Neuroeconomics

Abstract

Neuroeconomics has further bridged the once disparate fields of economics and psychology. Such convergence is almost exclusively attributable to changes within economics. Neuroeconomics has inspired more change within economics than within psychology because the most important findings in neuroeconomics have posed more of a challenge to the standard economic perspective. Neuroeconomics has primarily challenged the standard economic assumption that decision making is a unitary process--a simple matter of integrated and coherent utility maximization--suggesting instead that it is driven by the interaction between automatic and controlled processes. This article reviews neuroeconomic research in three domains of interest to both economists and psychologists: decision making under risk and uncertainty, intertemporal choice, and social decision making. In addition to reviewing new economic models inspired by this research, we also discuss how neuroeconomics may influence future work in psychology.