The benefits of having fun are backed by science. Research shows that you are more likely to continue your workouts if you enjoy them, according to Katy Milkman, behavioral scientist and professor at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.
January 7, 2022
- CNN
Every year millions of us resolve to learn a new language, get super fit or master a new skill ... then never start. How can we make it happen? Experts explain all.
January 5, 2022
- The Guardian
Katy Milkman recommends reflecting on the beginning of this new chapter, 2022, and being skeptical of your own personal gut reactions, which often aren’t grounded in evidence. Instead, for big decisions, tap the wisdom of crowds by consulting five separate people who don’t have a stake in the outcome of your choice. Bringing in outside judgment can mitigate our own biases.
January 3, 2022
- The Wall Street Journal
Receiving a tiny monetary reward at the right moment could play an outsize role in motivating us to exercise, according to a large-scale and innovative new study of how to nudge people to show up at the gym.
December 10, 2021
- The New York Times
The secret sauce for sticking to your workout routine includes just a few key elements, a large new study found.
December 10, 2021
- NBC News
Motivation may start high but frequently fizzles quickly, and with it goes the regular workouts. That’s the problem researchers sought to solve with a new study released Wednesday.
December 8, 2021
- CNN
If you buy one self-help book this year, pick this one. While bookstores are crowded with titles about forming new habits, “How to Change” takes a broader view and focuses on the internal barriers — impulsivity, forgetfulness and even confidence — that are standing in the way of reaching our goals.
December 2, 2021
- The Well Newsletter, The New York Times
There are distinct ways we can harness the power of the nudge to encourage those we love to adopt healthier behaviors. We can even use it on ourselves.
October 12, 2021
- CNN
New research provides a useful toolkit for hacking your brain to stop from fumbling your finances.
October 11, 2021
- MarketWatch
When someone you care [about] lacks the belief in themselves, you can nudge them into doing the right thing (it’s good for them!). Or teach them how to temptation-bundle, as Katy Milkman showed in a recent study: they can treat themselves, during a beneficial but unpleasant activity (for example, listening to an audiobook while on the treadmill). This makes them more likely to do it.
September 28, 2021
- MarketWatch
Katy is the author of How to Change: The Science of Getting From Where You are to Where You Want to Be (Portfolio, 2021). In it she illustrates how to identify and overcome the barriers that stand in the way of change.
September 14, 2021
- Thinkers50.com
Policymakers, Penn researchers wrote, would be better off looking for “more impactful ways to encourage vaccination.”
August 28, 2021
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
Certain dates such as birthdays and the first day of a new season seem to create “a dissociation in how we think of ourselves in time,” says Katy Milkman, a behavioral scientist at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and author of the new book How to Change: The Science of Getting from Where You Are to Where You Want to Be.
August 27, 2021
- The Wall Street Journal
Many of us are suffering from ‘pandemic flux syndrome.’
August 11, 2021
- The Washington Post
Companies, cities and elected officials are all pushing vaccines. Plus, new Wharton research supports using behavioral economics to nudge vaccine adoption.
August 4, 2021
- The Philadelphia Inquirer
If you want to start exercising, less can be more.
July 27, 2021
- Changepower, Psychology Today
Katy Milkman, a professor at the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School and author of the book, How to Change, says people tend to escalate their commitment to everything from jobs to relationships, even when they’re not working out. As a result, she says, “You don’t optimize. You don’t achieve as much.”
July 26, 2021
- The Wall Street Journal
Researchers with the University of Pennsylvania found that people who received text messages about the annual flu vaccine were more likely to get the shot.
June 29, 2021
- CNN
When big changes upend life as we know it, adapting to that new world can feel weird, in part because it goes against our nature, said Katy Milkman, who directs the Behavior Change for Good Initiative within the University of Pennsylvania’s Wharton School. “It’s our tendency to stick with the path of least resistance,” said Milkman, whose new book, How to Change, explores how people adapt and why some newfound behaviors stick and others don’t.
June 29, 2021
- PBS NewsHour
While the United States inches closer to herd immunity against Covid-19, virus variants and a total death toll surpassing 600,000 are heightening hesitancy about returning to the office. Katy Milkman said companies should pick a clear strategy surrounding vaccines to alleviate concerns.
June 26, 2021
- CNBC
