Social information decreases giving in late-stage fundraising campaigns.

Online fundraisers often showcase information about the number of donations received and the proximity to the campaign goal. This practice follows research on descriptive norms and goal-directed motivation, which predicts higher contributions as the number of donors increases and as the campaign goal is approached. However, across three studies, we demonstrate that when the campaign is close to completion, individuals give more when they see that there are few (vs.

Cardiorespiratory fitness and depression symptoms among adults during the COVID-19 Pandemic: Cooper Center Longitudinal Study.

This study examined the relation between cardiorespiratory fitness (fitness) and depression symptoms prior to and during COVID-19 among adults seeking preventive medical care. Participants consisted of 967 patients attending the Cooper Clinic (Dallas, TX) pre-pandemic (March 2018-December 2019) and during the pandemic (March-December 2020). The outcome, depression symptoms, was based on the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression (CES-D).

Improving cardiac rehabilitation patient adherence via personalized interventions.

Objectives: Despite documented benefits and physicians' recommendations to participate in cardiac rehabilitation (CR) programs, the average dropout rate remains between 12-56%. This study's goal was to demonstrate that using personalized interventions can significantly increase patient adherence.

Method: Ninety-five patients (ages 18-90) eligible for the CR program were randomly recruited and received personalized interventions using the Well-Beat system.

Liking goes with liking: An intuitive congruence between preference and prominence.

In a series of 8 experiments, we demonstrate the existence of a "labeling effect" wherein people intuitively relate preferred choices to prominently labeled cues (such as heads as opposed to tails in a coin toss) and vice versa. Importantly, the observed congruence is asymmetric-it does not manifest for nonprominent cues and nonpreferred choices. This is because the congruence is driven by a process of evaluative matching: prominent cues are liked, but nonprominent cues are neutral or at most slightly negative in contrast.

Physical activity counseling in primary care: Insights from public health and behavioral economics.

Physical inactivity has reached epidemic proportions in modern society. Abundant evidence points to a causal link between physical inactivity and increased risk for numerous noncommunicable diseases, such as some types of cancer and heart disease, as well as premature mortality. Yet, despite this overwhelming evidence, many individuals do not meet the recommended amount of physical activity required to achieve maximum health benefits.

Resting on laurels: the effects of discrete progress markers as subgoals on task performance and preferences.

This article investigates the influence of progress certainty and discrete progress markers (DPMs) on performance and preferences. The authors suggest that the effects of DPMs depend on whether progress certainty is high or low. When the distance to the goal is uncertain, DPMs can help reduce uncertainty and thus improve performance and increase preference.