The framing of decisions
In the Theory of Rational Decision Making the psychological aspects are set aside. This contribution seeks to point out the relevance of psychology into economic decisions. The essay treats the "framing of decisions" which is a pillar of Kahneman's behavioral theory. Framing must be considered a special case of the more general phenomenon of dependency from the representation. The best known risky choice framing problem, i.e. the "Asian Disease Problem" is shown where an essential aspect of rationality: invariance, is violated. In addition, the contribution explains Kahneman and Tversky's Prospect Theory and illustrates their value function. Finally, it discusses the reversals of preference in framing and framing of contingencies. The framing manipulation is viewed as a public tool for influencing the decision maker's private framing of the problem in terms of gains or losses, which determines the decision maker's evaluation of the options. In conclusion, the psychology of choice is relevant both for the descriptive question of how decisions are made and for the normative question of how decisions ought to be made.