Center for Economics and Neuroscience

Economics teaches us that beliefs, preferences and constraints drive decisions. But where do these driving variables come from? Psychology, sociology and everyday experience tell us that factors such as product labels or other people's beliefs and preferences influence our own. But how are these factors integrated with our prior beliefs and preferences? How do we obtain information from other people during social interactions? Why do social interactions sometimes lead to integration of others’ beliefs and preferences into differentiated opinions, and at other times to intolerance and polarization? How do social emotions arise, and how do they influence our decisions? Why and when do people adhere to social norms?

By studying such questions experimentally and investigating their underlying neural mechanisms, we hope to better understand how the variables that drive people’s choices interact during everyday decision-making.