Decision Science News

Professors Eric Johnson and Elke Weber's research on the impact of labels triggering cognitive and emotional processes underlying decision making was mentioned in Crain's Insider.

The rich are anxious these days with the possible expiration of the Bush-era tax cuts. Banks and private-wealth-management companies are responding by offering seminars and financial boot camps to ease the worries of the super-wealthy.

Researchers at Columbia University found a high correlation between a participant's stance on global warming and how he perceived the outdoor temperature on the day he was asked about it. Study subjects were also more likely to say they would donate to a global warming charity on days they perceived to be unusually warm. For Eric J. Johnson, the director of the Center for Decision Sciences at Columbia Business School and a co-author of the study, the findings highlight the pitfalls of policymaking by poll, given that opinions on such a complex issue appear susceptible to highly impertinent data.

The Harmony Institute wants to change your mind at the movies. In the last few weeks, a little-noticed nonprofit with big ideas about the persuasive power of movies and television shows quietly began an initiative aimed at getting filmmakers and others to use the insights and techniques of behavioral psychology in delivering social and political messages through their work.

Professor Eric Johnson's ideas for improving retirement income are featured in this New York Times article.

In a New York Times Magazine article on April 16, Professor Elke Weber, codirector of the Center for Decision Sciences, suggests that solving climate change requires more than developing the right technology.