The Subtle Ways Gender Gaps Persist in Science

When it comes to science, women and men remain unequal. And while stories about overt harassment dominate the news, a host of researchers, including Professor Katherine Milkman, are teasing out the subtle reasons for why inequalities exist.

March 6, 2016
-The Chronicle of Higher Education

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Katherine Milkman
Is It the Right Time for a Fresh Start?

The start of a new year or a new week, a birthday, or a holiday are dates that have something in common: they all stand out as being more meaningful than other days. These temporal landmarks generate “fresh start” feelings that can motivate us to meet virtuous goals, such as exercising regularly, according to research from the behavioral scientists Hengchen Dai, Katherine Milkman, and Jason Riis.

March 1, 2016
-Scientific American Mind

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Katherine Milkman
Most Resolutions Fail Because They’re Not Important Enough

The arrival of a new year, with its clean slate, gives you another shot at getting things right, or at least making them better. My Wharton colleague Katy Milkman has conducted research on the “fresh start effect,” and it’s really real: January — or a birthday, anniversary, new month, or any personally meaningful marker of time — does actually create a stronger motivation to refresh yourself.

January 14, 2016
-Harvard Business Review

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Katherine Milkman
‘Misbehaving’: When Psychology Meets Economics

Wharton operations, information and decisions professor Katherine Milkman spoke with Professor Richard Thaler about why he wrote the Misbehaving: The Making of Behavioral Economics, where behavioral economics has had the most impact, and which decision-making bias he would remove if he had a magic wand.

January 13, 2016
-Knowledge@Wharton

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Katherine Milkman
Can Psychology Teach Us How To Stick To New Year's Resolutions?

Research out of the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania suggests that people see New Year's Day, their birthdays and even the start of a new month or week as "temporal landmarks" — an imaginary line demarcating the old "inferior" self from a new and improved version. That explains why we often fail at resolutions — our new selves are usually not much better than the old ones. But it also suggests how we might stick to our resolutions — use more temporal landmarks to reach our goals.

January 1, 2016
-National Public Radio (Hidden Brain)

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Katherine Milkman
The Science of Habit Formation Explains How to Make Goals that Stick

A Wharton study from 2013 found that interest in dieting increases at the start of a new week by 14.4% and the new year by 82.1%. The authors, Hengchen Dai, Katherine L. Milkman, Jason Riis, propose that we embrace lofty goals on artificial dates because it offers a new mental accounting period, allowing us to put our old, fat, lazy selves in the past tense and start anew with an improved version of ourselves.

December 29, 2015
-Quartz

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Katherine Milkman
Donald Trump’s Unstoppable Virality

2015 was the Year of Trump because he is the perfect candidate for our viral age. His success tells us a lot about the nature of what goes viral and how it reflects our beliefs and our fears.  This article cites research on virality by Professor Katherine Milkman.

December 29, 2015
-The New York Times

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Katherine Milkman
My New Year’s Resolution: Regress to a Better Mean

Every year around this time of year, people harness something that the behavioral economist Katherine Milkman calls the “Fresh Start Effect.” We use the temporal landmark of a New Year to give ourselves a clean slate — a fresh start, if you will — and commit to a whole manner of aspirational behaviors.  But this year, instead of focusing on the extraordinary, I urge you to focus on the average.

December 23, 2015
-Huffington Post

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Katherine Milkman
How to Boost Your Retirement Savings in 2016

The New Year is a great time to re-evaluate if you are saving enough to retire well. Many people are inspired to set goals during landmark times of year, according to research co-authored by Katherine Milkman, an associate professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton School.

December 21, 2015
-U.S. News & World Report

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Katherine Milkman
How to Make Yourself Do Everything You Hate Doing

Unless you’re Tony Robbins, finding the motivation to exercise can be tougher than the actual workout itself.  Your willpower can be easily defeated by the demands of a family, the responsibilities of work, or even the enticing glow of a TV.  The key may be a process called “temptation bundling,” according to a study by Professor Katherine Milkman in Management Science.

December 18, 2015
-Men's Health

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Katherine Milkman
The Best-Laid Backup Plans...

Having a safety net can make us less motivated to achieve our primary goals – like, for example, preventing our boats from sinking.  This episode of NPR Hidden Brain features research by Professor Katherine Milkman on a potential downside of backup plans.

November 10, 2015
-National Public Radio (Hidden Brain)

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Katherine Milkman