Irrational: at the moment

Weiss, Jie W; Weiss, David J.

doi:10.1007/s11229-012-0112-0

Cited by 5 publications

(7 citation statements)

References 18 publications

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“…We would like to call attention to another common error of attribution, albeit one that lacks a catchy name. That error is labeling someone's behavior as "irrational" without knowledge of their decision utilities (Weiss & Weiss 2012). It is all too easy to assert that a choice one views as foolish must have been the product of faulty reasoning.…”

Section: N O T Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Précis ofThe Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers

Lankford¹

2014

Behav Brain Sci

157

140

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For years, scholars have claimed that suicide terrorists are not suicidal, but rather psychologically normal individuals inspired to sacrifice their lives for an ideological cause, due to a range of social and situational factors. I agree that suicide terrorists are shaped by their contexts, as we all are. However, I argue that these scholars went too far. In The Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers, I take the opposing view, based on my in-depth analyses of suicide attackers from Asia, Africa, Europe, the Middle East, and North America; attackers who were male, female, young, old, Islamic, and Christian; attackers who carried out the most deadly and the least deadly strikes. I present evidence that in terms of their behavior and psychology, suicide terrorists are much like others who commit conventional suicides, murder-suicides, or unconventional suicides where mental health problems, personal crises, coercion, fear of an approaching enemy, or hidden self-destructive urges play a major role. I also identify critical differences between suicide terrorists and those who have genuinely sacrificed their lives for a greater good. By better understanding suicide terrorists, experts in the behavioral and brain sciences may be able to pioneer exciting new breakthroughs in security countermeasures and suicide prevention. And even more ambitiously, by examining these profound extremes of the human condition, perhaps we can more accurately grasp the power of the human survival instinct among those who are actually psychologically healthy.

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Section: N O T Ementioning

confidence: 99%

Précis ofThe Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers

Lankford¹

2014

Behav Brain Sci

157

140

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…However, this conclusion would be a rather fatalistic view and ultimately even question the very purpose and relevance of research on individual decision making in general. Alternative explanations may profitably be based on the assumption that evaluations of decision quality need to be extended to, and understood within, the social context [ 27 , 33 , 36 ] as well as complemented by quality-evaluations made in relation to decision-makers ’ own understanding, personal standards and subjective experiences [ 23 – 25 ]. In sum, this topic needs further exploration and the research-field dedicated to decision-making competence provides a suitable frame for this endeavour.…”

Section: Studymentioning

confidence: 99%

“…However, these evaluations are also affected by how outcomes are reached [ 7 , 21 ] and it has been proposed that evaluations of decision quality should attend to decision processes, not the outcome [ 22 ]. However, the basic rationale for evaluating decision quality without considering decision-makers’ personal goals and standards has been questioned [ 23 – 24 ]. Furthermore, subjective consequences of decisions have been proposed to be the standard by which evaluations of decision quality should be assessed [ 25 ].…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Reports of satisfaction with life have been proposed to be based on assessments in which perceived circumstances are compared to personal and self-imposed standards [ 30 ]. Thus, these reports may reflect how well decisions have conformed to personal goals and standards [ 23 – 25 ]. However, multiple factors influence subjective well-being, and personal goals and standards differ.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Competence and Quality in Real-Life Decision Making

Geisler

Allwood

2015

PLoS ONE

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What distinguishes a competent decision maker and how should the issue of decision quality be approached in a real-life context? These questions were explored in three studies. In Study 1, using a web-based questionnaire and targeting a community sample, we investigated the relationships between objective and subjective indicators of real-life decision-making success. In Study 2 and 3, targeting two different samples of professionals, we explored if the prevalent cognitively oriented definition of decision-making competence could be beneficially expanded by adding aspects of competence in terms of social skills and time-approach. The predictive power for each of these three aspects of decision-making competence was explored for different indicators of real-life decision-making success. Overall, our results suggest that research on decision-making competence would benefit by expanding the definition of competence, by including decision-related abilities in terms of social skills and time-approach. Finally, the results also indicate that individual differences in real-life decision-making success profitably can be approached and measured by different criteria.

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“…The Multi-Attribute Utility (MAU) model provides a framework for understanding how decisions are made not based on separate personal or environmental factors, but rather on the utility an individual gives the possible consequences (outcomes) of a decision. This framework was first used to investigate adolescent smoking initiation (Weiss, Edwards, & Mouttapa, 2009), and its application helps to explain why people can sometimes make seemingly irrational decisions (Weiss & Weiss, 2012). Therefore, the purpose of this study was to explore the association between decisionmaking and eating behaviors (fruit and vegetable consumption) among college students using the Multi-Attribute-Utility model as the theoretical framework.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Using the Multi-Attribute Utility Model to Better Understand Fruit and Vegetable Intake among College Students

Hanlon

Weiss

McMahan

et al. 2012

CALIF J HEALTH PROMOT

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This study examined the association between parameters of the decision-making processes that are described in the Multi-Attribute Utility (MAU) model and actual food choices (fruit and vegetable consumption) among undergraduate students. Four hundred and six undergraduates from a large, public university in Southern California completed a pencil-and-paper questionnaire for the parameters of MAU, which consist of the perceived value, perceived likelihood, and momentary salience for each anticipated consequence of eating a healthy diet. Fruit and vegetable intake was collected daily using an online food intake log. Linear regression analysis revealed that MAU total scores were a significant predictor of fruit plus vegetable consumption (p = .000). T-test results indicated that high fruit plus vegetable eaters and low fruit plus vegetable eaters were significantly different from each other on individual parameter scores of the MAU model (range, p = .032 to p = .000). Conclusions: This study suggest that the MAU model may predict eating behaviors and provides support for further investigation; the MAU framework may help identify the factors that have greatest influence college students’ nutrition decision making processes, and can aid in the development of interventions that address target consequences that have high utility scores in the target population.

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Irrational: at the moment

Cited by 5 publications

References 18 publications

Précis ofThe Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers

Précis ofThe Myth of Martyrdom: What Really Drives Suicide Bombers, Rampage Shooters, and Other Self-Destructive Killers

Competence and Quality in Real-Life Decision Making

Using the Multi-Attribute Utility Model to Better Understand Fruit and Vegetable Intake among College Students

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