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Economic Psychology as a Field of Study

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Book cover Handbook of Economic Psychology

Abstract

Judging from mass media treatment of economic affairs — be it in a recession, in a more serious depression or in an upswing period — there should be ample room for psychology when economic issues are dealt with. Economists who appear in the public eye as authors of articles or as interviewees often stress the importance of psychological factors. References to psychological factors are primarily made when the factors studied by economists do not suffice to explain certain economic developments. In such contexts, it is characteristic that no reference is made to the existence of scientific psychology and that comments are based on common-sense notions about man. There seems to be little awareness and recognition of the fact that concepts such as expectations, attitudes, preferences, and motivation are actually studied in psychology and that they are considered to be amenable to measurement. Psychology is used by economists to designate factors that create individual variations in economic behavior and that consequently are responsible for making economic behavior hard to predict (cf. Maital, 1982).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karl-Erik Wärneryd

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  1. Karl-Erik Wärneryd
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  1. Erasmus University, Rotterdam, The Netherlands

    W. Fred van Raaij

  2. Tilburg University, Tilburg, The Netherlands

    Gery M. van Veldhoven

  3. Stockholm School of Economics, Stockholm, Sweden

    Karl-Erik Wärneryd

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Wärneryd, KE. (1988). Economic Psychology as a Field of Study. In: van Raaij, W.F., van Veldhoven, G.M., Wärneryd, KE. (eds) Handbook of Economic Psychology. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7791-5_1

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-015-7791-5_1

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