Social psychological aspects of “making” economists: A review of the nature versus nurture debate

Abstract

A considerable number of empirical studies argue that economics experts differ from other groups with respect to their public policy preferences and their behavior in certain social dilemmas. Economists are more likely to regard allocation via markets as “fair” than other people and they seem to adjust their behavior and expectations to the actor-model presumed in the elementary neoclassical theory. Some trace back such observations to influences related to the economics education. An alternative view is that economics attracts individuals with preferences that differ from those of non-economists. While the literature on the matter is growing, a comprehensive picture of the nature and sources of the differences has not yet emerged. This article reviews research based on the survey, experimental, and field evidence collected since 1990 to detect, characterize, and explain the differences. It points at some problems inherent to the methodology that dominates the existing research. Primarily, it directs attention to some psychological and social-psychological aspects of training and socializing economists that have not found adequate recognition so far, but should be considered, to better understand the phenomena in question.