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Tag: psychology

July 25, 2025By Paula Pant

#628: Why Nice People Struggle with Money, with Dr. Sandra Matz, Professor at Columbia Business School

You follow all the right personal finance advice. You know you should save more, invest regularly, and build an emergency fund. 

So why does it feel so much harder for some people than others?

The answer lies in your personality.

Dr. Sandra Matz, a professor at Columbia Business School, studies the intersection of psychology and money management. She joins us to explain why one-size-fits-all financial advice often fails.

Her research found that agreeable people — those who are caring, empathetic, and put others first — have a harder time saving money. 

The solution isn’t better budgeting apps or stricter rules. It’s reframing financial goals to match your personality type. 

For example, agreeable people save more effectively when they view their emergency fund as protection for loved ones or a way to help others during tough times. 

By contrast, competitive personalities respond better to framing savings as getting ahead in life.

This personalized approach extends beyond personality assessments. Algorithms can now predict your financial behavior using digital footprints — social media activity, spending patterns, even smartphone usage. With just 300 Facebook likes, artificial intelligence understands your money habits better than your spouse does.

The conversation also covers the darker implications. Companies exploit these same psychological insights to manipulate spending decisions. Dr. Matz discusses data cooperatives as a solution — member-owned entities where people collectively benefit from their shared information.

We dive into negotiation strategies for salary increases, breaking out of financial echo chambers, and using AI to optimize your money management without losing your decision-making autonomy.

Keep reading...

November 15, 2023By Paula Pant

#472: Happiness Habits, with Harvard Professor Arthur Brooks

Imagine this: You’re a teenage musical prodigy, a world-class classical French horn player. You drop out of college at age 19 and spend your twenties touring the globe as a musician (including, once, tripping and falling off the stage at Carnegie Hall).

At age 31, you retire from your musical career, get a Ph.D., and become a professor – first at Syracuse and then at Harvard, where you teach both at Harvard Business School and at the Harvard Kennedy School.

You publish 13 books and write a column for The Atlantic, which gets noticed by Oprah Winfrey. Oprah then invites you to dinner, where she asks you to co-author a book together.

This is the life of today’s guest, Harvard Professor Arthur Brooks, whose collaboration with Oprah, a book called Build the Life You Want, focuses on the science and research behind happiness.

Brooks teaches a class on leadership and happiness to second-year Harvard MBA candidates. In our conversation, we discuss a range of topics, including metacognition (thinking about how to think), the neurobiological basis of ruminating, and how to balance the concept of contentment with the innately human urge for ambition and progress.

He also offers a formula for happiness: enjoyment + satisfaction + meaning and purpose.

So – I hope you enjoy this episode; I hope you find it satisfying, and I hope it fills you with meaning and purpose!

– Paula

Keep reading...

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