From ordering food to buying a new book to making a charitable donation, more and more decisions that used to be made on paper are now being made on digital devices like tablets, phones and computers. This trend toward digitalization has many advantages, particularly when it comes to efficiency and sustainability. But could it also be negatively influencing how we make decisions?

We conducted a series of studies with more than 2,500 participants across the U.S. and China to explore the impact of the medium you use to make a decision, with a particular focus on decisions with some sort of moral component, such as whether or not to make a donation to a charity, or whether to choose a healthy or unhealthy entrée at a restaurant. We asked the participants to make a variety of choices using either a paper form or a digital tablet, and despite controlling for all other variables, we consistently found that people who used paper made more virtuous decisions than those who used a digital device. For example, participants who read their options and made a selection on paper were significantly more likely to give money to charity, choose a healthy entrée and opt for an educational book rather than something more entertaining. Why might this be?

WHEN A DECISION FEELS MORE REAL, WE ACT MORE VIRTUOUSLY

Our research suggests that the key mechanism driving this effect is how “real” the decision feels. We asked participants in two of our studies to describe how real or tangible a decision felt, as well as the extent to which they perceived the decision as representing who they were as people. They consistently indicated that making a choice on paper felt more real and representative than making the same decision on a digital device. Follow-up analyses confirmed that when a decision felt more real, participants were more likely to feel that it was representative of who they were as a person, ultimately making them more likely to go with the virtuous or responsible option.

TO ENCOURAGE VIRTUOUS DECISION-MAKING, CONSIDER USING PAPER

It may seem like a minor detail, but our research shows that the medium with which your customers, employees or community members make a decision can have a major impact on the choices they make. This has implications for marketers, policymakers and anyone seeking to encourage any sort of virtuous behavior. For example, to encourage customers to choose healthier options, restaurants might consider opting for paper over digital menus. Similarly, parents and educators might opt to provide students with paper rather than online book order forms, in order to increase the chances that they’ll choose educational reading materials. Charities and political groups may also benefit from paper pledge forms and volunteer sign-up sheets, rather than relying on websites or apps to solicit support.

Of course, using paper is far from a guarantee of virtuous behavior — and it certainly doesn’t make sense in every context. But when paper is an option, our research suggests that it can be an effective way to make a decision feel more real and representative of the decision-maker as a person, ultimately increasing the chances that they’ll make a virtuous choice.

Over the next six months, you and your classmates are going to make one of your first major life decisions: where to start your freshman year at college. But where isn’t the only important question — you should also consider when.

Rushing off to the next step in life can worsen burnout in the short term and could mean the difference between pursuing an authentic life and living out someone else’s dream for you. It’s worth exploring the benefits of taking a gap year instead.

THE BENEFITS OF A GAP YEAR

On almost every metric, pursuing a college degree remains a sound decision. That’s not in question. The timing of that education, however, is. For many, taking a gap year — typically defined as an academic year-long break between secondary school and university — can reduce stress and burnout, improve academic performance, and be instrumental in finding purpose.

HOW TO TAKE A GAP YEAR

You’ll need to start with two stages: finding inspiration and permission, researching the logistics, and developing a blueprint for action.

While most people are familiar with the concept of a gap year, the process of taking one itself is not as well known. So, your challenge in looking for inspiration and permission is to find someone who has actually taken a gap year and learn from them. You can start by posting about it or asking friends and family if they know of anyone you could talk to. This will enable you to learn firsthand the lessons, best practices, and possibilities for a year off the routine path.

As you talk to others about their gap year experiences, you should also start exploring what’s available for you logistically. You’ll want to know what your school’s leave of absence and deferral options are. You may be worried that deferring your admission will hurt your standing before you even set foot on campus, but quite the opposite is true. Even those schools that don’t offer an explicit gap year program may defer admission or offer a leave of absence after meeting certain criteria.

If you decide that a gap year is right for you and it’s doable logistically, there are three main elements to consider in your blueprint: your budget, your desired level of independence, and whether or not to travel or stay at home.

In college, we begin the process of choosing our field of work. We meet lifelong friends, even spouses. There are so many reasons why post-secondary education is important. But college has increasingly become an epicenter for burnout, prompting inauthentic career choices and an accumulation of debt that stays with people for decades. Gap year alumni and research on extended leave suggest that one of the best strategies for stepping forward from high school to college may be to step out of this routine altogether for a bit. By taking a gap year, you can focus on first knowing yourself before going on to make some of the most important decisions of your life.