Exploring a dualism of human rationality: experimental study of a cheating contest game
- Rational behavior is a standard assumption in science. Indeed, rationality is required for environmental action towards net-zero emissions or public health interventions during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic. Yet, little is known about the elements of rationality. This paper explores a dualism of rationality comprised of optimality and consistency. By designing a new guessing game, we experimentally uncover and disentangle two building blocks of human rationality: the notions of optimality and consistency. We find evidence that rationality is largely associated to optimality and weakly to consistency. Remarkably, under uncertainty, rationality gradually shifts to a heuristic notion. Our findings provide insights to better understand human decision making.
| Author of HS Reutlingen | Herzog, Bodo; Schnee, Stefanie |
|---|---|
| URN: | urn:nbn:de:bsz:rt2-opus4-39308 |
| DOI: | https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph19137675 |
| ISSN: | 1661-7827 |
| eISSN: | 1660-4601 |
| Erschienen in: | International journal of environmental research and public health |
| Publisher: | MDPI |
| Place of publication: | Basel |
| Document Type: | Journal article |
| Language: | English |
| Publication year: | 2022 |
| Tag: | behavioral sciences; consistency; decision making; dualism of rationality; guessing game; optimality; policy making; psychology |
| Volume: | 19 |
| Issue: | 13 |
| Page Number: | 13 |
| Article Number: | 7675 |
| DDC classes: | 610 Medizin, Gesundheit |
| Open access?: | Ja |
| Licence (German): |  Creative Commons - CC BY - Namensnennung 4.0 International |
