The aim of this study is to respond to Cass Sunstein's question: ‘Why are some nudges ineffective, or at least less effective than choice architects hope and expect?’—particularly in view not only of the rational basis in decision-making but also of the direct influence of emotions on the behavior of those who must choose. In this study, I used findings from psychology surveys, specifically considering the influence of emotions on the fallibility of nudges in social interactions when wealth is compared. Special attention is dedicated to vanity, a combined emotion that leads to emotional choices, which arises in self-presentation and self-comparison when external signs of wealth are displayed. Imagination plays an important role in simulation to the extent that it causes failure in further nudges. In conclusion, I argue that vanity impels people to act differently, as expected of choice architects.
Despite the fact that the discussion on the economic man flourishes in John Stuart Mill's work, this does not mean that this issue has not been previously discussed, at least, not in clear terms. The aim of this article is to demonstrate that even if Adam Smith never specifically characterized the person who deals with economic affairs, he pointed out some of his characteristics in his writings. We can find some clues to his thoughts on that issue in Theory of Moral Sentiments (1759), Lectures on Jurisprudence (1762) and The Wealth of Nations (1776). In this article, Smith's homo oeconomicus is approached in three aspects: rational, moral and emotional. In addition, we also argue that the philosopher had advanced some studies of psychology and behavioral economics that would be developed from the twentieth century, which is
Vanity underlies human behavior and can be expressed in various forms in the social, moral, aesthetic, and economic fields. It is an emotional complex that encompasses narcissism and histrionics as character traits, as well as other functions, such as memory, imagination, cognition, and instinctive drive. This study focuses on homo oeconomicus using an economic-philosophical approach to detail vanity in a situation of social interaction between an agent who shows off and a spectator who observes when the topic is a mutual comparison in the face of external signs of wealth. To that end, Adam Smith’s thoughts on vanity in the Theory of Moral Sentiments and Stuart Mill's studies on disturbances in economic models is used. In conclusion, we intend to demonstrate that the thoughts of these two economist-philosophers remain relevant in determining the vanity of the contemporary homo oeconomicus.
A filosofia do comportamento econômico, como novo campo de pesquisa filosófica, tem como pilares o pensamento de Adam Smith, que detalhou o comportamento do indivíduo em sociedade quando o tema é a riqueza, e de John Stuart Mill, o filósofo que conferiu status de ciência à economia e que atribuiu à natureza humana a origem do desejo de riqueza e do distúrbio nos modelos econômicos. Considera como homo oeconomicus, não o indivíduo exclusivamente racional da economia neoclássica, ou aquele quase racional da economia comportamental, mas sim o indivíduo em sua inteireza: um ser quase racional, influenciado pelas emoções e por questões éticas, que lida com os assuntos econômicos na sua vida diária e que busca a riqueza como forma de obter aprovação social. A vaidade é apontada como a emoção que subjaz à busca da riqueza, levando o indivíduo ao consumo conspícuo para exibir sinais exteriores de sucesso material ou de suas conquistas, objetivando a admiração, inveja e aprovação do observador. O objetivo do presente artigo é apresentar as bases onde se funda a filosofia do comportamento econômico.
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