We make decisions every day. Some difficult for us, others we do not notice changes. But the influence we allow ourselves to be in all of them. From Nudging heard?
“Well, come on”: to make decisions, it is enough sometimes just a little push
The mobile phone alarm clock is ringing and it vibrates terribly loud on the parquet floor. Well good Morning! How much sleep was that exactly? No matter, too little. Much too little. Before I know it, I found myself in shortly after the first Eyes in the midst of my daily decision-making marathon.
I lay down for a brief snooze, I still have a round? It is better not to. I drink a Cup of coffee, or for a change of tea? Come on, coffee. I go to the bathroom? No, absolutely not. And how to actually be the weather? Maybe I need an umbrella. And a jacket?! I walk to the train or I take the wheel?
And. So. More.
Wow, that’s a wrap. When I leave the house in the morning, I decided – like every human – a whole lot. Around 35,000 decisions we make daily, write to Barbara Sahakian, Professor of clinical neuropsychology at Cambridge University, and Jamie Nicole LaBuzetta from the University of San Diego, “Bad Moves: How decision making goes wrong, and the ethics of smart drugs”.
Maybe there are only 20,000 or even more. The is hard to generalize. At least 200 decisions per day to go out alone for meals on it. I can imagine me personally better. Still ‘n biscuit?
Over 200 of our decisions per day are turning just about food
Strawberry, chocolate or vanilla
Fortunately, most of these choices are unconscious, otherwise I would have a Problem. Because to make decisions, it falls to me extremely difficult. And by that I mean not a particularly important change, but it is the choice of a scoop of ice cream is enough.
While I’m undecided in front of the Bar and end, the offered flavors weighing, scanning what type of containers are especially empty – ergo are especially popular are , it seems to be pretty no matter what ice cream variety you get over there enough.
Select within 0.5 seconds of quasi first-best vanilla around, without Avocado-cucumber-parsley or peach-lavender right next to it, a look of recognition.
Eva Krockow research focuses on “judgment and Decision Making” at the University of Leicester
In the end, you are probably just as happy with your ice cream like I – with the small difference that you came ten Times faster to the decision.
Decisions easy
But why, why the meeting, a man seemingly completely without problems, both minor as well as food commercial decisions, and others have a hard time with Everyday?
“Basically, it is never easy to make decisions, no matter what,” says Eva Krockow, a Junior Professor in psychology at the University of Leicester. Her research focuses on “judgment and Decision Making.”
“However, personality aspects influence our decision-making pleasure,” Krockow.”Who has a tendency to be a perfectionist, the urge to have all the options exactly consider what is realistically, but simply impossible.”
Even if it of course would be nice, all the 50 ice cream varieties before the final decision to try out, the Eva is Krockow.
Decisions, Decisions: What variety would you take?
Everyday Heuristics
With the question of how people meet in their everyday life decisions, deals even a whole area of research, the “Cognitive heuristics”. The term “heuristics” comes from the ancient Greek; “Heuriskein” means “to find”.
“In reaching our decision, we do not even make use of quite often on certain heuristics, and we know it,” says Eva Krockow. She advises to make use of often simple but effective decision rules.
A simple example: We want to travel on a long weekend, but the offer of accommodation is too big for us: Hotels, Bed&Breakfast, Hostel, Breakfast, half Board, All Inclusive.
“The most important criterion, from which you can make your decision based on,” says Eva Krockow. “This may be the property with the most positive reviews in General, or if you the Central location is important to you, then put your priority.” Before you lose yourself in all of the other options, you can book according to this simple rule. At the end of.
The perfect solution, there is anyway only rarely, so Krockow. Also, we should make us in everyday life Often aware of.
Tip: take advantage of more often simple, but efficient decision rules
Decisions: Intuition before logic
In principle, psychologists do distinguish between decisions between a fast, instinctive and emotional thought processes (System 1) and slow, systematic thinking processes (System 2).
This theory was coined by the psychologist Daniel Kahnemann and Amos Tversky and is often referred to as “Dual-process theory” (DPT). “On our way through life we usually of impressions and emotions. The confidence we have in our intuitive Beliefs and preferences is justified in the rule. But not always.
We are often convinced, even then, of your correctness, if we’re wrong. An objective observer will recognize our errors with a higher probability rather than we ourselves,” says Kahnemanns book “Thinking, Fast and Slow”. In 2002, he received for his work on decision-making processes of the Alfred Nobel memorial prize for economic Sciences.
“Just in everyday life, Intuition and gut feeling play a large role,” says Eva Krockow. “System 1 is used in reality, much more frequently than System 2, there is not enough time and cognitive capacity to each Problem in a systematic thinking.”
The thing with the gut feeling
“Many of these automatic thought processes are working well – therefore, it is with the gut feeling is often right,” says Krockow. But: In the case of important decisions, or in situations in which you could possibly be manipulated, you should not rely solely on the gut feeling.
So predictable
Because we people are easy to manipulate. Imagine, for example, you go for lunch (very hungry) in the cafeteria. “What you choose then depends, very often, where your view first to fall,” says Eva Krockow. Studies have even shown that healthy fruit – when eye – to-eye presents-more likely to be selected.
Such a decision architectures are, of course, used selectively, for example in supermarkets. You know, maybe to grab but still sometimes, right? When in the supermarket at the front of the checkout candy to we beat spontaneously, even though we had previously successfully made a large arc around the candy Department.
“The idea behind the theory is that one has to actually be completely free to choose our decisions but strongly affected by how the different options will be presented”, so Krockow.
More: Nobel prize in Economics for “Toast”
For the benefit of the customer
The non-profit organization “the Royal Society for Public Health” (RSPH) has a link to a Report (report here!) published, according to which certain concepts in supermarkets can help customers to buy healthier food.
The report aims to encourage retailers to rethink the in-store facilities for the benefit of health oriented Designs: There is less shelf space should be provided for products such as chocolate, Chips and sugary drinks. Instead, healthy foods celebrity is to be placed enter based on the EatWell guide, for example, fruits, vegetables, legumes, lean meat and water.
In order to set a good example, has RSPH opened a pop-up supermarket in London. He bears the name of “Nudge”.
Nudge: A little nudge
This title is no accident. Because “to nudge” means as much as “poke” or “nudge”. The term was coined by Thaler and Sunstein in their 2008 book: “Nudge. Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness”.
Under a Nudge, the authors understand a method to influence the behavior of people – but without any prohibitions and commandments.
An example of this? Is installed in the urinals, the image of a Fly, to land around 80 per cent less urine on the floor, as the men aim while Urinating on the Fly. At least So they say.
What is the Fly doing in the Urinal? Educate us!
Richard Thaler emphasized, however, three ethical principles when Nudging: As Nudges should be transparent and not misleading. It should be as easy as possible for you to choose a Nudge and it should be ensured that the behavior, which is triggered by a Nudge, it serves the welfare of the society.
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Nudging – gentle nudges
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Nudging – gentle nudges
Attention, Eye-Opening Experience!
Just in everyday life, says Eva Krockow, there are an infinite number of application areas for Nudges. “We are everywhere genudget”, the psychologist: “There is no neutral environment, everything is kind of Design, all decision-making architecture.”
Consider, for example, your commute to work: Is there a bakery on the way, the scent comes to meet you every Morning? “That also has a great influence,” says Krockow. We don’t have to buy a roll or Croissant, it is so that we are forced, “but we are extremely influenced, where a path brings us.”
By look at
Who knows a bit more about Nudging, you can go with open eyes through life. “You will look at yourself and remember where you are particularly vulnerable,” says Krockow. We can switch virtually, “us self-nudge, so to speak”. In the case of the tempting bakery that would be, for example, a small detour, in order to resist temptation.
“Nudging is a pretty personal matter. Some things make a self-to or influence more than other people. Because it takes some insight to recognize this and to influence his environment.”
By the way, even a decision is an expert in front of the Nudget-not sure. Eva Krockow has, for instance, creates a new dishwasher that suddenly had room for bigger plates, and it has larger plates concerned. As a result, the portions at dinner were at once bigger.
“How big do we make the portions, was completely up to us ,but the size of the plate influenced how much food we’ve eaten.”
Speaking of choices, here is an example from the Nudge universe: researchers have tested in a Schulcaféteria how much effort students devote to ice.
On some days you were closed for the ice cover in the counter, other days opened. The result: When the lid was closed, decided only 14 percent of the students that the effort, so the effort of Opening the counter, pays for ice cream. The lid was already opened, decided 30 percent for ice cream.
What I take from it for my ice cream Dilemma? My ice cream shop is now for the first time in the winter break. The lid is so for the time being, more than to.