How actions create--not just reveal--preferences.
Abstract
The neo-classical economics view that behavior is driven by - and reflective of -
hedonic utility is challenged by psychologists' demonstrations of cases in which actions
do not merely reveal preferences but rather create them. In this view, preferences
are frequently constructed in the moment and are susceptible to fleeting situational
factors; problematically, individuals are insensitive to the impact of such factors
on their behavior, misattributing utility caused by these irrelevant factors to stable
underlying preferences. Consequently, subsequent behavior might reflect not hedonic
utility but rather this erroneously imputed utility that lingers in memory. Here we
review the roles of these streams of utility in shaping preferences, and discuss how
neuroimaging offers unique possibilities for disentangling their independent contributions
to behavior.
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Journal articlePermalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6219Published Version (Please cite this version)
10.1016/j.tics.2007.10.008Publication Info
Ariely, Dan; & Norton, Michael I (2008). How actions create--not just reveal--preferences. Trends Cogn Sci, 12(1). pp. 13-16. 10.1016/j.tics.2007.10.008. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/6219.This is constructed from limited available data and may be imprecise. To cite this
article, please review & use the official citation provided by the journal.
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Dan Ariely
James B. Duke Distinguished Professor of Behavioral Economics
HI, I'M DAN ARIELY. I do research in behavioral economics and try to describe it in
plain language. These findings have enriched my life, and my hope is that they will
do the same for you.
My immersive introduction to irrationality took place many years ago while I was overcoming
injuries sustained in an explosion. The range of treatments in the burn department,
and particularly the daily “bath” mad

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