Reason and Rationality

Disclosure and rationality: Comparative risk information and decision-making about prevention

“…Many researchers in psychology have shown that human decision-making involves irrational ''heuristics and biases'' [8,9], and the response to comparative risk data could be seen as one of these. A different approach could be developed based on theories in evolutionary psychology, which postulate mental modules that could have arisen during human evolution [10]. Given the many areas where comparison of ''self to others'' might have been adaptive-such as in situations where an individual needs to assess his or her strength, attractiveness, intelligence, etc.-a mental module could have been selected that generates strong responses to comparative information.…”

“…Evaluating this response requires assessing whether the rationality of a decision is determined by the process of decision-making or the outcome [10,24]. In short, the defense of (P) considered here depends on seeing rationality as based on an evaluation of the process, where a fully rational decision is one where the individual understands the relevant outcomes, probabilities, and utilities, and then uses them to calculate and maximize expected utility.…”

“…Research has shown that humans perceive risk and choose actions in ways that rarely conform to the strict standards assumed by the Standard Picture [10,24]. As mentioned in the discussion of the dual representation model above, individuals appear to make decisions partly based on their general sense of the significance of the risk, separate from any quantitative representation of its magnitude [3,5,7].…”

“…As mentioned in the discussion of the dual representation model above, individuals appear to make decisions partly based on their general sense of the significance of the risk, separate from any quantitative representation of its magnitude [3,5,7]. In addition, evidence concerning heuristics and biases of human thought and evolutionary psychology suggest that people reason in a variety of ways that do not match the Standard Picture [10,24].…”

“…One of the strongest arguments supporting the pragmatic approach to rationality is that there is no clear benefit to reasoning according to any strict standards-such as those assumed by the Standard Picture-if there is a different process that can just as reliably guide the individual to choices that will maximize utility [10]. In addition, given the limited amount of time available in many situations and the finite amount of human brainpower, utilizing ''fast, frugal algorithms'' may be rationally advisable [26].…”