Embodied rationality

Abstract

In the last decade, many cognitive and social psychology researchers have been inspired by the notion of "embodied cognition" that cognition is grounded in actual bodily states, and that cognition takes place in the service of action. Consider two examples: (1) when wearing a backpack people perceive hills to be steeper than when not wearing one; (2) when holding a cup containing a hot drink people rate another person as more warm and friendly than when holding a cup containing a cold drink. Findings such as these suggest that the behavioral law and economics emphasis on "irrationality" in decision making stemming from the heuristics and biases program - could benefit by considering work in embodied cognition. Embodied cognition is related to other new psychology theorizing about the roles of dual processing, emotion, and evolution in decision making. Accordingly, this paper exploits recent research and theory on embodied cognition to find lessons for behavioral law and economics and theories of rationality.