Katherine Milkman, an associate professor of operations, information and decisions at the Wharton School, was honored with the Federation of Associations in Behavioral & Brain Sciences (FABBS) Foundation Early Career Impact Award during the annual meeting of the Society for Judgment and Decision Making in November 2015 in Chicago, Illinois.

Dr. Milkman is recognized for her research on temptation bundling, in which a virtuous behavior, such as exercising, is paired with a vice, such as entertainment. In a study of college students who wanted to exercise more, she found that students who could only unlock a tempting audio novel while they exercised did so more often than those who simply received gift certificates to Barnes & Noble. According to Dr. Milkman, other applications of temptation bundling might include “pairing your favorite burger restaurant with spending time with a difficult relative, or saving a great podcast for household chores.”

She has also researched the fresh start effect, finding that people are more likely to make behavioral changes during “landmark times that mark a new beginning,” such as birthdays, holidays, or the start of a new year, week, month or season.