Mind, Behaviour and Health – A Randomised Experiment

This paper investigates to what extent behavioural traits, such as patience, risk aversion and self-control are trainable. If they are, this would open new prospects to improve lifestyle choices and health. We conduct a randomised field experiment with 139 subjects to investigate the effects of a psychological training intervention – consisting of “mindfulness” training – on fundamental preferences underlying decision-making (risk taking and
time preferences) and health-related behaviours. We also evaluate the effects of the intervention on chronic stress and well-being measures.