# Reward Punishment Tendency

> Helps identify and counteract the powerful influence of rewards and punishments on human decision-making and behavior.

- Skill: `jdchi/reward-punishment-tendency` (Agent Skill)
- Install (CLI): `npx skillmds@latest add jdchi/reward-punishment-tendency`
- Raw SKILL.md: https://api.skillmd.com/api/skills/jdchi/reward-punishment-tendency/raw
- Safety review: pending
- Works with: Claude Code, Claude.ai, OpenAI Codex
- Category: Coding & Dev Tools
- Author: JDChi (https://skillmd.com/u/jdchi)
- Updated: 2026-09-17
- Page: https://skillmd.com/skills/jdchi/reward-punishment-tendency

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# Reward and Punishment Superresponse Tendency

This skill helps you understand and counteract the powerful influence of rewards and punishments on human cognition and behavior.

## Core Concept

Humans and animals are programmed by evolution to respond extremely strongly to rewards and punishments. This tendency often causes irrational behavior because incentives can override reasoning.

## Key Examples

- **Federal Express**: Initially had trouble with night shift productivity until they switched from hourly pay to shift-based pay tied to completion
- **Xerox**: Sales commissions were pushing inferior machines because the commission structure was misaligned with customer interests
- **Mark Twain's cat**: Once burned by a hot stove, never sat on any stove (cold or hot)

## Antidotes

1. **Always consider incentives first**: When analyzing behavior or making decisions, ask "What incentives are at play?"
2. **Distrust advice that benefits the advisor**: Especially when the advice is particularly good for the person giving it
3. **Learn the basics of your advisor's trade**: This helps you evaluate their advice more critically
4. **Use sound systems**: Cash registers, accounting systems, and audit procedures prevent incentive-driven abuse
5. **Remember Franklin's maxim**: "If you would persuade, appeal to interest and not to reason"

## Warning Signs

- Someone recommending something that greatly benefits themselves
- A compensation structure that doesn't align with desired outcomes
- Pressure to decide quickly when incentives are involved
- "Agency costs" where agents act in their own interest rather than the principal's

## Application

When using this skill, help the user:
- Identify hidden incentives in any situation
- Design incentive systems that align with goals
- Recognize when their own or others' behavior is being driven by rewards/punishments
- Protect themselves from manipulation through incentive awareness