Dan Ariely works in contradictions. He studies behavioral economics and points out that humans are logical but irrational beings.
How do we assign monetary value to a thought or an idea? How do we decide when a lie is more valuable than the truth? Are we really in control of the decisions we make on a daily basis?
At the crossroads of psychology and economics, Ariely has made it his life’s work to study the idea that some of our best intentions can lead to our most irrational behavior.
Host Frank Stasio talks with Ariely, professor at Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business and leader of Duke's Center for Advanced Hindsight.
Ariely has written three books: Predictably Irrational, The Upside of Irrationality, and The Honest Truth About Dishonesty.
Ariely has given three TED talks, the first of which explored the idea that we are not in total control of our daily decisions:
http://youtu.be/9X68dm92HVI
WUNC Editor’s Note – Adapted from NPR
Aug. 2, 2023
Since this article first published, researchers have raised concerns about a number of studies authored by Dan Ariely. Ariely, a professor of psychology and behavioral economics at Duke University, was a frequent guest on WUNC’s former talk show The State of Things, appearing at least five times between 2015-2019.
One study in question included data from an insurance company that purported to show that people are more truthful when they sign an ethics declaration at the beginning of a form than at the end. In an independent review, a group of researchers found evidence of data fabrication in that study. You can read more about their findings here, along with Dan Ariely's response. The insurance company that provided the data, The Hartford, released a statement to NPR’s Planet Money in July 2023. In that statement, the company said that it had done a review of its records and that “there appear to be significant changes made to the size, shape and characteristics of our data after we provided it and without our knowledge or consent.” You can hear the full Planet Money story and read the full statement from The Hartford here.
Additionally, a second study – in which Ariely reported reduced cheating among test-takers asked to recall the Ten Commandments before taking the test – has not stood up to replication by other researchers. You can read more about that here.
