GRA 2245 Economic Psychology: Selected Topics

GRA 2245 Economic Psychology: Selected Topics

Course code: 
GRA 2245
Department: 
Leadership and Organizational Behaviour
Credits: 
6
Course coordinator: 
Øyvind Lund Martinsen
Erik Løhre
Course name in Norwegian: 
Economic Psychology: Selected Topics
Product category: 
Master
Portfolio: 
MSc in Leadership and Organisational Psychology
Semester: 
2020 Autumn
Active status: 
Active
Level of study: 
Master
Teaching language: 
English
Course type: 
One semester
Introduction

Economic decisions are ubiquitous and interwoven into many of our everyday experiences and especially in the context of work. We can define an economic decision as any decision related to the expenditure and saving of time, money and effort. For example, behaviors like negotiation, choice behavior, work effort, or knowledge sharing. All these behaviors occur in a social context.

In traditional economics it is assumed that people's actions are fuelled only by self interest, that they make rational decisions which maximize their utility, and that context is hardly relevant. This economic thinking has affected organizational theory and research for decades. Newer research in behavioral economics and finance, and economic and neuropsychology paint a very different picture. The social nature of human beings, the hardwiring of the brain, and the critical importance of context makes the assumptions of many microeconomic models incorrect and/or incomplete. People are not "homo economicus", they can operate with both self and other-interest simultaneously; people are human and fundamentally social and connected to one another.

Economic predictions fail to explain why we give money to a charity, value fairness over outcomes, walk away from a profitable deal, or why we help a co-worker. Economic psychology aims to describe, predict and explain the actual economic behavior of individuals, and groups.

In this course we learn about the main topics and engage with central discussions in the field, following the outline from ‘Economic Psychology: An introduction’ by Kirchler and Hoelzl. We combine topics from general, social and developmental psychology, as well as economics. In addition to the book, a collection of articles will be provided before the semester start.

Learning outcomes - Knowledge

By the end of the course the student should be able to:

  • Describe and give a brief overview of the field of economic psychology.
  • Critically asses the main decision-making theories and lay theories within the field of economic psychology. Give examples.
  • Critically assess the impact of the main themes and theories on consumer, financial and labour markets

    Further learning goals will be specified in the class.

Learning outcomes - Skills
  • Utilize the research findings from economic psychology to improve decision making at work.
  •  
General Competence
  • The importance of cooperation and the role of cooperation in work life. 
  • To be able to critically reflect on high quality joint outcomes in interdependent decision making. 
  • An awareness of the ethical challenges with decision framing and negotiation tactics. 
Course content

-

Teaching and learning activities

The course is structured as a combination of lectures, discussions, student presentations and compulsory in-class activities.

Software tools
No specified computer-based tools are required.
Additional information

Please note that while attendance is not compulsory in all courses, it is the student’s own responsibility to obtain any information provided in class.

This is a course with continuous assessment (several exam components) and one final exam code. Each exam component is graded by using points on a scale from 0-100. The components will be weighted together according to the information in the course description in order to calculate the final letter grade for the examination code (course). Students who fail to participate in one/some/all exam elements will get a lower grade or may fail the course. You will find detailed information about the point system and the cut off points with reference to the letter grades when the course starts.

At resit, all exam components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course.

Qualifications

All courses in the Masters programme will assume that students have fulfilled the admission requirements for the programme. In addition, courses in second, third and/or fourth semester can have specific prerequisites and will assume that students have followed normal study progression. For double degree and exchange students, please note that equivalent courses are accepted.

Covid-19

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, there may be deviations in teaching and learning activities as well as exams, compared with what is described in this course description.

Required prerequisite knowledge

GRA 2204 Judgement and Decision Making in Organizations or GRA 2205 Organisational Behaviour or equivalent

Exam categoryWeightInvigilationDurationGroupingComment exam
Exam category:
Submission
Form of assessment:
Written submission
Exam code:
GRA22451
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal and external examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
70No1 Semester(s)Group (2 - 3)
Exam category:
Activity
Form of assessment:
Presentation
Exam code:
GRA22451
Grading scale:
Point scale
Grading rules:
Internal examiner
Resit:
All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
30No1 Semester(s)Group ( 3 - 4)2 class activities
Exams:
Exam category:Submission
Form of assessment:Written submission
Weight:70
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group (2-3)
Duration:1 Semester(s)
Comment:
Exam code:GRA22451
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Exam category:Activity
Form of assessment:Presentation
Weight:30
Invigilation:No
Grouping (size):Group (3-4)
Duration:1 Semester(s)
Comment:2 class activities
Exam code:GRA22451
Grading scale:Point scale
Resit:All components must, as a main rule, be retaken during next scheduled course
Type of Assessment: 
Continuous assessment
Grading scale: 
ECTS
Total weight: 
100
Sum workload: 
0

A course of 1 ECTS credit corresponds to a workload of 26-30 hours. Therefore a course of 6 ECTS credits corresponds to a workload of at least 160 hours.