Just thinking about “homo economicus” inhibits our sense of trust, according to two Chinese researchers.
Homo economicus, or economic human, is the concept that humans are inherently rational and self-interested. People make decisions based on cost-benefit analyses and seek to obtain the highest possible well-being for themselves. The concept is the foundation of many modern, mainstream economic theories.
Researchers Ziqiang Xin and Guofang Liu said their study, published in PLoS One on October 16, showed “the destructive effect of homo economicus belief on trust with the three real experiments.”
The three-part study included more than 200 participants and used priming tasks to expose people to the idea of homo economicus. The researchers measured the participants level of trust in others using a survey.
All three experiments “demonstrated that the homo economicus belief can undermine trust, and individuals’ homo economicus belief can be activated by direct learning or merely exposure to economic situations,” Xin and Liu wrote in their study.
The study is limited by the fact it only used a survey to measure the participants’ level of trust. The researchers did not investigate whether exposure to “homo economicus” influenced how people actually behaved — they only showed it influenced how they thought.
But previous research has found that learning economics is linked to a reduction of trust in others and a reduction in generosity.
“Homo economicus is the most essential humanity hypothesis of economics, thus students majoring in economics may learn and identify with the homo economicus belief which emphasizes individuals are self-interested and rational,” the two researchers said.
