This talk will begin with a study from our laboratory that focused on an “ordinary” yet highly significant and challenging practical problem: Why do so many people,especially young males,apparently choose to expose themselves to markedly high risks by driving their cars without wearing their seatbelts? Previous efforts to meet this challenge have been dominated by an assumption that seatbelt-use decisions mainly derive from drivers’ misperceptions of the risks involved.That is why it has been puzzling that drivers’ dysfunctional decisions persist despite the well-publicized fact that,year after year,many people die as a consequence.