Behavior Change for Good Initiative

06/04/2026

Learn more about Tatiana Homonoff, an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Service at NYU Robert F. Wagner Graduate School of Public Service and Team Scientist whose research applies behavioral economics to public policy challenges in poverty, taxation, and consumer finance.

Visit her website: https://bit.ly/4dL8eIy

06/02/2026

When does punishing free riders help groups cooperate, and when does it backfire?

A Science Magazine paper by Team Scientists David G. Rand, Duncan Watts, Abdullah Almaatouq & co-author suggests the answer depends heavily on context.

https://bit.ly/4uqUZm0

05/28/2026

A new article by Team Scientists Hengchen Dai, Silvia Saccardo, Kevin Volpp & collaborators synthesizes research on improving health outcomes by redesigning patient & clinician decision environments.

https://bit.ly/4tTHbQ7

05/26/2026

A new Nature paper co-led by Team Scientist Barnabas Szaszi had 457 researchers reanalyze 100 social and behavioral science studies. Most reanalyses reached the original conclusion — but reanalysts fully agreed with each other on only 34% of studies.
https://bit.ly/4fABu5X

05/21/2026

Large language models display a "parahuman" susceptibility to classic persuasion techniques.
A new PNAS News paper by Co-Director Angela Duckworth, Team Scientists Dr. Robert Cialdini & Christophe Van den Bulte, and collaborators finds that across 126,000 conversations, persuasion principles increased LLM compliance with objectionable requests.
https://bit.ly/4uqTk00

Are large language models (LLMs) susceptible to the same persuasive appeals as humans? We tested whether classic persuasion principles (authority, ...

05/20/2026

Team Scientist podcast roundup:
Greg Walton on Hidden Brain: https://bit.ly/3Rh2X2F

Abby Sussman on Speaking of Psychology https://bit.ly/43ipOgP

Richard Thaler on Choiceology https://bit.ly/4nO5bTm

What’s the difference between being loved and feeling loved?

05/14/2026

Learn more about Paschal Sheeran, a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill and Team Scientist whose research explores how people translate intentions into action and what helps them achieve health behavior change.

Visit his website: https://psheeran.web.unc.edu/

05/12/2026

A megastudy by Team Scientist Jan G. Voelkel and collaborators tested 12 brief digital mental health programs in 7,505 adults with depression. Nearly all improved how people felt immediately, and 2 significantly reduced depression a month later.

https://go.nature.com/4bV10AJ

05/07/2026

New research by Team Scientist Ayelet Fishbach and collaborators finds that giving to fewer people, rather than more, signals stronger social connection to each recipient, and makes gifts more valued and more likely to be reciprocated.

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.obhdp.2026.104478

05/05/2026

Research in Science by Team Scientist Dave Rand and collaborators found that Large Language Models are more persuasive when they pack their replies with facts.

However, LLMs optimized for persuasion were less accurate — generating more claims, but fewer reliable ones.

There are widespread fears that conversational artificial intelligence (AI) could soon exert unprecedented influence over human beliefs. In this work, in three large-scale experiments (N = 76,977 responses from 42,357 people), we deployed 19 large ...