Archinect - News 2024-11-21T17:19:03-05:00 https://archinect.com/news/article/150001020/uber-manipulates-its-drivers-through-behavioral-science-experiments Uber manipulates its drivers through behavioral science experiments Nicholas Korody 2017-04-03T12:49:00-04:00 >2017-04-03T12:49:31-04:00 <img src="https://archinect.gumlet.io/uploads/3d/3dwfrhanyh2z3p6k.jpg?fit=crop&auto=compress%2Cformat&enlarge=true&w=1200" border="0" /><em><p>...even as Uber talks up its determination to treat drivers more humanely, it is engaged in an extraordinary behind-the-scenes experiment in behavioral science to manipulate them in the service of its corporate growth &mdash; an effort whose dimensions became evident in interviews with several dozen current and former Uber officials, drivers and social scientists, as well as a review of behavioral research.</p></em><br /><br /><p><em>"Because its drivers are independent contractors, they lack most of the protections associated with employment. By mastering their workers&rsquo; mental circuitry, Uber and the like may be taking the economy back toward a pre-New Deal era when businesses had enormous power over workers and few checks on their ability to exploit it."</em></p>