Study finds optimism can lead to inaction
Two Democratic fundraising emails were sent to supporters. In one version, the candidate was leading a closely contested race; in the other, he was trailing. Which email got more clicks and coaxed more donations? Perhaps counterintuitively, the losing candidate’s message sparked the most action. The experiment was part of a study that explored how optimism can lead to inaction. Behavioral scientist Todd Rogers of the Harvard Kennedy School and colleagues conducted six related studies that explored “belief in a favorable future” across various contexts and cultures, and found that people tend to believe that others will come around to their point of view over time. “It often seems that partisans believe they are so correct that others will eventually come to see the obviousness of their correctness,” Rogers said. “Ironically, our findings indicate that this belief in a favorable future may diminish the likelihood that people will take action to ensure [it] becomes...