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The future of human behaviour research

Nature Human Behaviour volume 6, pages 15–24 (2022)Cite this article

Human behaviour is complex and multifaceted, and is studied by a broad range of disciplines across the social and natural sciences. To mark our 5th anniversary, we asked leading scientists in some of the key disciplines that we cover to share their vision of the future of research in their disciplines. Our contributors underscore how important it is to broaden the scope of their disciplines to increase ecological validity and diversity of representation, in order to address pressing societal challenges that range from new technologies, modes of interaction and sociopolitical upheaval to disease, poverty, hunger, inequality and climate change. Taken together, these contributions highlight how achieving progress in each discipline will require incorporating insights and methods from others, breaking down disciplinary silos.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Political Science, Ohio State University, Columbus, OH, USA

    Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier

  2. School of Communication and Digital Media Research Centre (DMRC), Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

    Jean Burgess

  3. Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society (ADM+S), Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Jean Burgess

  4. Department of Neuroscience and Padova Neuroscience Center (PNC), University of Padova, Padova, Italy

    Maurizio Corbetta

  5. Venetian Institute of Molecular Medicine (VIMM), Padova, Italy

    Maurizio Corbetta

  6. Annenberg School for Communication and Journalism, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, CA, USA

    Kate Crawford

  7. Microsoft Research New York, New York, NY, USA

    Kate Crawford

  8. École Normale Supérieure, Paris, France

    Kate Crawford

  9. Department of Economics, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Cambridge, MA, USA

    Esther Duflo

  10. Department of Human Behavior, Ecology, and Culture, Max Planck Institute for Evolutionary Anthropology, Leipzig, Germany

    Laurel Fogarty

  11. Department of Psychology, University of California at Berkeley, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Alison Gopnik

  12. American University of Beirut, Beirut, Lebanon

    Sari Hanafi

  13. Department of Global Development, College of Agriculture and Life Sciences and Cornell Atkinson Center for Sustainability, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, USA

    Mario Herrero

  14. Department of Management, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

    Ying-yi Hong

  15. Center for Social and Environmental Systems Research, Social Systems Division, National Institute for Environmental Studies, Tsukuba, Japan

    Yasuko Kameyama

  16. State Key Laboratory of Brain and Cognitive Sciences and Laboratory of Neuropsychology and Human Neuroscience, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

    Tatia M. C. Lee

  17. WHO Collaborating Centre for Infectious Disease Epidemiology and Control, School of Public Health, LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

    Gabriel M. Leung

  18. Laboratory of Data Discovery for Health, Hong Kong Science and Technology Park, Hong Kong, Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, China

    Gabriel M. Leung

  19. Heinz College of Information Systems and Public Policy, Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

    Daniel S. Nagin

  20. Department of Experimental Psychology, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anna C. Nobre

  21. Oxford Centre for Human Brain Activity, Wellcome Centre for Integrative Neuroimaging, Department of Psychiatry, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Anna C. Nobre

  22. CORE - Copenhagen Research Centre for Mental Health, Mental Health Centre Copenhagen, Copenhagen University Hospital, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Merete Nordentoft

  23. Department of Clinical Medicine, Faculty of Health and Medical Sciences, University of Copenhagen, Copenhagen, Denmark

    Merete Nordentoft

  24. Department of Economics, School of Business and Economics, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

    Aysu Okbay

  25. Complex Human Data Hub, University of Melbourne, Melbourne, Victoria, Australia

    Andrew Perfors

  26. ODID and SAME, University of Oxford, Oxford, UK

    Laura M. Rival

  27. School of Public Policy, Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA, USA

    Cassidy R. Sugimoto

  28. Centre of Excellence FAIR, NHH Norwegian School of Economics, Bergen, Norway

    Bertil Tungodden

  29. GESIS – Leibniz Institute for the Social Sciences, Köln, Germany

    Claudia Wagner

  30. RWTH Aachen University, Aachen, Germany

    Claudia Wagner

  31. Complexity Science Hub Vienna, Vienna, Austria

    Claudia Wagner

Authors
  1. Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier
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  2. Jean Burgess
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  3. Maurizio Corbetta
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  4. Kate Crawford
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  5. Esther Duflo
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  6. Laurel Fogarty
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  7. Alison Gopnik
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  8. Sari Hanafi
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  9. Mario Herrero
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  10. Ying-yi Hong
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  11. Yasuko Kameyama
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  12. Tatia M. C. Lee
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  13. Gabriel M. Leung
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  14. Daniel S. Nagin
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  15. Anna C. Nobre
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  16. Merete Nordentoft
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  17. Aysu Okbay
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  18. Andrew Perfors
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  19. Laura M. Rival
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  20. Cassidy R. Sugimoto
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  21. Bertil Tungodden
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  22. Claudia Wagner
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Corresponding authors

Correspondence to Janet M. Box-Steffensmeier, Jean Burgess, Maurizio Corbetta, Kate Crawford, Esther Duflo, Laurel Fogarty, Alison Gopnik, Sari Hanafi, Mario Herrero, Ying-yi Hong, Yasuko Kameyama, Tatia M. C. Lee, Gabriel M. Leung, Daniel S. Nagin, Anna C. Nobre, Merete Nordentoft, Aysu Okbay, Andrew Perfors, Laura M. Rival, Cassidy R. Sugimoto, Bertil Tungodden or Claudia Wagner.

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Box-Steffensmeier, J.M., Burgess, J., Corbetta, M. et al. The future of human behaviour research. Nat Hum Behav 6, 15–24 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-021-01275-6

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