Predictably Irrational

Investigating the Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions

Dan Ariely is a behavioral scientist at MIT and the author of Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces that Shape Our Decisions. See full bio

July 31, 2009

Coffee Shops & The Honor System: Would It Work?

What if on your next coffee run, you discover that Starbucks has started running on the honor system? All the baristas are gone, and in their place, you find Tupperware filled with coins and bills. Would you pay for your daily soy Latte? Read More

July 30, 2009

The Value of Advice

A few days ago Dan wrote about Don Moore's research on how we accept advice from others. A lab experiment showed that subjects adhered to advice from confident, not necessarily accurate, sources. The findings of another research, led by Prof. Gregory Berns of Emory University, show another aspect of our reaction to advice. Read More

July 30, 2009

We're More Swayed by Confidence than Expertise

"For the great majority of mankind are satisfied with appearances, as though they were realities, and are more often influenced by the things that 'seem' than by those that ‘are.'"
-16th-century Italian politician Niccolo Machiavelli Read More

July 30, 2009

The Context Effect in Britain's Got Talent?

I got this suggestion from Thomas Aedy in Eton College in the UK:
Dear Dan, Read More

June 11, 2009

Beware: Happiness is Contagious

Social scientists used to have a straightforward, if tongue-in-cheek, answer to the question of how to become happy: Surround yourself with people who are uglier, poorer and shorter than you are—and who are unhappily married and have annoying kids. You will compare yourself with these people, and the contrast will cheer you up. Read More

May 19, 2009

How Pigs Replaced Economics

It’s hard to displace a global economic crisis from headlining the news, but the pigs did it. A variant of the H1N1 flu virus, associated in our lore with the 1918 flu pandemic, has jumped species and infected humans. Read More

May 18, 2009

Is Business Education Valuable?

Derek Bok, the 25th President of Harvard, famously said: “If you think education is expensive, try ignorance.” What we need is more business education, not less. Read More

May 8, 2009

Irrationality is the real invisible hand

What's the real force driving the financial markets? Read More

May 4, 2009

Why bankers would rather work for $0 than $500k

Why asking for nothing can be so powerful. Read More

April 13, 2009

How to charge $37.50 for a cup of cafe latte

How banks separate you from your money—and what can be done about it. Read More

Books by Dan Ariely

Predictably Irrational, Revised and Expanded Edition: The Hidden Forces That Shape Our Decisions

Behavioral Economics Basics

Why do we often think we know what we want, only to be disappointed with our purchases and choices? Behavioral economics studies just how irrational we humans can be.

Go to the Behavioral Economics Basics page for more on Behavioral Economics including:

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