Decision-Making

This Halloween, a Social Experiment Will Allow Internet Users to Control the Actions of a Real Person

MIT Media Laboratory’s BeeMe is the love child of Black Mirror and psychologist Stanley Milgram’s notorious experiments on free will and obedience.

Smithsonian

How to Seem More Generous Than You Really Are

If you’re the sort of person who’d prefer to get something out of your generosity, a group of psychologists has the research you’ve been waiting for.

The Cut

Science Proves That Being Nice Is Its Own Reward

Selfless acts of generosity activate the brain’s reward regions, making the warm glow of kindness a very real thing, according to British researchers.

Forbes

Why a Choice Doesn’t Feel Like a Choice When Morality Enters the Picture

A new study explains why heroes always say, “I just did what anybody would do.”

Kellogg Insight

Stop Apologizing for Being Selfish

A new study finds selfishness can be the key to good decision-making and can actually help others.

Thrive Global

How Women And Men’s Different Emotional Experiences Shape Moral Decisions

Does women’s higher propensity to experience morally relevant emotions, like guilt and shame, lead them to have lower intentions to engage in immoral behaviors than men?

Character & Context, Society for Personality and Social Psychology

The Restrained Brain

Self-restraint goes hand in hand with the good life. Can brain science help us get a grip?

Aeon

Why You’re More Likely to Make an Immoral Decision When Speaking a Foreign Language

Language changes vividness of mental images, which influence decisions.

Quartz

What Makes a Hero Like Aaron Feis Is a Brain Mystery

Aaron Feis and other staff at Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School lost their own lives while saving the lives of others. Science still struggles to explain such acts of heroism.

The Daily Beast

Measuring Free Will of Bungee Jumpers

Surjo Soekadar and his doctoral student Marius Nann wanted to know if brain waves associated with readiness potential would look the same in real-life scenarios where the participants were clearly exercising free will.

IEEE Spectrum

AI Is Better at Compromise Than Humans, Finds New Study

Some researchers have been testing the ability of artificial intelligence to not just compete with humanity, but also to collaborate.

Inverse

How Can Groups Make Good Decisions?

We all know that when we make decisions in groups, they don't always go right — and sometimes they go very wrong.

TED

Lack of Intellectual Humility Plagues Our Times, Say Researchers

A recent psychology study examines the importance of intellectual humility in decision-making related to politics, health, and work.

Big Think

Humans Are Bad at Predicting Futures That Don’t Benefit Them

Unrealistic optimism makes people think bad things are less likely to happen to them than to others, and it hampers their decision-making.

The Atlantic

Science Says Making Better Decisions Starts With This One Fundamental Thing

New research shows wisdom isn't about knowledge. It's about what kind of person you are.

Inc.

What Would the Average Human Do?

Artificial intelligence researchers want to teach computers to make moral choices based on millions of human survey responses.

The Outline

How Richard Thaler’s ‘Simple Insights’ Led to a Nobel Prize

Katherine Milkman discusses the awarding of the Nobel Prize to behavioral economist Richard Thaler.

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Why We Contradict Ourselves and Confound Each Other

With his book Thinking, Fast and Slow, Daniel Kahneman emerged as one of the most intriguing voices on the complexity of human thought and behavior.

On Being

Researchers Unite in Quest for ‘Standard Model’ of the Brain

Modeled on big physics projects, the International Brain Lab will bring together some of the world’s pre-eminent neuroscientists to probe a single behavior.

Nature

We Ignore What Doesn’t Fit With Our Biases — Even If It Costs Us

We tend to pay more attention to information that confirms our own beliefs and biases, and we are prepared to lose money to stick to our guns.

New Scientist

A Philosopher Who Studies Life Changes Says Our Biggest Decisions Can Never Be Rational

When faced with a potentially transformative choice, L.A. Paul explains the problem at hand.

Quartz