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8 - Rational Choice and Information Processing

from Part I - Foundations of Political Psychology

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  17 February 2022

By
Dennis Chong  and
Kevin J. Mullinix
Edited by
Danny Osborne  and
Chris G. Sibley
Danny Osborne
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
Chris G. Sibley
Affiliation:
University of Auckland
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Summary

Rational choice theory explains and evaluates how individuals choose among alternative instruments to achieve their goals and objectives. Although much research on political decision-making highlights psychological biases that appear to interfere with rationality, the contrast between rational choice and the psychology of information processing is often narrowed by individual and contextual conditions that reduce cognitive biases and promote rational decision-making. This argument is developed by analysing research on heuristics (i.e., shortcuts and cues), motivated reasoning, and framing that pose challenges to rational choice. Three themes emerge from this review. First, there is systematic variation across individuals in the extent to which heuristics, biased reasoning, and framing produce unreasonable and suboptimal decisions. Second, there are definable informational and social contexts that provide incentives for people to engage in deliberate and accurate processing of information. Third, normative evaluations of empirical results have been hampered by inconsistent criteria for what constitutes good decision-making.

Keywords

Rational choiceMotivated reasoningFramingHeuristicsPartisan biasInformation processing
Type
Chapter
Information
The Cambridge Handbook of Political Psychology , pp. 118 - 138
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2022

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