245. Behind the Scenes of Behavioral Scientist and Evan Nesterak

The Brainy Business | Understanding the Psychology of Why People Buy | Behavioral Economics

In today's conversation, I am joined by Evan Nesterak, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Behavioral Scientist, a nonprofit digital and print magazine that examines the world through the science of human behavior. Previously, he led the Mindset Assessment Project, an initiative designed to bring rigorous psychological research into the world of sport and worked with Angela Duckworth at the University of Pennsylvania on character development research.

This is such a fun conversation, where Evan tells some "never before publicly discussed" stories from his background and that of Behavioral Scientist, which is always fun. We get to hear all about his work and the focus at the magazine, it is full of laughs and brainy goodness. You don’t want to miss it!

Show Notes:

• [00:42] In today's conversation, I am joined by Evan Nesterak, the co-founder and editor-in-chief of Behavioral Scientist, a nonprofit digital and print magazine that examines the world through the science of human behavior.
• [02:36] Evan shares about himself, his background, and the work that he does.
• [03:35] He also did some research with the US Soccer Federation where they did a study looking at the mindsets of the elite youth players in the development academy.
• [06:09] Evan shares how he met past Brainy Business guest Leidy Klotz.
• [08:50] Often when you are newer to something you are automatically put into the mentee role. It is powerful to have that script flipped and be the mentor even if you are newer into something if you have enough experience that you can add value.
• [11:13] He learned a lot working with Angela Duckworth and he has taken a lot of lessons since leaving the lab.
• [12:25] Evan shares the history of how Behavioral Scientist started.
• [14:00] After graduating from college, he decided to do what he now calls “real world college.”
• [16:24] He realized there was no place for him to read about really interesting psychology work that was happening.
• [17:21] In 2012 Evan and his brother started The Psych Report. They had expert psychologists write about their research in digestible, interesting, and engaging ways.
• [17:59] In 2016 it evolved: they teamed up with some other projects and co-founded Behavioral Scientist in 2017.
• [20:33] The way we think about human behavior can influence the world we design.
• [22:48] They compiled a team from various backgrounds and got to work. Their goal has been to stay curious, prioritize people who ask interesting and ambitious questions about human behavior, and try to answer them in rigorous and thoughtful ways.
• [25:12] Don’t worry about trying to read everything. Try and find your trusted sources.
• [27:12] Being open to other formats can be a really great way to read with an eye for human behavior.
• [28:55] You immediately have respect for people when you write or do something outside of your comfort zone.
• [29:45] Melina shares about past guests Doug Kenrick and David Lundberg-Kenrick and their work.
• [33:04] The first thing when writing a book in academia is to take action and try and do it.
• [33:58] Then you need to understand what your background and strength is in writing and who you want to write for.
• [35:20] You have to get someone invested and a great way to do that is stories, examples, and cost and opportunities.
• [38:04] The more focused you can be in your writing the better.
• [39:09] Evan’s first suggestion is to sign up for the Behavioral Scientist weekly newsletter and see if it is for you. Hopefully you will encounter things that you wouldn’t necessarily seek out but you would learn something that would have an impact on your life.
• [41:17] Monthly they put out the Research Lead where they focus on new research topics.
• [44:16] Brain Meets World is a thematic print issue that traces the journey of what happens to our ideas as we bring them out to the world.
• [46:40] When you chase the answers all the time it never feels satisfying.
• [48:52] Melina’s closing thoughts

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Learn and Support The Brainy Business:

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Get the Books Mentioned on (or related to) this Episode:

• Grit, by Angela Duckworth
• Subtract, by Leidy Klotz
• The Paradox of Choice, by Barry Schwartz
• How to Change, by Katy Milkman
• Brain Meets World, by Behavioral Scientist

Connect with Evan:

• Behavioral Scientist Website
• Evan on LinkedIn
• Evan on Twitter

Top Recommended Next Episode: Do You Subtract Enough? An interview with Dr. Leidy Klotz (ep 162)

Already Heard That One? Try These:

• Behavioral Science in the Wild with Dilip Soman (ep 241)
• Paradox of Choice (ep 171)
• How To Change, an interview Dr. Katy Milkman (ep 151)
• Dr. Robert Cialdini and the (Now!) 7 Principles of Persuasion (ep 157)
• Do Nudges Work? with Michael Hallsworth (ep 218)
• Solving Modern Problems with a Stone Age Brain (ep 237)

Other Important Links:

• Brainy Bites - Melina’s LinkedIn Newsletter
• Behavioral Scientist Newsletter
• A large-scale field experiment shows giving advice improves academic outcomes for the advisor
• Writing Workshops from Behavioral Scientist
• The Battle for Human Nature, by Barry Schwartz
• Barry Schwartz – Last Collection speech