Writing

A selection of my essays and research on how people think, make decisions, and change.

Real AI Adoption Means Changing Human Behavior Knowledge at Wharton · with Scott Snyder · 2025
The death of behavioral economics The Behavioral Scientist · 2020
So you want to start a behavioral science team Medium · 2019
When did addiction become a good thing? GigaOm · 2012
Behavior Wizard: A method for matching target behaviors with solutions PERSUASIVE 2010 · Springer · with BJ Fogg · 2010

I publish The Behavioral Scientist, where you can find more of my essays.

I was a founding columnist at the magazine Behavioral Scientist. I also previously wrote columns for Inc. and Big Think.

Where my work has been discussed

My work on human behavior, technology, and business has been quoted and discussed by journalists, researchers, and authors around the world. A selection appears below.

Matt Ridley, writing in The Times, quoted my work on social media and emotional responses (2016).
James Clear credited my definition of a habit in conversations with Sam Harris on Making Sense (2020) and on Huberman Lab (2026).
Forbes quoted my explanation of normalcy bias in an article by Jeff McMahon (2023).
El País quoted me on the psychology behind Instagram (2013, in Spanish).
McKinsey interviewed me for its article on building corporate behavioral science teams (2019).
The Australian Institute of Company Directors quoted my writing on growth mindset in its guidance for board directors (2025).
Bloomberg Opinion cited my critique of behavioral economics (2021).
Undark discussed my argument in its reporting on the debate over loss aversion (2021).
Scott Alexander wrote a detailed response, “On Hreha On Behavioral Economics,” in Astral Codex Ten (2021).
BuzzFeed News (2021) and The Chronicle of Higher Education (2023) linked to the essay in their reporting on behavioral economics.
Diamond Online discussed the essay in an interview with economist Toshiji Kawagoe (2022, in Japanese).
Kawagoe also examined my argument in his book The Death of Behavioral Economics, published by Hayakawa (2025, in Japanese).
Japan’s Research Institute of Economy, Trade and Industry published an essay citing my critique in its discussion of behavioral economics and the risks of inflated expectations (2024).
Fortune’s CFO Daily highlighted my article with Scott Snyder on AI adoption (2025).
A guide from MIT GOV/LAB and Busara recommended my essay on building behavioral science teams (2023).