Scientific Definition
Professors rewarded by student evaluations have an incentive to inflate.
Plain-English Definition
Professors rewarded by student evaluations have an incentive to inflate.
Feynman Explanation
The customer is always right, even when the customer is supposed to be learning.
Core Principle
Professors rewarded by student evaluations have an incentive to inflate.
Mechanisms
Pending editorial review.
Professors rewarded by student evaluations have an incentive to inflate.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Signaling value erodes as inflation continues.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Inputs (Triggers)
Pending editorial review.
Outputs (Behaviors)
Pending editorial review.
Behavioral Signature
The customer is always right, even when the customer is supposed to be learning.
Examples
- Average GPAs steadily rising at elite universities.
- Signaling value erodes as inflation continues.
Pending editorial review.
Famous Experiments
Pending editorial review.
Design Principles
- Normalize by cohort. Externally validated assessment.
Measurement Approaches
Pending editorial review.
Evidence
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
The Perverse Incentive Lens™
How this behavior is exploited — and how to redesign around it.
- Normalize by cohort. Externally validated assessment.
Pending editorial review.
Pending editorial review.
Interactive Mini Network
Click any neighbor to re-center the graph and follow the threads of connection.
Knowledge Graph Neighbors
Auto-linked to the rest of the Human Behavior Taxonomy by family, domain, dimension, and shared keywords.
Universities optimize for ranking metrics rather than education quality.
Tenure-track jobs replaced by low-paid adjuncts, lowering cost and quality.
Seat-time accountability rewards presence over engagement.
Employers screen by school name, rewarding admission rather than developed skill.
Schools optimize for ranking inputs (selectivity, spending) instead of student outcomes.
Tying institutional survival to graduate salaries forces schools to drop social-service programs.
Grade-driven admissions reward strategic course-picking over intellectual risk.
Schools judged on completion rates have an incentive to pass underprepared students.
More homework signals rigor to parents but often produces burnout, not understanding.
Grant cycles favor safe, incremental work over high-risk breakthroughs.
A single test format constrains pedagogy and disadvantages diverse learners.
Easy federal lending lets colleges raise tuition without market discipline.