Psychology and Economic Behaviour

People buy and consume products, they gamble, they negotiate, and save money for their children. All these behaviours are examples of economic decisions that are governed by psychological processes. In this course, you will learn what psychology can contribute to the understanding of economic decisions and we will discuss how knowledge about psychology and economic behaviour can be used in practice. Can companies use it to help us make better choices? And can governments use insights from economic psychology to improve public policy?

This course will consist of lectures and tutorials. During the lectures, the teachers will give an overview of research and practice in the field of economic psychology. During the tutorials, students will learn how to apply psychological theory to economic problems. They will conduct an experiment and write a report on the way in which research findings can inform us about potential solutions to real-life problems. Assessment consists of individual and group assignments as well as an exam.

The entire course will be taught in English. This also includes exams.

At the end of the course the student is able to:

• Explain and describe key psychological mechanisms that influence and shape economic decision-making.
• Apply and analyze psychological theories and concepts to evaluate decision-making behavior across diverse economic and real-world contexts.
• Critically evaluate empirical research findings and formulate evidence-based practical recommendations and future research directions for real-life decision-making situations.

Although students are assumed to have a basic understanding of classical economic theories and relevant theories from the social sciences, we will also briefly touch upon these topics at the beginning of the course.

• Literature Other literature will be made available.