The study of judgment and decision making entails three interrelated forms of research: (1) normative analysis, identifying the best courses of action, given decision makers' values; (2) descriptive studies, examining actual behavior in terms comparable to the normative analyses; and (3) prescriptive interventions, helping individuals to make better choices, bridging the gap between the normati...

Abstract I comment on Sunstein's paper proposing ‘Hayekian behavioural economics’. In essence, Sunstein is merely renaming a familiar approach to normative economics, initiated in and Thaler's seminal 2003 paper. argue that this cannot fairly be described as the spirit of Hayek's work. based ‘constructivist’ conception rationality Hayek consistently criticized. Although both address ‘knowledge ...

BACKGROUND The study explores whether messages about the physical activity levels of the majority (i.e. normative messages) affect young adults' intention to engage in regular physical activity. METHODS An experimental survey among 16 to 24 year-olds in Bulgaria, Croatia and Romania (n = 1200) was conducted in March 2013. A control group received no message; one treatment group was told that ...

This paper addersses Lawson’s puzzlement about the absence of prediction in William Harvey’s and Marcello Malpighi’s views on capillaries. In addressing the context of that enquiry, it also addresses historiographic versus philosophical models of science, contexts of discovery versus justification, normative versus descriptive interpretations of the nature of science, and the role of simple dic...

Key findings in behavioral economics are that people’s behavior (revealed preferences) is often not in line with their intentions (normative preferences), that they are sensitive to the way choices are presented to them, and that their cognitive abilities are limited. This is manifest in particular in areas of intertemporal choice, like personal finance and health-related behavior. Policy maker...

People care about their relative standing in the distribution of various goods and positions. This fact is increasingly discussed in heterodox economic circles because it challenges the view of a rational, self-interested individual as presented in mainstream economics. Nevertheless, more than their implications for economics, positional concerns imply important normative dimensions. There have...

The papers in this issue deal with the transformation from public finance to economics at a theoretical and philosophical level mid-twentieth century. Our introduction situates these within their intellectual context. To do so, we provide broad outline of trajectory field beginning welfare economics. Acknowledging structuring role Richard Musgrave James Buchanan for field, highlight key also pl...

OBJECTIVE Despite long-standing social psychological research supporting the influence of injunctive norms (i.e., what is commonly approved or disapproved) on behavior, support for this influence on health behaviors is limited. We examined the utility of correcting misperceptions of injunctive norms for improving sun protection and whether changes in attitudes mediated the injunctive norm-inten...