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Propositions

1. Models and methods from behavioral economics can also be used for studying decisions about health (this dissertation).

2. When deciding about health, many people are loss averse, weight probabilities, are impatient and/or have inconsistent preferences. (this dissertation).

3. Outcomes used in health state valuation can be biased, most prominently because health changes are often perceived as gains or losses compared to some reference point (this dissertation).

4. Multiple reference points play a role in health state valuation, which makes reference-dependent models particularly useful in deriving utility assigned to health states (this dissertation).

5. Behavioral insights improve our understanding of health behavior, but dealing with the noise and heterogeneity in individuals’ preferences remains a challenge (this dissertation).

6. Interdisciplinary science can be difficult, but it produces new insights, inspiring collaborations, and can help advance single disciplines.

7. Teaching and rhetoric skills are underappreciated in academia.

8. “The secret to doing good research is always to be a little underemployed. You waste years by not being able to waste hours”. (Amos Tversky, as quoted by Michael Lewis in the Undoing Project)

9. Bans, mandates and nudges may harm individual freedom of choice, but may still be justifiable policy tools to address pressing societal issues such as climate change or preventable disease.

10. Promoting a healthier lifestyle is no solution for the rising health care expenditures worldwide.

11. To think for yourself you have to question authority. (Tool)