To combat COVID-19, behavioral pitfalls must be addressed

During any crisis, timely, and sometimes life-altering, decisions must be made, requiring an extreme amount of sound judgment under uncertainty. The COVID-19 pandemic is no different. In a commentary piece for The Lancet, researchers from Princeton and the Sunnybrook Research Institute review eight behavioral pitfalls that challenge these judgments. Among the issues they explore are common human traits: a fear of the unknown, personal embarrassment and hindsight bias. Eldar Shafir, the Class of 1987 Professor in Behavioral Science and Public Policy at Princeton’s Woodrow Wilson School of Public and International Affairs and a professor of psychology and public affairs, co-authored the piece with Dr. Donald Redelmeier, senior scientist at the Sunnybrook Research Institute. To read the full story.