IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/wpaper/hal-00851309.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

On Apparent Irrational Behaviors : Interacting Structures and the Mind

Author

Listed:
  • Pierre Gosselin

    (IF - Institut Fourier - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UGA [2016-2019] - Université Grenoble Alpes [2016-2019])

  • Aïleen Lotz

    (Cerca Trova)

  • Marc Wambst

    (IRMA - Institut de Recherche Mathématique Avancée - UNISTRA - Université de Strasbourg - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique)

Abstract

We develop a general method to solve models of interactions between multiple and possibly strategic agents. Our model explains apparently irrational or biased behaviors in a person. We argue that these actions could result from several rational structures having different goals. Our main example is a model of three agents, "conscious", "unconscious", and "body". Our main result states that, for an agent whose unconscious and conscious goals differ, the unconscious may influence the conscious, either directly or indirectly, via a third agent, the body. This three-agent model describes behaviors such as craving, exces- sive smoking, or sleepiness, to delay or dismiss a task. One of the main result shows that the unconscious' strategic action crucially depends on whether the conscious' actions are complementary in time. When complementary, and if the conscious is not sensitive to un- conscious' messages, the unconscious may drive the conscious towards its goals by blurring physical needs. When not complementary, the unconscious may more easily reach his goal by influencing the conscious, be it directly or indirectly.

Suggested Citation

  • Pierre Gosselin & Aïleen Lotz & Marc Wambst, 2013. "On Apparent Irrational Behaviors : Interacting Structures and the Mind," Working Papers hal-00851309, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00851309
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-00851309
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-00851309/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    Other versions of this item:

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. David K. Levine & Drew Fudenberg, 2006. "A Dual-Self Model of Impulse Control," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 96(5), pages 1449-1476, December.
    2. Lotz, Aïleen, 2011. "An Economic Approach to the Self : the Dual Agent," MPRA Paper 30043, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Lotz, Aileen & Gosselin, Pierre, 2012. "A dynamic model of interactions between conscious and unconscious," MPRA Paper 36697, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    4. Kincaid, Harold & Ross, Don (ed.), 2009. "The Oxford Handbook of Philosophy of Economics," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780195189254.
    5. Akerlof, George A, 1991. "Procrastination and Obedience," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 81(2), pages 1-19, May.
    6. Don Ross, 2007. "Economic Theory and Cognitive Science: Microexplanation," MIT Press Books, The MIT Press, edition 1, volume 1, number 0262681684, December.
    7. Schelling, Thomas C, 1978. "Egonomics, or the Art of Self-Management," American Economic Review, American Economic Association, vol. 68(2), pages 290-294, May.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Pierre Gosselin & Aïleen Lotz & Marc Wambst, 2020. "A path integral approach to business cycle models with large number of agents," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 15(4), pages 899-942, October.
    2. Lotz, Aïleen, 2011. "An Economic Approach to the Self : the Dual Agent," MPRA Paper 30043, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Pierre Gosselin & Aïleen Lotz & Marc Wambst, 2015. "From Rationality to Irrationality : Dynamic Interacting Structures," Working Papers hal-01122078, HAL.
    4. Pierre Gosselin & Aïleen Lotz & Marc Wambst, 2017. "A Path Integral Approach to Interacting Economic Systems with Multiple Heterogeneous Agents," Working Papers hal-01549586, HAL.
    5. Pierre Gosselin & Aïleen Lotz & Marc Wambst, 2018. "A Path Integral Approach to Business Cycle Models with Large Number of Agents," Working Papers hal-01893556, HAL.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Gosselin, Pierre & Lotz, Aïleen & Wambst, Marc, 2015. "From Rationality to Irrationality : Dynamic Interacting Structures," MPRA Paper 62148, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    2. Lotz, Aïleen, 2011. "An Economic Approach to the Self : the Dual Agent," MPRA Paper 30043, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    3. Sophie Massin, 2011. "La notion d'addiction en économie : La théorie du choix rationnel à l'épreuve," Revue d'économie politique, Dalloz, vol. 121(5), pages 713-750.
    4. Davis, John B., 2010. "Neuroeconomics: Constructing identity," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 76(3), pages 574-583, December.
    5. Stefano DellaVigna, 2009. "Psychology and Economics: Evidence from the Field," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 47(2), pages 315-372, June.
    6. Petr Houdek, 2008. "Time Preferences in the Perspective of Cognitive Neurosciences [Časové preference z pohledu kognitivní neurovědy]," E-LOGOS, Prague University of Economics and Business, vol. 2008(1), pages 1-9.
    7. Christian D. Schade & Avichai Snir, 2020. "A lab test on the decision not to decide," Business Research, Springer;German Academic Association for Business Research, vol. 13(3), pages 1253-1291, November.
    8. Marco Casari, 2009. "Pre-commitment and flexibility in a time decision experiment," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 38(2), pages 117-141, April.
    9. Fischer, Carolyn, 1999. "Read This Paper Even Later: Procrastination with Time-Inconsistent Preferences," Discussion Papers 10725, Resources for the Future.
    10. Esteban, Susanna & Miyagawa, Eiichi & Shum, Matthew, 2007. "Nonlinear pricing with self-control preferences," Journal of Economic Theory, Elsevier, vol. 135(1), pages 306-338, July.
    11. Jianjun Miao, 2008. "Option exercise with temptation," Economic Theory, Springer;Society for the Advancement of Economic Theory (SAET), vol. 34(3), pages 473-501, March.
    12. Mendonça, Francisco V. & Catalão-Lopes, Margarida & Marinho, Rui Tato & Figueira, José Rui, 2020. "Improving medical decision-making with a management science game theory approach to liver transplantation," Omega, Elsevier, vol. 94(C).
    13. Gosselin, Pierre & Lotz, Aïleen & Wambst, Marc, 2017. "A Path Integral Approach to Interacting Economic Systems with Multiple Heterogeneous Agents," MPRA Paper 79488, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    14. Marco Casari & Davide Dragone, 2015. "Choice reversal without temptation: A dynamic experiment on time preferences," Journal of Risk and Uncertainty, Springer, vol. 50(2), pages 119-140, April.
    15. Sanjay Jain, 2012. "Self-Control and Incentives: An Analysis of Multiperiod Quota Plans," Marketing Science, INFORMS, vol. 31(5), pages 855-869, September.
    16. Jung Hun Cho, 2007. "Self-Reputation and Perception of Reputation," CERGE-EI Working Papers wp343, The Center for Economic Research and Graduate Education - Economics Institute, Prague.
    17. Pierre Gosselin & Aïleen Lotz & Marc Wambst, 2020. "A path integral approach to business cycle models with large number of agents," Journal of Economic Interaction and Coordination, Springer;Society for Economic Science with Heterogeneous Interacting Agents, vol. 15(4), pages 899-942, October.
    18. Matthias Uhl, 2011. "Do Self-Committers Mind Other-Imposed Commitment? An Experiment on Weak Paternalism," Rationality, Markets and Morals, Frankfurt School Verlag, Frankfurt School of Finance & Management, vol. 2(40), June.
    19. Eduard Marinov, 2017. "The 2017 Nobel Prize in Economics," Economic Thought journal, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences - Economic Research Institute, issue 6, pages 117-159.
    20. Pierre Gosselin & Aïleen Lotz & Marc Wambst, 2018. "A Path Integral Approach to Business Cycle Models with Large Number of Agents," Working Papers hal-01893556, HAL.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    dual agent; conscious and unconscious; rationality; multi-rationality; consis- tency; choices and preferences; multi-agent model;
    All these keywords.

    JEL classification:

    • C02 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - General - - - Mathematical Economics
    • C65 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Mathematical Methods; Programming Models; Mathematical and Simulation Modeling - - - Miscellaneous Mathematical Tools
    • C70 - Mathematical and Quantitative Methods - - Game Theory and Bargaining Theory - - - General
    • D01 - Microeconomics - - General - - - Microeconomic Behavior: Underlying Principles
    • D87 - Microeconomics - - Information, Knowledge, and Uncertainty - - - Neuroeconomics

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:wpaper:hal-00851309. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.