Human behavior inside and outside bureaucracy: Lessons from psychology

Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard
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Asbjørn Sonne Nørgaard: The University of Southern Denmark

Journal of Behavioral Public Administration, 2018, vol. 1, issue 1

Abstract: Both Herbert A. Simon and Anthony Downs borrowed heavily from psychology to develop more accurate theories of Administrative Behavior outside and Inside Bureaucracy: Simon, to explicate the cognitive shortcomings in human rationality and its implications; and Downs, to argue that public officials, like other human beings, vary in their psychological needs and motivations and, therefore, behave differently in similar situations. I examine how recent psychological research adds important nuances to the psychology of human decision-making and behavior and points in somewhat other directions than those taken by Simon and Downs. Cue-taking, fast and intuitive thinking, and emotions play a larger role in human judgment and decision-making than what Simon suggested with his notion of bounded rationality. Personality trait theory provides a more general and solid underpinning for understanding individual differences in behavior, both inside and outside bureaucracy, than the ‘types of officials’ that Downs discussed. I present an agenda for a behavioral public administration that takes key issues in cognitive psychology and personality psychology into account.

Keywords: Behavioral public administration; Bureaucracy; Judgement; Decision-making (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: D90 D91 Z00 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2018
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:bpd:articl:v:1:y:2018:i:1:jbpa.11.13

DOI: 10.30636/jbpa.11.13

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