Fryer, Roland G., Jr. and Jackson, Matthew O. (2002) Categorical Cognition: A psychological model of categories and identification in decision making. Social Science Working Paper, 1144. California Institute of Technology , Pasadena, CA. (Unpublished) https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170802-150938037
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Abstract
This paper introduces a psychological notion of categorization into economics and derives its implications for economic decision making. We show, using a tractable model of social cognition, that a decision maker in (efficiently) assigning past experiences to categories, will sort experiences of interaction with larger (majority) groups more finely than experiences with smaller (minority) groups. We then apply the model to understand simple forms of discrimination and social identity. It is shown that discrimination in hiring can result from such cognitive processes even when there is no malevolent taste to do so and workers' qualifications are fully observable. The model also provides a framework that is equipped to investigate the social psychological concept of identity, where identity is viewed as self-categorization.
Item Type: | Report or Paper (Working Paper) | ||||
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ORCID: |
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Additional Information: | Financial support from the National Science Foundation is gratefully acknowledged under grant SES-0109196. Published as Fryer, R. G., & Jackson, M.O. (2003, June). Categorical cognition: A psychological model of categories and identification in decision making. In Proceedings of the 9th conference on Theoretical Aspects of Rationality and Knowledge (pp. 29-34). ACM. | ||||
Group: | Social Science Working Papers | ||||
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Subject Keywords: | categorization, categories, identification, discrimination, decision making | ||||
Series Name: | Social Science Working Paper | ||||
Issue or Number: | 1144 | ||||
Classification Code: | JEL: D10, D80, J15, J71, I30 | ||||
Record Number: | CaltechAUTHORS:20170802-150938037 | ||||
Persistent URL: | https://resolver.caltech.edu/CaltechAUTHORS:20170802-150938037 | ||||
Usage Policy: | No commercial reproduction, distribution, display or performance rights in this work are provided. | ||||
ID Code: | 79784 | ||||
Collection: | CaltechAUTHORS | ||||
Deposited By: | Jacquelyn Bussone | ||||
Deposited On: | 02 Aug 2017 23:53 | ||||
Last Modified: | 03 Oct 2019 18:23 |
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