Introduction
Please note that this is a preliminary course description. The final version will be published in June 2027.
In a job market shaped by rapid digital transformation, understanding what drives human behaviour is a critical skill. This course uses insights from economic psychology, behavioural economics, and related behavioural sciences to make sense of human thinking, decision-making, and behaviour in increasingly complex and information-rich environments.
Traditional economics assumes that individuals act out of self-interest, aim to maximize utility, and make logical decisions taking all available information into account. However, critical voices have long questioned the realism of this view of human thinking and behaviour, and the ability of traditional economic thinking to address current challenges, from the influence of digital technologies to climate change and sustainability.
Drawing on classic and contemporary behavioural research and real-world examples, this course explores how humans systematically deviate from the rational actor model: we have limited cognitive capacity, we struggle with self-control, we are social creatures who care about fairness, norms, and reputation, and we often pursue other goals than pure economic profit or logical rationality.
We will discuss how online and offline choice environment influence our decisions, and how they can be designed either to support well-being and autonomy, or to capture attention and steer behaviour toward commercial goals. The course also explores how technology shape our judgments and our decisions. Finally, we will evaluate interventions like nudging, boosting, incentives, and regulation, and their effectiveness and ethical implications in different settings.
By the end of the course, students will be able to critically evaluate theories about economic decisions, understand how human behaviour is impacted by technology, and apply insights from economic psychology to promote positive and responsible change.