‼️New Paper Alert‼️What does it take to change behavior? In a fresh Annual Review article, @JGVoelkel, @AngelaDuckw and I argue it's helpful to consider 3 phases of change: 1️⃣ building motivation 2️⃣ following-through 3️⃣ forming durable habits 🧩KEY TAKEAWAY: At each phase, different obstacles to change arise that need to be met with evidence-based, tailored solutions. For instance, at the follow-through phase, forgetting can disrupt change. But forgetting can be combatted by reminders or feedback. Impatience can also disrupt follow-through, but it can be addressed in part by making change more fun or providing access to commitment devices. These are not the only obstacles to follow-through, however, and different obstacles arise at the motivation and habit forming phases, which are best tackled with entirely different solutions. Table 1 from our paper (reprinted below) offers a summary of common obstacles to change and evidence-based solutions. ⭐Our review focuses on solutions supported by *high quality evidence*, particularly from field experiments with objective behavioral outcomes (e.g., grades, gym visits, hours spent volunteering). 👀Take a look at our new piece in the Annual Review of Psychology: tinyurl.com/change-annualrev… Huge thanks to our excellent editor @EliJFinkel. We're very grateful for support from @Wharton, @BehaviorChange, @Penn and @Cornell, which made this work possible.

Today is the first day of spring, and my research shows that new beginnings, like today, motivate goal pursuit. But what change are you hoping to kick start? Here's one idea: Build your health knowledge with a free program my team built called Health Daily – it teaches you two new health facts daily for 30 days. Your first health fact is waiting for you! healthdailyquiz.org

NYC, 10/4 @ 2 pm: Get tickets to see THIS MUCH I KNOW featuring a special, 1-time post-show Q&A w/ me about behavioral science. This play was inspired by Kahneman’s Thinking, Fast and Slow and is a must-see for all behavioral science junkies: 59e59.org/shows/buy-ticket/t…

It was such a treat to interview @AnnenbergPenn Prof. Emily Falk yesterday about her incredible new book WHAT WE VALUE in front of a packed auditorium of students, faculty & staff. To learn more, listen to @HiddenBrain this week featuring Emily: hiddenbrain.org/podcast/winn…

Earlier this month, @BehaviorChange Team Scientist @R_Thaler formally retired from @UChicago. He’s promised us that his retirement is purely a formality and he will keep doing all the same things: writing great books, attending conferences, picking the wine we drink at said conferences’ dinners, and reminding us to study what matters. But we’re feeling pretty sentimental about this milestone. Richard’s research (and @NobelPrize) paved the way for our field (and thus for the BCFG) to exist, and he’s been a great friend and mentor to us. So we wanted to mark the moment. To celebrate Richard, we invited BCFG Team Scientists to share their favorite Thaler stories, thoughts, and images, which you’ll find compiled in this newsletter: open.substack.com/pub/bcfg/p… Thank you to everyone who contributed to this celebration, but more importantly, thank you to Richard. We’re so grateful for your contributions to BCFG, to our field and to the world!

🚨On 4/30 at 12 pm I'm co-hosting a 1 hour ZOOM seminar YOU CAN ATTEND🚨 featuring one of the academics I admire most: @Harvard economist, Raj Chetty 🤩 Join me and @kevin_volpp to learn about Raj's latest research on inequality and ask Q's. Sign up: tinyurl.com/chetty430

Excited that @BehaviorChange of @Wharton @Penn has posted its bi-annual report today! Very proud of what our team has accomplished as we aim to advance and disseminate science on behavior change. Working with @angeladuckw to lead this initiative since ‘17! bcfg.wharton.upenn.edu/wp-co…