"It is not enough to be busy...the question is what are we busy about?"
- Henry David Thoreau
How people spend their time reflects their values, priorities, and their constraints. My research explores why even well-intentioned individuals often struggle to improve their well-being, particularly in areas related to health, self-care, and everyday decision-making.
By examining how time use, financial behaviors, and social perceptions influence well-being, I aim to generate actionable insights for marketers, healthcare organizations, and policymakers working to support healthier, more sustainable choices.
I'm especially interested in applying these insights to healthcare and pharmaceutical contexts, where behavioral science can help improve patient outcomes and perceptions of health interventions.
You can find more information about my research below.
Self-Care Prioritization
Self-Care Prioritization
Self-Care Prioritization
Despite billions of dollars being poured into the self-care industry, poor mental and physical health is a global epidemic that is posing both a public health crisis and a significant economic concern. This paper examines a key psychological barrier that may help explain this disconnect: the tendency to deprioritize self-care when making decisions for oneself versus others. Across seven pre-registered experiments, we find that people anticipate greater moral judgment when considering self-care for themselves than for others, leading them to deprioritize their own self-care. This pattern doesn’t hold for other uses of time, like work or leisure, and is reduced among those higher in self-compassion or when decisions are made for the distant future. Our findings highlight a psychological barrier to self-care prioritization and offer actionable insights for organizations, employers, and policymakers seeking to promote well-being more effectively.
Self-Care Prioritization
Self-Care Prioritization
Perceptions of GLP-1 Weight-Loss Medication Usage
Consumers frequently make judgments about others’ health-related behaviors. Yet, the rise of the GLP-1 weight loss industry has sent these judgments into overdrive. While some view GLP-1s as a medical breakthrough, others view them as morally questionable. This paper demonstrates that the means through which people lose weight may provoke stronger moral evaluations than the outcome itself. We find that individuals who use GLP-1 medications to lose weight are judged more harshly than those who achieve similar outcomes through diet and exercise, and the underlying role of perceived effort in driving these judgments. Further, we investigate both public (social media) and private (interpersonal) disclosure contexts while also examining when and what type of other effortful behaviors may reduce these negative perceptions. Our findings offer actionable insights for navigating the growing visibility and social complexity surrounding GLP-1s.
Emotional Consequences of Outsourcing Tasks
Outsourcing tasks to third-party services (e.g., dog-walkers, house cleaners, handymen) can enhance consumers’ well-being. However, admitting to having outsourced a task can evoke negative emotions that discourage consumers from disclosing their decision to outsource. Five preregistered experiments demonstrate that consumers feel less comfortable disclosing that they have outsourced a task than sharing that they completed it themselves. This discomfort arises because consumers feel embarrassed about having outsourced, and particularly so for tasks that require little skill and that other people likely expect them to complete independently. And although people's discomfort makes them less likely to share word-of-mouth communication about the services they use, we introduce ways to mitigate this discrepancy, so that outsourcing services may be able to achieve wider acceptance, ultimately saving consumers time and reducing stress.
Busyness and the Pursuit of Friendship
Busyness has increasingly become an aspirational status symbol, with many consumers embracing the “cult” of busyness and overwork. Yet, despite its positive status associations, does signaling busyness come at a social cost? Across five experiments featuring secondary data and hypothetical scenarios, this research demonstrates that individuals perceived as busier are seen as less willing or able to provide emotional support. As a result, people are less inclined to befriend busy individuals or to treat them in shared consumption experiences. Importantly, this effect diminishes when busy individuals actively signal their capacity to care for others, demonstrating not just their availability, but their willingness to invest in relationships. These findings contribute to the literature surrounding relationship development and time use by highlighting a social tradeoff of busyness.
Self-Care Prioritization
Self-Care Prioritization
Employee Well-Being Appeals
Organizations are increasingly investing in workplace wellness programs to support employee well-being and productivity. Yet, while the internal benefits of these initiatives are well-documented, less is known about how consumers perceive them. This research identifies that consumers are willing to pay a premium for products made by companies that prioritize employee well-being because such initiatives strengthen consumers’ emotional attachment to the brand. These findings highlight the dual impact of wellness initiatives: improving employee outcomes while also enhancing consumer perceptions. We also offer practical recommendations for companies to leverage workplace wellness efforts as part of broader strategies to engage both employees and consumers.
