainy Business, and has recently published her first book What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: Unlocking Consumer Decisions with the Science of Behavioral Economics: https://amzn.to/36Rm88I.  What You Will Learn From Melina Palmer  (6:23) Melina explains her book “What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You” (13:30) Why should we care about dopamine?  (16:26) The effectiveness of using a lottery draw (20:43) Why is priming so important in marketing?  (27:41) How Melina helps you to apply her insight  (30:59) What sparked Melina’s interest in Behavioral Economics? (32:24)

How can your organization improve its marketing messaging using proven behavioral science techniques? As part of our series on Marketing & Employee Engagement this month, we were joined by Melina Palmer on our latest interview episode (#242). Melina Palmer is the founder of The Brainy Business podcast and author of “What Your Customer Wants and Can’t Tell You: Unlocking Consumer Decisions with the Science of Behavioral Economics”: https://amzn.to/36Rm88I. She is an expert on both marketing and behavioral economics and blends techniques from both fields in her writing and podcast.  This follow-up episode is a free-flowing Grooving Session where Tim and Kurt discuss the business applications of their discussion with Melina. This episode is best enjoyed after listening to our interview episode.  What you will learn from this episode: The science behind dopamine release. How to use rewards (incentives or lotteries) effectively to motivate employees. Why priming is one of the most underutilized marketing tools

Do honest people steal? Our guest, Kelly Paxton investigates and researches low level crimes such as book-keeping fraud; also known as Pink Collar Crime. She discusses how a hostile work environment and the prospect of financial difficulties at home can lead “good” people to rationalize dishonest behavior. Kelly Paxton is a former federal agent who was used to dealing with “bad guys.” Once she started working embezzlement cases, she quickly realized that honest people steal.  The term pink-collar crime describes embezzlement type crimes that are typically committed by females. Can a man be a pink collar criminal?  The simple answer is yes.  It's the position not the gender but in these "pink" positions there are just more women than men.    Topics we Discuss With Kelly Paxton  (4:25) Welcome and speed round questions. (6:39) Why you should be concerned if your bookkeeper never takes a vacation. (7:15) What is Pink Collar Crime?  (10:20) How Kelly’s career and curiosity lead her into investigating Pink Collar

Continuing our series on Marketing and Employee Engagement this month, we were joined by Kelly Paxton on our latest interview episode: Why Good, Honest Employees Really Do Steal With Kelly Paxton (#240).  Tim and Kurt discuss their fantastic conversation with Kelly who has authored Embezzlement: How to Detect, Prevent, and Investigate Pink-Collar Crime: https://amzn.to/3i57hN1 and is also the podcast host of Great Women in Fraud: https://podcast.greatwomeninfraud.com/. Kelly investigates and researches low-level crimes such as book-keeping fraud; also known as Pink Collar Crime. We were interested in her insight that a hostile work environment and financial difficulties at home can lead “good” people to rationalize dishonest behavior. We Discuss: Rationalizing dishonesty. Steps business leaders can take to avoid fraud. How to convince business leaders that they are vulnerable to embezzlement. Consider the environment you’re creating at work. It matters a great deal. Reviewing your own business habits. Links

When did a colleague last thank you for your work? Managers generally underappreciate their employees, but more importantly, they tend to undervalue the benefits of expressing their gratitude. Best-selling author, speaker and executive coach, Chester Elton has a lighthearted discussion with us about the value of expressing gratitude. What makes gratitude different to recognition? And how do you create a grateful work environment? Chester, along with his co-author, Adrian Gostick, have sold millions of books on how to lead with gratitude. In our conversation with Chester, he tells us how there is disparity between how well managers believe they are expressing their gratitude and how employees feel they are valued. To create a work environment based on gratitude, your colleagues need to know their work is appreciated. Showing gratitude to employees is the easiest, fastest and most inexpensive way to boost performance.       Topics (5:07) Welcome to Chester Elton and speed round questions (8:03) Why being gratef

What is the science behind capturing people’s attention? And what do you do after you have someone’s attention; what is your intention? Is our attention fleeting and fickle, like a goldfish? Or is it something that can be recaptured and rekindled easily? Our guest today, Ben Parr cleverly uses a great Bonfire Analogy to describe how we ignite, build and rekindle attention.  Ben Parr is an award-winning entrepreneur, author, investor, and journalist. He is the author of the best-selling book Captivology: The Science of Capturing People’s Attention and the Co-founder of Octane AI, the marketing automation platform for Messenger and messaging apps.  Ben has a unique journey as an entrepreneur. In studying the science of attention, Ben has become deeply appreciative of storytelling; how we can capture and keep someone’s attention through a narrative. But one of the tricks that we can learn from Ben is the art of how to curate a story. How we can be intentional with our presentations, our writing or even our conve

Continuing our series on Marketing and Employee Engagement this month, we were joined on our latest interview episode (#237) by Ben Parr, author of “Captivology: The Science of Capturing People's Attention” https://amzn.to/3ejByXB. His insights and research have valuable applications in marketing and entrepreneurship. We’re also doing things a little differently this month on Behavioral Grooves. Instead of discussing Ben Parr’s interview in our Grooving Session at the end of the episode, we’ve decided to make it a separate episode. We suggest you listen to Ben’s interview first (#237), and then join us on this episode where we discuss the practical applications of his fascinating work: How to gain and maintain attention. The importance of intentionality and context. Why synthesizing and curating is vital in maintaining attention. And, mostly importantly, how to be yourself. © 2021 Behavioral Grooves

Welcome to our series of episodes on Marketing and Employee Engagement. We'll be sharing insights into how to apply behavioral science in business. And we’ve started the series off with award-winning marketer, Matthew Willcox. He understands the fundamental importance of using behavioral insights to help organizations align with how people choose. He is one of the pioneers of applying behavioral science in marketing. In this episode, Tim and Kurt speak to Matthew about his book The Business of Choice – Marketing to Consumers Instincts (https://amzn.to/3qSYB0q). It was named the "Marketing Book Of The Year” and is the winner of the American Marketing Association’s prestigious Berry Book Prize. This book is full of practical tips for marketers. But what we truly love about Matthew’s work is that it lays out some fundamental insights into human behavior.  Matthew is also the Behavioral Insights Lead at The Curious Company, which focuses on social impact and uses anthropology, behavioral economics and human cente

We’re doing things a little differently this month on Behavioral Grooves. Instead of discussing Matthew Willcox’s interview in our Grooving Session at the end of the episode, we’ve decided to make it a separate episode. We suggest you listen to Matthew’s interview first (episode #235), and then join us on this episode where we discuss practical applications of Matthew Willcox’s fascinating work. At the start of our series on Marketing and Employee Engagement, Kurt and Tim discuss how we can apply Matthew Willcox’s techniques and research to improve our lives and our organization.  Does reframing "consumers" to "choosers" change how we think about marketing? What the LENS model can teach us about human behavior. How do cognitive biases influence our decisions? These are the applications of Behavioral Science that we talk about in our Grooving Session: Marketing is About Choice The LENS Model Cognitive Biases as Design Features © 2021 Behavioral Grooves

We’re doing things a little differently this week. Instead of discussing Katy Milkman’s research at the end of our interview (Episode 232), we’ve decided to make our Grooving Session a separate episode. We suggest you listen to Katy’s interview first in the previous episode, and then join us here where we discuss how Katy's work will help you find your behavior-changing groove! In this Grooving Session we will learn to: Look for the obstacles that are preventing you from adopting new behaviors. Use the appropriate change technique based on the obstacles that are preventing you from changing. Give junior people a chance to lead, expect the best, and don’t punish them for failure.  Work on becoming a Flexible Fernando so you don’t give in to the What-The-Hell Effect. Links Katy Milkman, How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be https://amzn.to/3wTSxH7  Kurt Lewin Behavior https://www.change-management-coach.com/kurt_lewin.html  Force Analysis https://creately.com/blog/busi

We all appreciate a fresh start. Time to start again. A clean slate. Maybe we want to go to the gym more often, eat more vegetables, or read more books. But why do we often fail to maintain our new healthy habits? Our guest today, Katy Milkman PhD, believes that we often focus too much on the final outcome, rather than the steps that will get us there. Thinking about what is going to trigger our actions and what barriers are going to get in the way of our new behavior, are much more effective techniques than aiming for the finishing line. Katy Milkman is the James G. Dinan Professor at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and holds a secondary appointment at Penn’s Perelman School of Medicine. Her research explores ways that insights from economics and psychology can be harnessed to change consequential behaviors for good. She is no stranger to podcasts, as host of the Charles Schwab podcast Choiceology with Katy Milkman, she explores key lessons from behavioral economics about decision makin

Today's guest is Dr. Larry Senn, PhD, a pioneer in the field of corporate culture. He founded Senn Delaney as a culture shaping firm back in 1978, based on his principle that organizations become shadows of their leaders. Larry works with CEO teams and organizations from top to bottom to create the behaviors needed to support strategies and enhance business results.  And he was recently named “The Father of Corporate Culture” by CEO Forum magazine.  Larry is also author of The Mood Elevator: Take Charge of Your Feelings, Become a Better You (https://amzn.to/2Us1clM), which is a way of exploring your moods, and resetting them. One way that Larry resets his mood? By listening to music! We love how Larry uses music as a way of motivating and resetting the mood and we talk to Larry about his personal music choices. Doing things that quieten your mind and becoming more peaceful, is one of Larry's Mood Elevator tools to help change your perspective.  The purpose in Larry’s life has always been to help people live

Dolly Chugh is an award-winning associate professor and social psychologist at the Stern School of Business at New York University. Her research focuses on the “psychology of good people”. How and why most of us, however well-intended, are still prone to race and gender bias, as well as what she calls “bounded ethicality.”   Dolly sits down with Kurt and Tim on this episode, to talk about the concept of “good-ish” which is a central theme to her book The Person You Mean to Be: How Good People Fight Bias https://amzn.to/35tGwMe. Psychology and neuroscience have proven that our minds do things on autopilot. These shortcuts (or heuristics) are laden with unconscious biases, which are juxtaposed to our self identity as a “good” person; one that isn’t racist, sexist or homophobic. Dolly believes we should set a higher standard for ourselves by being good-ish people. By implementing a Growth Mindset, a concept pioneered by Carol Dweck, we don’t hang on too tightly to our identity. We learn to change, and to be taug