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• Article | Nature Human Behaviour | March 2020

  Higher Economic Inequality Intensifies the Financial Hardship of People Living in Poverty by Fraying the Community Buffer

  Jon M. Jachimowicz, Barnabas Szaszi, Marcel Lukas, David Smerdon, Jaideep Prabhu and Elke U. Weber

  The current research investigates whether higher economic inequality disproportionately intensifies the financial hardship of low-income individuals. We propose that higher economic inequality increases financial hardship for low-income individuals by reducing their ability to rely on their community as a buffer against financial difficulties. This may occur, in part, because a frayed community buffer reduces low-income individuals’ propensity to seek informal financial support from others. We provide empirical support across eight studies (sample size N = 1,029,900) from the United States, Australia and rural Uganda, through correlational and experimental data, as well as an instrumental variable analysis. On average across our studies, a 1 s.d. increase in economic inequality is associated with an increase of financial hardship among low-income individuals of 0.10 s.d. We discuss the implications of these results for policies aimed to help people living in poverty buffer against the adverse effects higher economic inequality imposes on them.

  Keywords: economy; income; inequality;

  Citation:

  Jachimowicz, Jon M., Barnabas Szaszi, Marcel Lukas, David Smerdon, Jaideep Prabhu, and Elke U. Weber. "Higher Economic Inequality Intensifies the Financial Hardship of People Living in Poverty by Fraying the Community Buffer." Nature Human Behaviour (March 2020).  View Details

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• Article | Harvard Business Review (website) | November 19, 2019

  The Unexpected Benefits of Pursuing a Passion Outside of Work

  Jon M. Jachimowicz, Joyce He and Julian Arango

  We are often told to pursue work we’re passionate about. But, for many people, this simply isn’t feasible. Not every job affords the possibility of doing what you love. And people care deeply about many different things—not all of which will be how they want to earn a living. A growing body of research suggests that pursuing your passion does indeed improve well-being, but that where you do it is far less critical. In fact, several studies show that people who find joy in non-professional activities see benefits in both their careers and personal lives.

  Keywords: passion; work; Health; Welfare or Wellbeing; Satisfaction;

  Citation:

  Jachimowicz, Jon M., Joyce He, and Julian Arango. "The Unexpected Benefits of Pursuing a Passion Outside of Work." Harvard Business Review (website) (November 19, 2019).  View Details

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• 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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