Do the right thing: the assumption of optimality in lay decision theory and causal judgment

Cognitive Psychology
Samuel G B Johnson, Lance J Rips

Abstract

Human decision-making is often characterized as irrational and suboptimal. Here we ask whether people nonetheless assume optimal choices from other decision-makers: Are people intuitive classical economists? In seven experiments, we show that an agent's perceived optimality in choice affects attributions of responsibility and causation for the outcomes of their actions. We use this paradigm to examine several issues in lay decision theory, including how responsibility judgments depend on the efficacy of the agent's actual and counterfactual choices (Experiments 1-3), individual differences in responsibility assignment strategies (Experiment 4), and how people conceptualize decisions involving trade-offs among multiple goals (Experiments 5-6). We also find similar results using everyday decision problems (Experiment 7). Taken together, these experiments show that attributions of responsibility depend not only on what decision-makers do, but also on the quality of the options they choose not to take.

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Citations

Jul 9, 2016·Trends in Cognitive Sciences·Julian Jara-EttingerJoshua B Tenenbaum
Sep 2, 2016·PloS One·Samuel J GershmanFiery A Cushman
Feb 17, 2018·Cognitive Science·Julian Jara-EttingerJoshua B Tenenbaum
Jun 17, 2020·Frontiers in Psychology·Guy GrinfeldMarius Usher
Apr 4, 2017·Cognitive Research: Principles and Implications·Nancy S KimJoshua Knobe
Mar 3, 2021·Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America·Julian De FreitasEmilio Frazzoli
Apr 21, 2018·Cognition·Tobias GerstenbergJoshua B Tenenbaum
Jul 25, 2021·Cognitive Psychology·Antonia F LangenhoffTobias Gerstenberg
Sep 8, 2021·Cognitive Science·Marta KryvenJoshua B Tenenbaum

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