Publications

Research Summary

"I Read Playboy for the Articles": Justifying and Rationalizing Questionable Preferences

When people behave in ways that might appear selfish, prejudiced or perverted, they engage a host of strategies designed to justify questionable behavior with rational excuses: “I hired my son because he’s more qualified.” “I promoted Ashley... View Details

06 Jun 2011
Research & Ideas

Why Leaders Lose Their Way

people; rather, they lose their moral bearings, often yielding to seductions in their paths. Very few people go into leadership roles to cheat or do evil, yet we all have the capacity for actions we deeply regret unless we stay grounded.... View Details

Keywords: by Bill George

29 Jan 2024
Research & Ideas

Do Disasters Rally Support for Climate Action? It's Complicated.

Environmental disasters like wildfires can ignite awareness of climate change and boost eco-friendly politicians’ careers. But do voters perceive a tradeoff between environmental policies and local economic growth? In Brazil, home to a majority of the Amazon tropical... View Details

Keywords: by Rachel Layne

17 Jan 2015
News

The Crisis in Worker Engagement & The 2 Things You Should Do About It

May 2018
Article

Advice Giving: A Subtle Pathway to Power

By: M. Schaerer, L.P. Tost, L. Huang, F. Gino and R. P. Larrick

We propose that interpersonal behaviors can activate feelings of power, and we examine this idea in the context of advice giving. Specifically, we show a) that advice giving is an interpersonal behavior that enhances individuals’ sense of power and b) that those who... View Details

Keywords: Interpersonal Communication; Behavior; Power and Influence

10 Sep 2018
News

Get your team to help you to switch off the ‘always on’ culture

August 2016 (Revised July 2018)
Case

Accenture Human Capital Strategy

By: Paula A. Price, V.G. Narayanan and James Weber

Accenture is a leading global consulting, technology, and outsourcing company. It has clients and its own operations throughout the world. This case describes the human resources and related activities necessary to deliver its services to clients. It allows students to... View Details

Keywords: Management Consulting; Technology Consulting; Outsourcing; Human Resources; Activity Based Costing and Management; Management Practices and Processes

Educators

2009
Working Paper

Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-Interested Charitable Behavior

By: Lalin Anik, Lara B. Aknin, Michael I. Norton and Elizabeth W. Dunn

While lay intuitions and pop psychology suggest that helping others leads to higher levels of happiness, the existing evidence only weakly supports this causal claim: Research in psychology, economics, and neuroscience exploring the benefits of charitable giving has... View Details

Keywords: Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Research; Behavior; Happiness; Motivation and Incentives

August 30, 2022
Article

School Choice Increases Racial Segregation Even When Parents Do Not Care About Race

By: Kalinda Ukanwa, Aziza C. Jones and Broderick L. Turner Jr.

This research examines how school choice impacts school segregation. Specifically, this work demonstrates that even if parents do not take the racial demographics of schools into account, preference differences between Black and White parents for other school... View Details

Keywords: Decision Choices and Conditions; Race; Policy; Early Childhood Education; Middle School Education; Secondary Education

July 2018 (Revised November 2018)
Case

The Robin Hood Army

By: Susanna Gallani

In 2014, Neel Ghose and a handful of friends spent one evening distributing excess food they had collected from local restaurants to the less fortunate people living under the Hauz Khas flyover in South Delhi. Four years later, this initiative had developed into The... View Details

Keywords: Volunteer-based Organization; Food Redistribution; Nonprofit Organizations; Food; Human Needs; Expansion; Global Range; Growth and Development

Educators

September 2021
Article

Perceptions on Undertaking Regular Asymptomatic Self-testing for COVID-19 Using Lateral Flow Tests: A Qualitative Study of University Students and Staff

By: Marta Wanat, Mary Logan, Jennifer A. Hirst, Charles Vicary, Joseph J. Lee, Rafael Perera, Irene Tracey, Gordon Duff, Peter Tufano, Thomas Fanshawe, Lazaro Mwandigha, Brian D. Nicholson, Sarah Tonkin-Crine and Richard Hobbs

Objectives: Successful implementation of asymptomatic testing programmes using lateral flow tests (LFTs) depends on several factors, including feasibility, acceptability and how people act on test results. We aimed to examine experiences of university students... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19; Self-testing; Health Pandemics; Health Testing and Trials; Behavior

Article

Pseudo-Set Framing

By: Kate Barasz, Leslie John, Elizabeth A. Keenan and Michael I. Norton

Pseudo-set framing—arbitrarily grouping items or tasks together as part of an apparent “set”—motivates people to reach perceived completion points. Pseudo-set framing changes gambling choices (Study 1), effort (Studies 2 and 3), giving behavior (Field Data and Study... View Details

Keywords: Framing Effects; Gestalt Psychology; Judgment; Judgments; Decision Making; Perception; Behavior

27 Sep 2021
Blog Post

Working to Change the Food System

Jesse Lou (MBA 2022) reflects on his decision to come to HBS, what motivates him to make a difference in the world by using technology to build a more sustainable food system, and how he has utilized resources at HBS to make this happen.... View Details

April 19, 2023
Editorial

Extreme Views Are More Attractive Than Moderate Ones

By: Amit Goldenberg

Do you ever feel like everyone on social media has a more extreme viewpoint than your own? We often blame social media companies for the cacophony of politically extreme opinions around us. After all, these companies are generally motivated to promote the most... View Details

Keywords: Social Media; Networks

2010
Chapter

Feeling Good about Giving: The Benefits (and Costs) of Self-interested Charitable Behavior

By: L. Anik, L. B. Aknin, M. I. Norton and E. W. Dunn

While lay intuitions and pop psychology suggest that helping others leads to higher levels of happiness, the existing evidence only weakly supports this causal claim: research in psychology, economics, and neuroscience exploring the benefits of charitable giving has... View Details

Keywords: Advertising; Cost vs Benefits; Philanthropy and Charitable Giving; Outcome or Result; Relationships; Research; Behavior; Happiness; Motivation and Incentives

14 Nov 2006
First Look

First Look: November 14, 2006

Working PapersThe Business of Free Software: Enterprise Incentives, Investment, and Motivation in the Open Source Community Authors:Marco Iansiti and Gregory L. Richards Abstract In this paper, we examine the View Details

Keywords: Sean Silverthorne

02 Sep 2008
Research & Ideas

Indulgence vs. Regret: Investing in Future Memories

being toovirtuous and hard-working. She also presents a strategy to correct this behavior. Aside from influencing how people choose to live their lives, Keinan's findings have implications for marketers hoping to convince consumers to... View Details

Keywords: by Julia Hanna

May–June 2023
Article

Unmasking Behaviors During the Pandemic with Video Analytics

By: Shunyuan Zhang, Kaiquan Xu and Kannan Srinivasan

In 2020, as the novel coronavirus spread globally, face masks were recommended in public settings to protect against and slow down viral transmission. People complied to varying extents, and their reactions may have been driven by a variety of psychological factors.... View Details

Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic; Social Influence; Social Norms; Health Pandemics; Behavior