title: Self-poisoning of the mind.
abstract: Rational-choice theory tries to explain behaviour on the assumption that individuals optimize. Some forms of irrational behaviour can be explained by assuming that the individual is subject to hedonic, pleasure-seeking mechanisms, such as wishful thinking or adaptive preference formation. In this paper, I draw attention to psychic mechanisms, originating in the individual, which make her worse off. I first consider the ideas of counterwishful thinking and of counteradaptive preference formation and then, drawing heavily on Proust, the self-poisoning of the mind that occurs through the operation of amour-propre.
authors.affiliation: Chaire de Rationalité et Sciences Sociales, Collège de France, France. jon.elster@college-de-france.fr
authors.forename: Jon
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Elster
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000502:physiology*; D002755:Choice Behavior / Q000502:physiology*; D003073:Cognitive Dissonance; D006801:Humans; D008960:Models, Psychological; D012649:Self Concept; D013850:Thinking / Q000502:physiology*; D014473:Unconscious, Psychology