Are We As Rational As We Think? Bringing Rationality Versus Equality Preferences into the Classroom

Authors

  • Shayna Gatzke University of Arkansas - Fort Smith
  • Jim Wollscheid University of Arkansas - Fort Smith

Keywords:

Education, Rationality, Gaming,

Abstract

The Ultimatum Game examines the relationship between profit maximization and fairness in our decision making process. The setup: two players, a proposer and a responder divide an amount of money between them. The predicted outcome is a result where the proposer offers $1 to the responder and keeps the rest with the responder accepting the offer. The game introduces that monetary gain may not be the only force behind people’s decision making process while introducing the ideas of fairness and equality. The game results seem to disprove the theory that people behave rationally, or economically speaking in their own self-interest.

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Published

2012-12-05

Issue

Section

ABR Journal Articles