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Social science research confirms what seems obvious: our decisions don\u2019t occur in a void, but rather are hugely influenced by our peers and social context. Society influences our behavior but, in turn, our behavior influences society. To put it another way, our social behaviors are contagious. Because of our respective environments, we may feel compelled to cheat on our taxes, drive heavy cars, or waste energy, because that\u2019s what our peers are doing. In his new book, Under The Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work, Cornell economist and New York Times columnist Robert H. Frank combines psychological insight with economics to argue that we can\u2019t build public policy on the assumption that individuals will make completely independent decisions. Most of our choices\u2014whether it\u2019s to buy an SUV or an electric car, to bike or drive or take the bus to work, to smoke or quit\u2014are shaped by the society we live in. So why don\u2019t we use the insights of behavioral contagion to push society in the direction we want it to go? Frank argues that we should, by using government policies\u2014and especially taxes\u2014in a much more clever and targeted way than before.

Go beyond the episode:

• Robert H. Frank\u2019s Under the Influence: Putting Peer Pressure to Work
• Read his essay about how individual decisions can produce cascading effects: \u201cHow peer pressure can stop climate change\u201d
• For more on how behavioral cascades happen, check out the 1992 study, \u201cA Theory of Fads, Fashion, Custom, and Cultural Change as Informational Cascades\u201d
• Why tax evasion is trendy: read Jesse Eisinger and Paul Kiel\u2019s story, \u201cThe IRS Tried to Take on the Ultrawealthy. It Didn\u2019t Go Well.\u201d
• People who buy bigger houses aren\u2019t happier, those who spent more on lavish weddings don\u2019t stay married longer, and other examples of why spending money on material goods can\u2019t buy you happiness

Tune in every week to catch interviews with the liveliest voices from literature, the arts, sciences, history, and public affairs; reports on cutting-edge works in progress; long-form narratives; and compelling excerpts from new books. Hosted by Stephanie Bastek. Follow us on Twitter @TheAmScho or on Facebook.

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