After five years of marriage, I still struggle to explain to my spouse what a "behavioral scientist" does. It's a difficult thing to articulate, and I know other behavioral scientists share this issue. We often rely on terms that oversimplify what we do. If I were to write a description for how Behavioral Science is most often described, this is what I might write: “We apply empirically tested solutions, like nudges, to correct irrational biases and achieve behavior change.”

But is that really what we do?

I worry that the popularity of certain terms has done us a disservice. I wonder if we've allowed good branding to define our field, limiting us in the process.

In the sections below, I’ll offer five unpopular opinions concerning five core concepts—not to discredit Behavioral Science, but to remind us that our field is far more than the concepts that made us popular.

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