How Polygence Can Help You Get Started in Behavioral Economics Before College

“While I am still deciding what I want to pursue in college, this project has equipped me with analytical, research, and writing skills to help me succeed in the future.” - Risa, Polygence alum

Imagine you’re a high school student with a fascination for understanding why people make the decisions they do. Whether it’s related to consumer behavior or environmental choices, behavioral economics offers insights into the psychological and economic factors driving human actions. For high schoolers like Risa Bernier, a Polygence alumna, exploring this interdisciplinary field through a personalized research project opened up a world of possibilities.

Risa Bernier a Polygence alumnus, completed a research project studying Pro-Environmental Behavior (PEB), an individual's behavior that consciously reduces negative environmental impacts while improving environmental conditions. She discovered that there are advantages of using behavioral and neuroeconomics to deepen our understanding of PEB to promote and nudge PEB. Risa’s project outcome was a literature review that provides an overview of PEB, examines the psychological factors, such as personality and motivation, that influence PEB and pro-environmental attitudes (PEA), and then analyzes neuroscience findings based on an individual's brain size and brain activation when engaging in sustainable behavior.

With growing interest in behavioral economics among high schoolers, this subject holds relevance not only for those interested in business, psychology, or social sciences but also for anyone looking to understand real-world behaviors and decision-making. Yet, traditional high school curricula rarely offer courses that cover this in depth. Fortunately, Polygence bridges this gap, allowing students to explore behavioral economics early and giving them a competitive edge and a head start on their future academic and career paths.

The Unique Appeal of Behavioral Economics for High School Students

Behavioral economics combines psychology with economic theory to understand how individuals make decisions,  challenging the assumption that people are fully rational. Instead, it acknowledges that people have cognitive biases, emotions, and social influences that affect their decision-making. A significant part of its appeal lies in its interdisciplinary nature, making it approachable for students with diverse interests.

Behavioral economics is an ideal subject for high school students because they are still exploring various topics and haven’t yet specialized in a major. This field allows them to tap into a wide range of interests and discover what excites them.

Behavioral economics is extremely relevant to the real world. You learn about biases and heuristics that come up in your daily life, and more often than not, you or someone you know has fallen victim to that bias before. Part of the fun of behavioral economics is also being able to apply your understanding of those biases and behaviors to impactful public policy, business decisions, and marketing. For instance, Risa researched how we can nudge PEB so that more people can help the environment, and in Luke’s COVID-19 survey, he was able to analyze how people felt and behaved during COVID-19, an extremely important time period.

At Polygence, we recognize the importance of behavioral economics, yet this subject is often absent from traditional high school curricula. Many schools may offer AP Microeconomics or Macroeconomics, but these topics don’t really cover behavioral economics concepts. As a result, high school students think that they have to wait until college before they can start learning behavioral economics. We firmly believe that that’s not the case, and you can start learning in high school by pursuing your own research project.

The Importance of Mentorship in Behavioral Economics Research

Mentorship plays a huge role in creating an incredible learning experience for behavioral economics research projects. In Polygence’s core research program, Polygence economics mentors are industry experts who can not only help students learn fundamental theories and concepts in the field but also personally guide them on the direction of their research projects based on what they know the student is interested in. Especially in a field like behavioral economics that intersects so many different topics, it’s very helpful to have a mentor who can help you navigate those different areas and help you ultimately choose a topic to focus on.

Further, behavioral economics is extremely relevant to the real world because, well, it’s all about how people behave in the real world! In behavioral economics, you learn about biases and heuristics that come up in your daily life, and more often than not, you or someone you know has fallen victim to that bias before. Part of the fun of behavioral economics is also being able to apply your understanding of those biases and behaviors to impactful public policy, business decisions, and marketing. For Risa’s project, she was able to research how we can nudge PEB so that more people can help the environment, and in Luke’s project, he was able to analyze how people felt and behaved during COVID-19, an extremely important time period.

Academic Benefits of Behavioral Economics Research

A major benefit of doing a behavioral economics research project is the opportunity to learn and grasp important concepts in the field of behavioral economics, and learn critical research skills. These can help you build an excellent foundation to continue studying topics in economics, psychology, and sociology in college. For example, in his research, Luke was able to learn how to compare prior academic literature and studies, and extract knowledge from research articles. Risa found through her project that she improved her research and writing skills. For more on research skills, you can check out our blog post on Reading Scientific Articles.

Long-Term Career Benefits of Behavioral Economics Research

Moreover, a behavioral economics project can give you a better understanding of what you’re interested in within the field and help you narrow your focus as you approach the start of college.

Coming into his Polygence project, Luke was debating whether he wanted to be a psychologist or psychiatrist. Through his mentorship sessions with Gabor, Luke was able to gain a better understanding of the nuances of the two professions:

“In a free-flowing conversation during one of our sessions about education, I brought up this question with Gabor. He really helped me define the differences between those two as we went through the background material for my project. The great thing about Polygence is that Gabor is the mentor, but our conversations don’t just have to be focused on the project or about learning. He helps me with making decisions and advancing my knowledge of the field. I think overall, it’s more than just “here, learn this, do this”—there's a lot of personal connection between me and Gabor.” - Luke 

This invaluable advice gives Luke a better sense of direction during his college experience, which can often be difficult to find because there are seemingly endless options out there. It can also help Gabor find the right school for him now that he knows that he wants to focus on psychiatry. Check out our lists of the Best Schools for Psychology and the Top Undergraduate Business Schools in the US.

Similarly, for Gretel Garcia, doing her Polygence research project on User-Generated Content on Brand Perception in Social Media Shopping Cross-Cultural Analysis helped her narrow her focus: “Thanks to my research, I was able to fully decide that I wanted to pursue Marketing and Psychology as my major in college.”

Moreover, a research project opens many doors career-wise. You can showcase your research on your college application, and display your research on your resume when applying to internships in the social sciences. Just be sure to communicate not only your overall takeaways but also your process for collecting data and analyzing that data! Colleges and internship employers actually care a lot more about your process.

Unlock Your Potential in Behavioral Economics with Polygence

"Starting a project with Polygence was one of the best decisions I made in high school. Choose a topic that genuinely excites you… Specifically, with Polygence, don’t be afraid to step outside your comfort zone—this is your chance to dive into subjects that aren’t typically covered in the classroom." – Gretel Garcia

Through Polygence’s core research program, students have the opportunity to work with an expert behavioral economics mentor who provides personalized guidance throughout the research process. Whether you're interested in consumer behavior, decision-making, or policy analysis, Polygence’s mentorship will allow you to explore these areas in depth and prepare you for future academic and career success.

If you're new to behavioral economics or need inspiration, check out our Top Economics Project Ideas for High School Students to get started. With Polygence, you’ll not only gain hands-on research experience but also develop critical thinking, problem-solving, and analytical skills that will set you apart in college admissions and beyond.

Take the leap into the world of behavioral economics with Polygence, and unlock your full potential!