Human behaviour through a LENS: How Linguistic content triggers Emotions and Norms and determines Strategy choices
This work addresses the challenge of understanding non-economic factors in decision-making for researchers in behavioral economics and psychology, though it is incremental as it synthesizes existing evidence into a new framework.
The paper tackles the problem of how linguistic frames influence human behavior beyond economic outcomes by proposing the LENS model, which links linguistic descriptions to emotional responses, norms, and strategic choices, based on a review of experimental evidence.
Over the last two decades, a growing body of experimental research has provided evidence that linguistic frames influence human behaviour in economic games, beyond the economic consequences of the available actions. This article proposes a novel framework that transcends the traditional confines of outcome-based preference models. According to the LENS model, the Linguistic description of the decision problem triggers Emotional responses and suggests potential Norms of behaviour, which then interact to shape an individual's Strategic choice. The article reviews experimental evidence that supports each path of the LENS model. Furthermore, it identifies and discusses several critical research questions that arise from this model, pointing towards avenues for future inquiry.