On the Evolutionary Emergence of Optimism

A. Heifetz and Y. Spiegel

Working Papers from Tel Aviv

Abstract: Successful individuals were frequently found to be overly optimistic. These finding are puzzling, as one could expect that realists would perform best in the long run. We show, however, that in a large class of strategic interactions of either cooperation or competition, the equilibrium payoffs of optimists may be higher than those of realists. This is because the very fact of being optimistic changes the game, and drives the adversary to change her equilibrium behavior, possibly to the benefit of the optimist.

Keywords: COOPERATION; COMPETITION; BEHAVIOUR (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: C72 C73 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2000
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Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:fth:teavfo:2000-24

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