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  • 2018
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  • Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases

Work and Workplace

By: Kai Ruggeri, Jana Berkessel, Jascha Achterberg, Gerhard M. Prinz, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Jon M. Jachimowicz and A.V. Whillans
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Abstract

Work is a major part of many lives. While individual experiences with work will differ—from how long we work to what jobs we have and to what extent we enjoy them—almost everyone is affected by employment, whether they have a job or not. Decades of research in the behavioral sciences have focused specifically on the workplace, dating back to some of the most influential studies in psychology. Given the wealth of accumulated research, there now exists a tremendous opportunity to link theory and findings to successful interventions. This chapter introduces several approaches to workplace interventions and looks at how certain tools such as commitment devices, nudges, personalized incentives, framing, and even the physical environment itself may lead to better outcomes for change from the earliest steps in finding a new job through to latter stages of career, considering not only performance in our jobs but also the health and well-being of employees, employers, and the communities they serve.

Keywords

Workplace; Behavioral Insights; Retirement Savings; Working Conditions; Employees; Performance; Happiness; Health; Job Search; Change

Citation

Ruggeri, Kai, Jana Berkessel, Jascha Achterberg, Gerhard M. Prinz, Alessandra Luna-Navarro, Jon M. Jachimowicz, and A.V. Whillans. "Work and Workplace." Chap. 9 in Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases, edited by Kai Ruggeri, 156–173. New York: Routledge, 2018.
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About The Authors

Jon M. Jachimowicz

Organizational Behavior
→More Publications

Ashley V. Whillans

Negotiation, Organizations & Markets
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