Articles (page 2)

Tell people a wine costs more and they enjoy it more, and a pleasure-related brain region responds with them. Blind tastings and larger recent studies show the effect is real but less dependable…

Ballots, wine tastings and menus often show the first option winning more than its share. The edge is real when people know little and choose fast, and it fades or flips when the list is long or the…

The 21-day rule comes from a 1960 self-help book by a plastic surgeon, not from any study of routines. Measured properly, a new habit takes anywhere from weeks to months, and the setting matters…

In a list of similar things, the item that breaks the pattern is the one we keep. The research shows it depends on what surrounds it, and that the same pull can steer a hurried choice away from what…

Sunshine is supposed to lift the mood and loosen the wallet. The largest studies find little effect on life satisfaction, and a clearer one on what people imagine they will need.

Recommendation engines are sold as mind readers, yet the published field tests put their average sales lift at one to five per cent. They also shape where you look, what everyone else ends up…

Telling people about an identity goal can give you the feeling of having arrived. Reporting progress to someone you respect tends to help.

Writing down why you like something can pull you away from what you actually like. The jam study behind the idea, what followed, and when to stop explaining.

Groups often do what few members want, because each assumes everyone else wants it. The research on dissent suggests one voice can do more than a statistic.