ABSTRACT

This chapter focuses on the nature and content of economic psychology as a field of psychology related to, but not overlapping with, organizational psychology. Economic psychology is a relatively new branch of psychology, focusing upon determinants and consequences of decisions under conditions of scarcity. A distinction is often made between the different contexts in which economic decisions can be made: the general economic cultural context or economic order, the national economy, and the market. Economic decision making may be a purely individual matter, or takes place in households or in more formal organizations.