The Past, Present, and Future of Behavioral IR

Davis, James W.; McDermott, Rose

doi:10.1017/s0020818320000272

Cited by 17 publications

(11 citation statements)

References 145 publications

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“…But more solid links between cutting-edge findings in biology and international relations research are only now being established. 77 In sum, the books we review do an admirable job of addressing central questions in this research program: whether reputations form and the extent to which actors use others' past actions in anticipating future behavior. But as we turn toward future research, we outline several potential paths to move the literature forward and believe that advances in behavioral science as well as recent events, such as the current crisis over North Korea's nuclear program or the ongoing coronavirus pandemic, offer scholars innovative avenues to tackle both new and enduring questions in the study of credibility and reputation in international politics.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redefining the Debate Over Reputation and Credibility in International Security

Jervis¹,

Yarhi-Milo²,

Casler³

2020

World Pol.

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A wave of recent scholarship has breathed new life into the study of reputation and credibility in international politics. In this review article, the authors welcome this development while offering a framework for evaluating collective progress, a series of related critiques, and a set of suggestions for future research. The article details how the books under review represent an important step toward consensus on the importance of reputation in world politics, elucidating scope conditions for when reputational inferences are likely to be most salient. The authors argue that despite the significant accomplishments of recent studies, the scholarly record remains thin on the psychology of the perceiver and is instead focused on situational factors at the expense of dispositional variables and is rather myopically oriented toward reputation for resolve to the exclusion of other important types. Despite its contributions, the new literature still falls short of a full explanation for how actors draw inferences about reputation. These remaining theoretical challenges demand scholarly attention and suggest a role for psychology in filling some of the gaps.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Redefining the Debate Over Reputation and Credibility in International Security

Jervis¹,

Yarhi-Milo²,

Casler³

2020

World Pol.

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“…Behavioral International Relations (IR)—understood here as the empirical study of political decision-making by individuals, groups, and institutions with influence on international outcomes—is enjoying newfound popularity. The number of published behavioral studies is increasing as is the number of symposia and special issues devoted to the subject in leading journals (Bleiker and Hutchison, 2014; Davis and McDermott, 2021; Hafner-Burton et al., 2017; Mintz, 2007; van Aaken and Broude, 2019). In large part explained by the growing influence of behavioral economics, this newfound popularity also is driven by a younger generation of scholars applying a broader range of methods and data to long-standing questions of interest and leads to questions of how to integrate their findings into models and theories of IR.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Better than a bet: good reasons for behavioral and rational choice assumptions in IR theory

Davis

2022

European Journal of International Relations

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Behavioral IR is enjoying newfound popularity. Nonetheless, attempts to integrate behavioral research into the larger project of IR theory have proven controversial. Many scholars treat behavioral findings as a trove of plausible ad hoc modifications to rational choice models, thereby lending credence to arguments that behavioral IR is merely residual, empirical, and hence not theoretical. Others limit their research to cataloging outcomes consistent with the basic tenets of behavioral models. Although this expands the empirical base, it is insufficient for theoretical progress. In this article, I explore various answers to the question of when rational choice or behavioral assumptions should guide efforts to build IR theory. I argue that no single answer trumps all others. Examining the various conditions under which actors reason highlights the importance of macrofoundations. Macrofoundations condition the effects of microprocesses and help identify relevant scope conditions for both rational choice and behavioral models of decision-making. Examining the various purposes of IR theory also provides answers to the question of when rational or behavioral assumptions are likely to be most useful. Although many behavioral scholars premise the relevance of their findings on claims of empirical realism, I argue that under certain conditions, deductive theorizing on the basis of as-if behavioral assumptions can lead to powerful theories that improve our understanding of IR and may help decision-makers promote desired ends.

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“…Previous studies have criticized the method as too costly, too difficult, or simply too risky to carry out (Hafner-Burton et al, 2013; Peabody, 1990). Thus, most scholarship comprising IR’s growing body of experimental research—that is, IR’s “behavioral revolution” (Davis and McDermott, 2020; IO, 2017; ISR, 2007) 1 —uses non-elite samples like students, the public, and Amazon Mechanical Turk (i.e. Redd, 2002; Kertzer, 2017; Findley et al, 2013; Bayram and Holmes, 2019).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

How to make elite experiments work in International Relations

Dietrich

Hardt

Swedlund

2021

European Journal of International Relations

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For decades, many International Relations (IR) scholars did not engage in elite experiments, because they viewed it as too risky, too costly, or too difficult to implement. However, as part of a behavioral turn in IR, a growing number of scholars have begun to adopt the method in their own research. This shift raises important questions. Under what conditions do elite experiments add value to IR scholarship? How can scholars overcome the logistical and ethical challenges of sampling such an elusive group? This article makes an original conceptual contribution to methodological debates on the role of behavioral approaches by analyzing experiments on foreign policy elites. We analyze the method’s strengths and weaknesses, evaluate ethical considerations, and present what is—to the best of our knowledge—the most comprehensive set of implementation guidelines. Our article draws on recently published IR research and argues that the payoffs from elite experiments are well worth the effort.

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The Past, Present, and Future of Behavioral IR

Cited by 17 publications

References 145 publications

Redefining the Debate Over Reputation and Credibility in International Security

Redefining the Debate Over Reputation and Credibility in International Security

Better than a bet: good reasons for behavioral and rational choice assumptions in IR theory

How to make elite experiments work in International Relations

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