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  • May 2017
  • Article
  • American Economic Review

Sacred versus Pseudo-sacred Values: How People Cope with Taboo Trade-Offs

By: Philip E. Tetlock, Barbara A. Mellers and J. Peter Scoblic
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Abstract

Psychologists have documented widespread public deference to "sacred values" that communities, formally or informally, exempt from tradeoffs with secular limits, like money. This work has, however, been largely confined to low-stakes settings. As the stakes rise, deference must decline because people can't write blank checks for every "sacred" cause. Shadow pricing is inevitable which sets the stage for political blame-games of varying sophistication. In a rational world, citizens would accept the necessity of such tradeoffs, but the attraction to moral absolutes is strong--perhaps even essential for social cohesion.

Keywords

Tradeoffs; Values and Beliefs; Civil Society or Community

Citation

Tetlock, Philip E., Barbara A. Mellers, and J. Peter Scoblic. "Sacred versus Pseudo-sacred Values: How People Cope with Taboo Trade-Offs." American Economic Review 107, no. 5 (May 2017): 96–99.
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  • Beacon and Warning: Sherman Kent, Scientific Hubris, and the CIA's Office of National Estimates By: J. Peter Scoblic
  • The Watergate Trap: Seeing So Much of the Present through Watergate Makes It Harder to See the Future By: J. Peter Scoblic
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