Can changing how people think about stress improve how they perform? The Washington Post spoke with Team Scientist Alia Crum about her research showing that viewing stress as an opportunity for growth is linked to improved performance, resilience, and well-being. https://wapo.st/4wLSCvf

Can AI predict how people will respond in social science experiments? A new @nature.com paper by Team Scientist @robbwiller.bsky.social and collaborators had LLMs act as survey respondents. https://bit.ly/4bWppFw

A new review from Team Scientist @minzlicht.bsky.social and co-authors finds a paradox in how people perceive AI: AI-generated responses are often rated as more empathic than human-written ones, but when people learn a response came from AI, they rate it as less empathic. https://bit.ly/4wfdhrk

What is a nudge? @casssunstein.bsky.social (BCFG Team Scientist and co-author of Nudge) explains in this clip from BCFG’s archives. #nudge #behavioralecon #behavioralscience

New research by BCFG Co-Director @angeladuckworth.bsky.social and co-authors tracked kids' self-regulation throughout the school day. Kids who got squirmier as the day went on were rated as more disruptive and completed fewer years of education by adulthood. https://bit.ly/4b4P6DH

New research by Team Scientist Marissa Sharif and Shannon Duncan finds a simple way to help people bounce back from small goal setbacks: encourage them to make up for it. https://bit.ly/4pa415b

As LLMs are used more in behavioral science, researchers are grappling with how to transparently report their use. Team Scientists @jayvanbavel.bsky.social and Robb Willer join a large group of co-authors to propose a checklist for reporting the use of LLMs. https://bit.ly/4baPuAo

When might adding friction be a positive? Posing a question before sharing the answer can spark curiosity and boost engagement with health information. BCFG-supported work on this topic–led by Team Scientist @erika_kirgios featured in @whartonknows: https://whr.tn/4eYvl1v

Learn more about Jens Ludwig, a professor at the University of Chicago and Team Scientist who uses behavioral science to answer questions about crime, gun violence, and education policy. Visit his webpage here: https://bit.ly/3QUszT7

An article by Anna Dreber and Team Scientist Séverine Toussaert argues that more transparency around study design, implementation, and analysis would improve the replicability, credibility, and generalizability of findings. https://bit.ly/4aLX8Bh

Team Scientist Judd Kessler explains the "hidden market" in Fortune Magazine: when official prices are below what some fans will pay, the gap gets filled by bots, resellers, and fees—unless the rules of the resale market are designed to prevent markups. https://bit.ly/4ghE0i5

Telling potential donors "the last 5 people in a row donated" may be more effective than mentioning "80% of people donated". New research by Team Scientist Michael Norton finds "collective streaks" outperform traditional social norm messages at encouraging giving. https://bit.ly/4v49sEJ

Is targeting the most well-connected people in a network always the best strategy for spreading behavior change? Not necessarily, according to new research by Yuan Hsiao and Team Scientist @nachristakis.bsky.social. https://bit.ly/4ehy4CK

The June edition of our newsletter is out now, featuring the latest from BCFG and a Q&A with Team Scientist Leslie John on the power of oversharing. bit.ly/4vwNQBv

A randomized controlled trial by Team Scientist Eugenia South and collaborators tested whether street cleaning reduces gun violence in Philadelphia. Cleanups reduced visible litter, but did not significantly reduce gun violence or serious crime. https://bit.ly/4nNMgbm

In a @jamanetworkopen.com commentary, Team Scientist Mitesh Patel and Joshua Liao argue that health systems should align patient outreach with how people actually communicate today—mobile and asynchronous. https://bit.ly/4dAPlXl

Learn more about Tatiana Homonoff, an Associate Professor of Economics and Public Service at NYU Wagner and Team Scientist whose research applies behavioral economics to public policy challenges in poverty, taxation, and consumer finance. Visit her website: https://bit.ly/4dL8eIy

A new article by Team Scientists Hengchen Dai, Silvia Saccardo, Kevin Volpp & collaborators synthesizes research on improving health outcomes by redesigning patient & clinician decision environments. https://bit.ly/4tTHbQ7

A new @nature.com paper co-led by Team Scientist @szaszibarnabas.bsky.social had 457 researchers reanalyze 100 social and behavioral science studies. Most reanalyses reached the original conclusion — but reanalysts fully agreed with each other on only 34% of studies. https://bit.ly/4fABu5X

A new @pnas.org paper by Co-Director @angeladuckworth.bsky.social, team Scientists Dr. Robert Cialdini & Christophe Van den Bulte, and collaborators finds that across 126,000 conversations, persuasion principles increased LLM compliance with objectionable requests. https://bit.ly/4uqTk00

Learn more about Paschal Sheeran, a Professor of Psychology and Neuroscience at UNC Chapel Hill and Team Scientist whose research explores how people translate intentions into action and what helps them achieve health behavior change. Visit his website: https://psheeran.web.unc.edu/

A megastudy by Team Scientist Jan G. Voelkel and collaborators tested 12 brief digital mental health programs in 7,505 adults with depression. Nearly all improved how people felt immediately, and 2 significantly reduced depression a month later. https://go.nature.com/4bV10AJ

Could your environment be the key to success? Learn about Co-Director @angeladuckworth.bsky.social’s newly announced book Situated–and what it shows about how shaping your environment can help bring out your best–in our April newsletter: bit.ly/4trUdF5

📅 April 23-24: @nationalacademies.org is hosting a virtual 2-day Workshop on Enhancing Scientific Integrity in the Social and Behavioral Sciences. Free & open to the public. Register: www.nationalacademies.org/projects/DBA...

Team Scientist @casssunstein.bsky.social's chapter in the 2026 World Happiness Report on social media discusses the puzzling fact that many would pay to eliminate the use of social media platforms—but won't leave as long as their community keeps using them. www.worldhappiness.report/ed/2026/soci...

A new paper by Team Scientists @dgrand.bsky.social, @tomcostello.bsky.social and collaborators argues that an underexplored possibility for AI is to generate personalized stimuli for each participant in real time. journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/...

New research by Team Scientist Lyle Ungar and collaborators asks: can a highly supportive AI chatbot reduce loneliness better than a human stranger? Over 2 weeks, chatting with a human peer significantly reduced loneliness, while chatting with the AI did not. Read more: bit.ly/40ZtJOz

New research by Team Scientist Sandra Matz finds that female governors who emphasized action over caution in COVID health messaging were more effective at increasing social distancing compliance, but received lower approval ratings. Read the full article to learn why: bit.ly/4dFxSP5

We were grateful to co-host University of Chicago Professor John List @johnlist.bsky.social for a fascinating presentation on field experiments as evidence in the courtroom.

TODAY: Join BCFG for a special seminar by UChicago economist John List. 📅 Mon, March 16 | 12PM 📍 Huntsman Hall, 8th Floor He will discuss how field experiments are shaping high-stakes legal decisions, drawing on his experience as an expert witness.