*Changes to the environment are effective for changes to the behavior.* This reminds me of [[Design my life to live]], and how to create systems that get me the outcome I'm looking for since we generally live in the [[default mode]]. It's kind of like how [[our environment shapes our behavior]] and how [[environmental cues]] are one of the best ways to make the change you want in the behavior that's best. > **nudge theory** is a concept in behavioral economics, decision making, behavioral policy, social psychology, consumer behavior, and related behavioral sciences that proposes adaptive designs of the decision environment (choice architecture) as ways to influence the behavior and decision-making of groups or individuals. Nudging contrasts with other ways to achieve compliance, such as education, legislation or enforcement. Nudge is one way to get to change [[Doing]] or try to achieve more "compliance." Others include education or [[Learning]], Rules, or therapy. ### What would the opposite argument be? > The nudge concept was popularized in the 2008 book Nudge: Improving Decisions About Health, Wealth, and Happiness, by behavioral economist Richard Thaler and legal scholar Cass Sunstein, two American scholars at the University of Chicago. It has influenced British and American politicians. Several nudge units exist around the world at the national level (UK, Germany, Japan, and others) as well as at the international level (e.g. World Bank, UN, and the European Commission). It is disputed whether "nudge theory" is a recent novel development in behavioral economics or merely a new term for one of many methods for influencing behavior, investigated in the science of behavior analysis.There have been some controversies regarding effectiveness of nudges. Maier et al. wrote that, after correcting the publication bias found by Mertens et al., there is no evidence that nudging would have any effect. However, nudging is an umbrella term referring to many techniques, and skeptics of nudging also believe that it is possible that some nudges (e.g. default effect) can be sometimes highly effective and some nudges have minimal if any effect, and call for future work that shift away from investigating average effects but focus on moderators instead. Furthermore, a meta analysis of all unpublished nudging studies carried by nudge units with over 23 million individuals in United Kingdom and United States found support for many nudges, but with substantially weaker effects than effects found in published studies. Moreover, some researchers critized "one-nudge-for-all" approach and advocated for more studies and implementations of personalized nudging (based on individual differences), which appear to be substantially more effective, with more robust and consistent evidence base. ### Summary of evidence In complex systems, second-order effects of change efforts dominate over the long term. Use [[scientific process]] of small tests and seeing the real results of the changes to best tell what will work in what situations. ## Sources: Thaler, R. H., & Sunstein, C. R. (2021). _Nudge: The final edition_ (Final edition). Yale University Press. [Wikipedia: Nudge Theory](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Nudge%20theory) Hertwig, R., & Grüne-Yanoff, T. (2017). Nudging and Boosting: Steering or Empowering Good Decisions. _Perspectives on Psychological Science_, _12_(6), 973–986. [https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617702496](https://doi.org/10.1177/1745691617702496)