Preferences, choice, goal attainment, satisfaction: That's life?

Rowena Pecchenino

Journal of Behavioral and Experimental Economics (formerly The Journal of Socio-Economics), 2011, vol. 40, issue 3, 237-241

Abstract: We make choices to achieve an objective. The objective is defined by an individual's preferences. Subject to constraints, the objective is approached or achieved. Is this a good characterization of life? To answer this question we weaken one of the most basic assumptions of economics: individuals know their preferences. Instead we assume that an individual's preferences are shaped and reshaped by his environment, experiences, expectations, and by exogenous events. In this model of individual self-discovery, preferences emerge, evolve, and change. These redefinitions change the future course of the individual's life and reinterpret his past. They characterize a life lived.

Keywords: Identity; Preferences; Choice; Life (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2011
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Working Paper: Preferences, Choice, Goal Attainment, Satisfaction:That’s Life? (2010)
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:soceco:v:40:y:2011:i:3:p:237-241

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