What is behavioral science?

Behavioral science describes the study of human behavior through the use of systematic experimentation and observation. Behavioral scientists study when and why individuals engage in specific behaviors by experimentally examining the impact of factors such as conscious thoughts, motivation, social influences, contextual effects and habits. Several disciplines fall under the broad label of behavioral sciences, including:

• Anthropology
• Behavioral economics
• cognitive psychology
• Consumer behavior
• Social psychology
• Sociology

To understand the full complexity of human behavior, some behavioral scientists synthesize theories, concepts and methodologies across some of these disciplines. For example, the field of behavioral economics emerges bringing the insights of psychology into economic behavior, thereby predicting and explaining behaviors that are not predicted by standard economic theories.

Behavioral science research is diverse and expansive. Behavioral scientists study why humans sometimes behave in ways that may not maximize their well-being, how to make choices in the present that don't maximize their happiness in the future; examine how seemingly arbitrary contextual factors influence our decisions, beliefs and attitudes; test how different incentives influence people's motivation and behavior; analyze how people judge the traits and characteristics of others based on the characteristics of their face or voice; investigate how consumers can be encouraged to take, avoid or change spending decisions; and design policy interventions that can help people make choices that they would personally recognize as optimal in the long run.