Playing strategically against nature? – Decisions viewed from a game-theoretic frame

Common research on decision-making investigates non-interdependent situations, i.e., “games against nature”. However, humans are social beings and many decisions are made in social settings, where they mutually influence each other, i.e., “strategic games”. Mathematical game theory gives a benchmark for rational decisions in such situations. The strategic character makes psychological decision-making more complex by introducing the outcomes for others as an additional attribute of that situation; it also broadens the field for potential coordination and cooperation problems. From an evolutionary point of view, behavior in strategic situations was at a competitive edge. This paper demonstrates that even in games against nature, people sometimes decide as if they were in a strategic game; it outlines theoretical and empirical consequences of such a shift of the frame. It examines whether some irrationalities of human decision-making might be explained by such a shift in grasping the situation. It concludes that the mixed strategies in games against nature demand a high expertise and can only be found in situations where these strategies improve the effects of minimax-strategies that are used in cases of risk-aversion.

Giving or Taking: The Role of Dispositional Power Motivation and Positive Affect in Profit Maximization?

Socio-economic decisions are commonly explained by rational cost vs. benefit considerations, whereas person variables have not usually been considered. The present study aims at investigating the degree to which dispositional power motivation and affective states predict socio-economic decisions. The power motive was assessed both indirectly and directly using a TAT-like picture test and a power motive self-report, respectively. After nine months, 62 students completed an affect rating and performed on a money allocation task (Social Values Questionnaire). We hypothesized and confirmed that dispositional power should be associated with a tendency to maximize one’s profit but to care less about another party’s profit. Additionally, positive affect showed effects in the same direction. The results are discussed with respect to a motivational approach explaining socio-economic behaviour.economic decision-making, rational choice theory, personality, implicit power motive, positive affect, operant motive test

VIII. Über Chalkopyrit von Arakawa, Provinz Ugo in Japan, und über die Structur des Chalkopyrits im allgemeinen

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SOBRE A OBJETIVIDADE DO BELO ENTRE KANT E HÖLDERLIN

Um ponto alto da aproximação de arte e verdade é dado sem dúvida com a filosofia alemã clássica, quer dizer, naquele desenvolvimento excepcional das ideias entre Kant e Hegel. Para compreender melhor este estreitamento de arte, filosofia e verdade, cumpre antes determinar o ponto de partida próximo deste desenvolvimento. Desafiado pela tese kantiana da subjetividade do belo, já Schiller procurou resgatar a objetividade do belo, o que pôde então ser desenvolvido ulteriormente por Hölderlin, para o qual finalmente arte e filosofia estão irmanadas no esforço de tornar consciente a unidade de todo ser como verdadeiro, bom e belo