This week’s must-reads: Psychological Reactance: Why We Sabotage Our Own Goals

In my work as a behavioral designer, I come across important stories on how psychology influences our behavior. Every week, I share my round-up of the most important stories at the intersection of psychology, technology and business. I hope you enjoy them!

Why You Might Need a Humor Audit: the Benefits of Laughter (NirAndFar) I interviewed Jennifer Aaker and Naomi Bagdonas, authors of Humor, Seriously: Why Humor is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life.

Hindsight Bias: Why You Make Terrible Life Choices (Anchor) Hindsight bias occurs when people feel that they “knew it all along” when they believe that an event is more predictable after it becomes known that it was before it became known.

Psychological Reactance: Why We Sabotage Our Own Goals (Medium) How one of the most underrated, under-appreciated concepts in psychology is holding you back.

The Real ‘Social Dilemma’? It’s Our Clueless Elites (The Dispatch) The condescending message of the Netflix docudrama.

What Does it Really Take to Build a New Habit? (Harvard Business Review) The first step towards creating long-term change involves building routines — not habits themselves.

Imagine a workplace where you could actually tell the truth (Psyche) The truth can be so hard to come by that many of us believe that our workplaces are awash in bullshit.

Happy reading!

- Nir