Start here · Essential guide
Behavioral Psychology of Risk and Reward
An introduction to how people really decide under uncertainty, from loss aversion to framing, and why those habits matter around games of chance.
Mind and Design
Biases and habits that shape decisions about risk.
Start here · Essential guide
An introduction to how people really decide under uncertainty, from loss aversion to framing, and why those habits matter around games of chance.
Why the urge to win back lost money feels so strong, how it tends to deepen losses in games of chance, and practical ways to interrupt it.
A tour of common cognitive biases, from anchoring to overconfidence, with everyday examples of how they distort decisions about chance and money.
Why people remember wins more vividly than losses, how confirmation bias protects a rosy picture of results, and how a written record corrects the view.
How stress, excitement, frustration and fatigue weaken judgment, why money decisions made in a heated moment differ from calm ones, and how to plan ahead.
How the same facts presented as gains or losses, percentages or dollars, can lead to different choices, with examples from shopping, saving and games of chance.
How unpredictable rewards build persistent habits in apps, games and gambling, why such habits resist stopping, and ways to loosen their grip.
Why a loss typically hurts more than an equal gain pleases, where the idea comes from, and how it shapes choices about money, risk and games of chance.
Why lucky charms, rituals and hunches feel effective around chance events, what research says about their origins, and why they cannot change random outcomes.
Why people feel they can influence chance outcomes through choices that change nothing, with examples, research background and practical ways to stay grounded.
Related topics