The human mind works in mysterious ways. When it comes to money, many people are willing to do what is asked of them in return for payment. Look at professional contact sports leagues. These elite athletes sign lucrative contracts despite assuming high risks of physical injury. An example of this is in the National Football League. I am a huge sports fan and a collegiate athlete, and I can appreciate the thrill most professional athletes must feel when they make it to the top of their game. Despite the benefits of playing a sport and the financial rewards it can bring, many athletes still seem to under-appreciate the substantial physical risks they assume when subjecting their bodies to many years of repetitive force and contact. 

A prime example relates to rising concerns about the risks of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy (CTE), a degenerative brain disease caused by repeated trauma to the head, among ex-NFL players (Concussion Legacy Foundation n.d.). In one study out of Boston University, researchers found 110 out of 111 deceased NFL players from the years of 2008-2016 had CTE. Bias exists with this number since the research group was specifically looking for players who exhibited signs of CTE pre-death (Gorski 2018). Thus, another group of researchers took this figure and compared it to the total number of ex-NFL players who died between the same time span, reaching a total of 1142 players or a minimum prevalence of 9.6%. A third study looked at the total number of NFL players who played during the same time period as the previous 110 CTE-positive brains, 1963-2008, and registered roughly 10,000 individuals for the denominator with a 1% minimum prevalence (Gorski 2018). 

It is very difficult to have an absolute takeaway from any of these studies due to the intrinsic complexities and biases associated with each. Even at the minimum 1% rate of CTE or 1 in 100 players, there is a cause for concern. Most athletes would ignore you if you asked them to quit their respective sport despite the risk of physical deterioration. Although there are benefits to sports such as comradery, notoriety and discipline, the risk of injury is apparent. The choice to carry on a potential hurtful action can be extended to the everyday person. Everyday, we as humans make choices that are unhealthy. Is there a way to quantify the dollar amount for some of these decisions? And if not, why? 

In traditional economic thought, rational choice theory drives decision making. Rational choice theory, or the ability for a person to recognize opportunities that result in the highest satisfaction and most beneficial outcomes, is an assumption aligned with self-interest (Anderson 2021). Many decisions have complex outcomes that affect the people who surround you. It is thought that if the rational decision is made, the economy and the people around you will benefit as well. 

Behavioral economics does not assume rational decision making. Instead, this branch of economics labels the individual as irrational and incapable of making good decisions. This belief is rooted in the emotions that charge us. The distractions society has placed around us leads to simple choices to become extremely difficult for others. Advertisement campaigns, social media, and influencers alike contribute to the unexplainable urges when it comes to consuming unhealthy products or lifestyle choices. 

According to the CDC, as of 2018, the United States obesity prevalence was 42.4% amongst US adults (Hales 2017-2018). In this same report, it was found that southern states including Texas, Louisiana, Arkansas, Missouri, and Oklahoma among others all reported state obesity rates of over 40%. These same states reported a 65% sugar-sweetened beverage (SSB) daily intake out of 20,000 self-reported participants. An SSB includes regular soda, sports drinks, sweetened fruit drinks, and sweetened coffee or tea drinks (Chevinsky 2015). According to the CDC, SSBs are the leading source of added sugars in the United States diet and lead to adverse health effects like the aforementioned obesity, type 2 diabetes, kidney disease, and more (Chevinsky 2015). 

Many factors contribute to obesity like genetics, medications, and sleep, among others. Financial resources also plays a role in the quality of food a person consumes. Despite all this, a positive correlation exists between the high rates of obesity in southern states and the reported high daily intake of SSBs. According to the World Health Organization, individuals who consume sugary drinks 1-2 times daily are at a 26% increased risk to develop type 2 diabetes than individuals who do not (World Health Organization 2017). Individuals can potentially reduce the amount of SSBs intake by substituting water for these same sugary drinks. 

One type of financial incentive that has been implemented to discourage consumption of sugar through drinks is through an excise tax. “Estimates suggest that, over 10 years, a tax on sugary drinks of 1 cent per ounce in the United States of America would result in more than US $17 billion in healthcare cost savings” (World Health Organization 2017). A tax like this should both decrease spending on healthcare while also improving the mental and physical health of the individuals who change their lifestyles. In 2014, the Mexican government implemented a 1 peso per litre excise tax on any non-alcoholic SSB. The producer of the product pays this tax. In order to make up for the lost revenue paid due to the tax, producers can be expected to increase prices of the taxed items. When the Mexican government implemented the aforementioned tax, consumer prices increased around 10% (The Nutritional Health Alliance 2016). Within the first two years after implementation, this tax led to a 7.6% average reduction in purchases of taxed sugary drinks and a 2.1% increase in purchases of bottled water and other non-taxed beverages (World Health Organization 2017). 

Self-reflecting upon your own behavior to determine what is beneficial to you in the long run can be difficult. Whether it is to sleep in or to start your day early; smoke a cigarette or spare your lungs; or even drink water over a sugary beverage like we discussed, all of these choices are difficult for the human mind to process. Thomas Rutledge, a Ph.D. in the psychiatry department at UC San Diego, summarizes the thought process behind the toughness of perceived healthy behavior, explaining, “Bad habits are formed easily primarily because they are rapidly reinforced” (Rutledge 2021). Rutledge could not be more correct. Most healthy behaviors are reinforced in the future. Drinking sugar tastes a lot better than drinking water and can relieve stress. For long term health, however, water is clearly the preferred alternative. Staying up late and sleeping in is a lot more comfortable than waking up early. Smoking a cigarette allows the user to feel a nearly instantaneous buzz from nicotine, despite it being a known fact that cigarettes cause 9 out of every 10 cases of lung cancer (Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2021).  

The effect that money has on the reward center of the brain has been likened to that of a drug. In a study published in the journal Psychological Science in 2009, two groups of students were given something to hold before placing their hand in a bowl of 122 degree Fahrenheit water. One group was given slips of money and the other group was given blank pieces of paper to count. The group that held money before placing their hand in the extremely hot bowl reported feeling less pain, an increased level in happiness, and overall more comfort throughout the duration of the experiment compared to the students who held pieces of paper (Kestenbaum 2009). Despite the monetary compensation one receives from being paid, individuals also garner a greater sense of achievement subconsciously through money. Although both groups were exposed to the same temperature water, money had a substantial  effect on the performance of the subjects. These individuals did not even keep the money; they just simply held it beforehand. This exhibits how when matched with a difficult task at hand together with financial compensation, an individual’s behavior can be primed to exceed preconceived limits.

Financial incentive can bridge the gap between choosing to do something for your future self rather than thinking about immediate reward. The comforting effects of money on the brain can subconsciously coax an individual to favor habits that will provide more benefits over time rather than immediately. Giving someone $5, or some other arbitrary value, every time they decide not to smoke a cigarette will prime this person to associate money with not smoking. This principle can be applied to going to bed earlier, eating healthier foods, and even promoting exercise. After enough instances, this behavior through repetition priming with a financial stimulus can be ingrained as a positive behavior (Cherry 2021).

References

Anderson, Somer and Akhilesh Ganti. 2021. “Rational Choice Theory.” Last Reviewed July 21, 2021 .https://www.investopedia.com/terms/r/rational-choice-theory.asp

Cherry, Kendra. Reviewed June 18, 2021. “Priming and the Psychology of Memory.” Accessed November 5, 2021. https://www.verywellmind.com/priming-and-the-psychology-of-memory-4173092

Chevinsky, Jennifer R. MD, MPH, Seung Hee Lee, PhD, Heidi M. Blanck, PhD, and Sohyun Park, PhD. 2015. “Prevalence of Self-Reported Intake of Sugar-Sweetened Beverages Among US Adults in 50 States and the District of Columbia, 2010 and 2015.” Last Reviewed April 15, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/pcd/issues/2021/20_0434.htm

Concussion Legacy Foundation. N.d. “What is CTE?” Accessed October 23rd, 2021. https://concussionfoundation.org/CTE-resources/what-is-CTE.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2021. “Tobacco and Cancer.” Last reviewed November 3, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/cancer/tobacco/index.htm

Gorski, Chris. 2018. “What's the Risk of Chronic Traumatic Encephalopathy for NFL Players?” November 29, 2018. https://www.insidescience.org/news/whats-risk-chronic-traumatic-encephalopathy-nfl-players

Hales, Craig M. M.D., Margaret D. Carroll, M.S.P.H., Cheryl D. Fryar, M.S.P.H., and Cynthia L. Ogden, Ph.D. 2017-2018. “Prevalence of obesity and severe obesity among adults: United States”. NCHS Data Brief, no 360. Accessed October 24th, 2021. https://www.cdc.gov/nchs/products/databriefs/db360.htm

Kestenbaum, David. 2009. “:Study: Your Brain Thinks Money is a Drug.” Accessed November 1, 2021. https://www.npr.org/2009/08/07/111579154/study-your-brain-thinks-money-is-a-drug

The Nutritional Health Alliance. 2016. “Uncapping the Truth: The Mexican Sugar Sweetened Beverage Tax Works.” Accessed September 23, 2021. https://www.sidint.net/sites/www.sidint.net/files/Fact%20sheet_Uncapping%20the%20truth%20Mexico%20SSB%20tax_June2016.pdf
World Health Organization. 2017. “Taxes on Sugary Drinks: Why do it?” Accessed September 23, 2021. https://apps.who.int/iris/bitstream/handle/10665/260253/WHO-NMH-PND-16.5Rev.1-eng.pdf;sequence=1