Framing Decisions: Decision-Making that Accounts for Irrationality, People and Constraints

6

People as Decision-Makers

This chapter looks at decision making from the perspective of individuals. The question it addresses is: When people make decisions, what is going through their heads? We have seen that the Homo economicus perspective offers a straightforward answer. It holds that they balance possible choices with a view to selecting one that maximizes their gain. This is a convenient fiction that economists employ in building their models. However, it does not offer a serious explanation of how people actually make decisions.

In making decisions, people do not operate in a vacuum. Their decisions are made within a social space, as described in Chapter Three. The decisions are affected by a spectrum of social forces tied to an array ...