Predictably Irrational

by Ariely, Dan

• ISBN13: 9780061353246
• ISBN10: 0061353248
• Edition: Revised
• Format: Paperback
• Copyright: 2010-01-01
• Publisher: HarperCollins Publications

Summary

Why do our headaches persist after we take a one-cent aspirin but disappear when we take a fifty-cent aspirin?

Author Biography

Dan Ariely is the James B. Duke Professor of Psychology and Behavioral Economics at Duke University, with appointments at the Fuqua school of Business, the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience, the Department of Economics, and the School of Medicine. Dan earned one Ph.D. in cognitive psychology and another Ph.D. in business administration. His work has been featured in the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, Washington Post, Boston Globe, Business 2.0, Scientific American, and Science. He lives in Durham, North Carolina, with his wife and two children.

Table of Contents

Introduction: How an Injury Led Me to Irrationality and to the Research Described Here	p. xi
The Truth about Relativity: Why Everything Is Relative—Even When It Shouldn't Be	p. 1
The Fallacy of Supply and Demand: Why the Price of Pearls—and Everything Else—Is Up in the Air	p. 25
The Cost of Zero Cost: Why We Often Pay Too Much When We Pay Nothing	p. 55
The Cost of Social Norms: Why We Are Happy to Do Things, but Not When We Are Paid to Do Them	p. 75
The Power of a Free Cookie: How free Can Make Us Less Selfish	p. 103
The Influence of Arousal: Why Hot Is Much Hotter Than We Realize	p. 119
The Problem of Procrastination and Self-Control: Why We Can't Make Ourselves Do What We Want to Do	p. 139
The High Price of Ownership: Why We Overvalue What We Have	p. 167
Keeping Doors Open: Why Options Distract Us from Our Main Objective	p. 183
The Effect of Expectations: Why the Mind Gets What It Expects	p. 199
The Power of Price: Why a 50-Cent Aspirin Can Do What a Penny Aspirin Can't	p. 225
The Cycle of Distrust: Why We Don't Believe What Marketers Tell Us	p. 251
The Context of Our Character, Part I: Why We Are Dishonest, and What We Can Do about It	p. 271
The Context of Our Character, Part II: Why Dealing with Cash Makes Us More Honest	p. 295
Beer and Free Lunches: What Is Behavioral Economics, and Where Are the Free Lunches?	p. 309
Thanks	p. 323
List of Collaborators	p. 327
Notes	p. 335
Bibliography and Additional Readings	p. 339
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