Irrationality - Explanation of Occurrence

Explanation of Occurrence

The study of irrational behavior is of interest in fields such as psychology, cognitive science, economics, game theory, and evolutionary psychology, as well as of practical interest to the practitioners of advertising and propaganda.

Theories of irrational behavior include:

• people's actual interests differ from what they believe to be their interests.
• mechanisms that have evolved to give optimal behavior in normal conditions lead to irrational behavior in abnormal conditions.
• situations outside one's ordinary circumstances, where one may experience intense levels of fear, or may regress to a fight-or-flight mentality.
• people fail to realize the irrationality of their actions and believe they are acting perfectly rational, possibly due to flaws in their reasoning.
• apparently irrational decisions that are actually optimal, but made unconsciously on the basis of "hidden" interests that are not known to the conscious mind.
• an inability to comprehend the social consequences of one's own actions, possibly due in part to a lack of empathy.
• Some people find themselves in this condition by living "double" lives. They try to put on one "mask" for one group of people and another for a different group of people. Many will become confused as to which they really are or which they wish to become.

Factors which affect rational behavior include:

• stress, which in turn may be emotional or physical
• the introduction of a new or unique situation
• intoxication
• peers who convey irrational thoughts as necessary idiosyncrasy for social acceptance