Attitudes and motivations of Economics students: Some recent evidence

There is disagreement amongst economists regarding whether economics students are more self-interested than other students in economic and non-economic contexts. Econometric analysis of the choice to share in a Prisoner´s Dilemma game suggests that it may not be economics students per se that have a lower probability of choosing share rather than compete, but instead that individuals with attitudes, motivations and values similar to those assumed by standard economic theory have a lower probability of choosing share. The experimental evidence here of 1,701 students suggests that it is the motivations and attitudes of subjects that are important for determining economic choices rather than simply whether the individual studies economics. The results confirm that a higher proportion of economics students have motivations in a game theory context that are similar to those assumed by standard economic theory, yet that their related general attitudes and values are not significantly different. Overall the results suggest that the assumptions of standard economic theory are appropriate for a subset of individuals, and for many individuals who do not study economics.