Rational Addiction
Updated 2026-08-05
INTRODUCTION
English translation pending.
CORE DEFINITION
Rational addiction theory holds that addicts such as smokers behave rationally. The core claim is that they anticipate future dependence and health damage yet, after calculation, judge the present utility of consumption to exceed the discounted future cost, so they choose addiction knowingly. The qualification is that this models choice under stable preferences rather than claiming the outcome is harmless or fully voluntary, since neurological compulsion is not captured by the framework.
SCAFFOLDING EFFECT
Reduce cognitive load
- Economic Explanation: Preaching that smoking harms health accomplishes little, because the addict has already priced that cost in. - Price Lever: Changing the price, for example through taxation, alters the calculation directly. - Discount Rate: Making the future matter more to the person changes the utility equation rather than the argument.
Anchor fast decisions
Rational addiction theory holds that even addicted consumers choose with intertemporal rationality: current consumption depends on past consumption through habit formation and on future costs, so the addict rationally maintains the behavior. The theory was proposed by Becker and Murphy in 1988.
MINIMUM ACTION
In progress 0/1Practice this model in one real situation:
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Source support: Explicit
- zh.wikipedia.orghttps://zh.wikipedia.org/wiki/%E7%90%86%E6%80%A7%E6%88%90%E7%99%AEverified
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