Predictably Irrational: The Hidden Forces That Shape our Decisions

“Procrastination,” as it is presented in Chapter 7, is when someone delays an action or give up long-term goals in exchange for immediate gratification. Ariely and a colleague set-up an experiment to study “why we lose the fight against procrastination so frequently” (141). The experiment subjects were split into three groups—three college class periods. In the first class, Ariely asked students to pick the dates they would submit each of their papers. Students in this class scheduled their papers across the semester, indicating they were trying to prevent themselves from procrastinating. In the second class, all papers were due by the end of the semester; students could turn in papers throughout the semester, but it was not a requirement. In the third class, Ariely dictated the paper deadlines. The experiment found that students in the third class received the best grades, followed by those in the first and second classes. To Ariely, the findings suggest that tightly restricting freedom might be the best way to overcome procrastination. Even when students recognize they procrastinate, they often do not fully understand their problem or how to set personal deadlines that optimize their performance.

Ariely recognizes that we cannot restrict individual freedom in most real-world situations.