Are People With High Psychoticism The True Homo Economicus?

Homo Economicus behaves rationally, maximizing his own utility over that of the group. The relationship with non-prosocial behavior seems clear. This behavior, typical of people with high psychoticism, could affect their decision-making. Therefore, not only the situation will be critical when making a decision, but also stable variables related to personality. In the context of the Common Goods Game, a web platform for implementing behavioral games was developed. The system allows users to play collaborative games such as the Common Goods Game. 97 students participated in that game and contributed to a common fund. They had 25 units, corresponding to 25 tenths of one subject final grade score, which can contribute to the common fund to the extent that they wish, knowing that the total amount of the common fund will be doubled and will be distributed equally among all the participants. The results show that the subjects with the lowest levels of consciousness and agreeableness traits adopt the antisocial strategy and are the ones that obtain the most benefits. Although the limitations of the study the results suggest that both types of variables, situational and dispositional, should be taken into account when studying decision-making in behavioral economics.