Why do we do what we do?

Because we want to? Sometimes.
Because we’re all out of willpower? Pretty much.
Because of the stuff all around us? That too.

Here’s how to put the choice back into your own behaviors.

Our thoughts and intentions matter — but they’re not the only things. To a large extent (larger than we realize) our behavior is influenced by our surroundings. We know this how? Because research.

Think of your college cafeteria. If the dean wants students to eat more fruit and less dessert, she can put the pears in a plum spot by the register and slap a calorie count sign on the coconut créme pie. It works.

“Nudges” like these can influence our behavior without our having to resort to willpower (never count on that to be there for you when you need it). This concept is also called “choice architecture.” It impacts much of your life, including:

• What you eat
• How active you are
• How much money you save and spend

Choice architecture in the wild

A week’s worth of do-it-yourself “nudges”

What’s your favorite way to “nudge” yourself into eating right?

The science of choice

Strategies for better health habits

By Leah Roman MPH

Being an adult is all about freedom and independence. Your decisions—including when to work out and what to eat—are your own, even if your time is not…right?

Sort of.

Our “decisions” are influenced by environmental cues far beyond our own needs, control, and even consciousness, according to decades of research. “[C]hoices depend, in part, on the way in which problems are stated,” wrote Richard Thaler and Cass Sunstein in their bestselling book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness (Penguin, 2009).

studentvoice

Default behaviors

This concept, which behavioral economists call choice architecture, helps explain why we tend to default to the easiest or most visible course of action. Choice architecture contributes to much of what we do, including what we eat, how much physical activity we get, and other behaviors.

“We often make decisions in the moment, therefore we are influenced by the options available at any given time,” says Dr. Ellen Magenheim, chair of the department of economics at Swarthmore College, Pennsylvania. If you’ve ever made an impulsive candy purchase at the checkout line, that’s choice architecture working against you. Mayor Bloomberg’s attempt to legislate the sizes of sodas at New York movie theaters was based in evidence that we gravitate to the middle size, whatever that is. For most of us, a smaller middle size serves just as well.

Harness the power of choice architecture

“If you want someone to do something, you should make it as easy as possible,” says Dr. Magenheim. If you want yourself to do something, make it easier by tweaking your own environment.

Choice architecture can influence behavior without mandating or banning particular options. “A nudge works best when it is in the background,” says Dr. David R. Just, professor of applied economics and management at Cornell University, New York. “Nudges should seem meaningless on the surface.”

Choice architecture on campus

Health officials are increasingly looking for environmental tweaks that can nudge us effortlessly towards healthier behaviors. On your campus or in your community, that means interventions like these:

• Holding a flu shot clinic outside a building on campus or in the lobby of your office minimizes the time and effort between thinking about the flu shot and getting it, says Dr. Magenheim. Result: More people get flu shots.
• Displaying fruit more prominently in a café signals to diners “eat these” and “this is a destination,” says Dr. Just. Result: Display changes have driven a 100 percent increase in fruit consumption. 

Become the architect of your own health choices

These four steps can help you steer yourself toward easy healthier behaviors.

1. Make a plan. If the dining hall, restaurant, or convenience store you’re frequenting has limited healthy options, figure out your selection strategy before you go in.
2. Spend time with people who share your health awareness and goals. We tend to gravitate toward the health habits of those around us.
3. Limit your choices. If you are overwhelmed choosing between hundreds of fitness apps for your phone, reduce the options. Your decision will become easier.
4. Become an advocate. If you feel that your campus or office’s healthy lifestyle options are limited, join or create an advocacy group and collaborate with administrators on improvements (e.g., changing the content of vending machines).

Strategies for effortlessly healthier food choices

• Pick up a small plate. A small salad plate can help with portion control. You do not have to pick up a large dinner plate just because they are most prevalent.
• Choose a place that encourages healthy eating.  Review the layouts of the places you most frequently eat and select the one that makes healthy eating easier—e.g., the one with the most veggie options.
• Sit with your back to the food lines. If you see food, you’ll be more likely to get up for additional helpings.
• Buy one type of snack at a time. More varieties of cookies will lead to more consumption, for example.
• At home, make less healthy foods invisible and inaccessible. Organize the kitchen to minimize negative cues. If you have tended to stash the junk foods in a particular spot, switching things around can interrupt unhealthy habits.
• Reorganize your refrigerator. Make sure that when you open it, you’re looking at fruits, vegetables, lean meats, low-sugar yogurts, and other healthy options. Consign high-fat foods to the lowest shelf at the back.