GQ: How to Actually Change Your Behavior for the Better

If you need to be convinced that humans aren’t so great at changing their behavior, look no further than the monumental effort it’s taken to get American to wear masks, socially distance, and get vaccinated. Which explains why Dr. Katy Milkman has had a very busy pandemic. As a behavioral scientist and professor at Wharton, she’s one of the people in the country most primed to understand why humans do (or don’t do) the things they do. Though there has always been outreach from companies and public policy makers from time to time, she says that during the pandemic “the amount of inbound traffic from major players wanting advice was just completely off the charts.” As one of the co-directors of Penn’s Behavior Change for Good Institute, Milkman helped answer queries from a wide range of state and public health officials, including, more recently, the Biden administration. Read more at GQ.