Work and Workplace

Kai  Ruggeri; Jana  Berkessel; Jascha  Achterberg; Gerhard M. Prinz; Alessandra  Luna-Navarro; Jon M. Jachimowicz; A.V.  Whillans

Chapter | Behavioral Insights for Public Policy: Concepts and Cases | 2018

Work and Workplace

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

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;

Format: Print

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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.

When it comes to our to-do lists, many of us prioritize checking off tasks that are easiest to complete or are due first, regardless of importance – a phenomenon that scholars describe as the “mere urgency” effect. This tendency becomes stronger the busier we are. But constantly prioritizing urgent tasks means that important tasks that have no urgent deadline (such as updating your resume or doing creative work) get pushed aside for later and later. Some just never get done. When we fail to do what’s important, often what matters most to us, we feel stressed, overwhelmed, and unmotivated— and firms are less productive. Research suggests managers can help employees combat the tendency to put off for tomorrow what isn’t due today: have employees set aside proactive time for work that is important but not urgent.

Article | Behavioural Public Policy | November 2019

When and Why Defaults Influence Decisions: A Meta-analysis of Default Effects

Jon M. Jachimowicz, Shannon Duncan, Elke U. Weber and Eric J. Johnson

When people make decisions with a pre-selected choice option—a “default”—they are more likely to select that option. Because defaults are easy to implement, they constitute one of the most widely employed tools in the choice architecture toolbox. However, to decide when defaults should be used instead of other choice architecture tools, policy makers must know how effective defaults are and when and why their effectiveness varies. To answer these questions, we conduct a literature search and meta-analysis of the 58 default studies (pooled n = 73,675) that fit our criteria. While our analysis reveals a considerable influence of defaults (d = 0.68, 95% confidence interval = 0.53–0.83), we also discover substantial variation: the majority of default studies find positive effects, but several do not find a significant effect, and two even demonstrate negative effects. To explain this variability, we draw on existing theoretical frameworks to examine the drivers of disparity in effectiveness. Our analysis reveals two factors that partially account for the variability in defaults’ effectiveness. First, we find that defaults in consumer domains are more effective and in environmental domains are less effective. Second, we find that defaults are more effective when they operate through endorsement (defaults that are seen as conveying what the choice architect thinks the decision-maker should do) or endowment (defaults that are seen as reflecting the status quo). We end with a discussion of possible directions for a future research program on defaults, including potential additional moderators and implications for policy makers interested in the implementation and evaluation of defaults.

Keywords: choice architecture; defaults; default effects; Decision Making; Behavior; Analysis;

Citation:

Jachimowicz, Jon M., Shannon Duncan, Elke U. Weber, and Eric J. Johnson. "When and Why Defaults Influence Decisions: A Meta-analysis of Default Effects." Behavioural Public Policy 3, no. 2 (November 2019): 159–186. View Details

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Over the last two decades, global wealth has risen. Yet, material affluence has not translated into time affluence. Instead, most people today report feeling persistently “time poor”—like they have too many things to do and not enough time to do them. This is critical because time poverty is linked to lower well-being, physical health, and productivity. For example, in our analysis of 2.5 million Americans, subjective feelings of time poverty had a stronger negative effect on well-being than being unemployed. However, individuals, organisations, and policymakers often overlook the pernicious effects of time poverty. Billions of dollars are spent each year to alleviate material poverty, while time poverty is often ignored or exacerbated. In this Perspective, we discuss the organisational, institutional, and psychological factors that explain why time poverty is often under appreciated. We argue that scientists, policymakers, and organisational leaders need to devote more attention and resources toward understanding and reducing time poverty to promote psychological and economic well-being.

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