In a fascinating research study, Dr Daniel Kirschenbaum from the University of Wisconsin took a group of bowlers and asked them to review their performance after each bowling session.  He divided the group into two groups.     Group 1 reviewed only what they did well and were asked to remind themselves to engage more of the proper behavior.     Group 2 was asked to review their performance and indicate what they had done poorly and remind themselves to avoid making the same mistakes in the following rounds.       Which group of bowlers do you think improved their bowling performance? It probably won’t surprise you that the people shown the “positive” video feedback performed better. But you might be surprised by how much better they did! Amazingly, the bowlers who focused on what they did well showed… …

Rational-choice theory attempts to explain human choice by assuming we are rational choosers, have well ordered preferences, and have information on costs and benefits. It also assumes we compare options on the basis of preference, value or utility. Additionally, the theory says that rational choosers should always be able to express their preferences. A rational decision maker, therefore, will look at all the options, choose the one that brings the most utility, and understand why the choice was made. But in economic theory, there hasn’t been enough study understanding from where our preferences come. Preferences are complicated because it includes human biases as well as culture. Barry Schwarz explores this shortcoming as well as gives us evidence-based advice on how we can make wiser decisions in his book The Paradox of Choice: Why More Is Less. He lays out a compelling case for becoming a Satisfier (one who makes a decision when their criteria is met) over a… …