Rationality, emotion and preference change: Drama-theoretic models of choice

Traditional models of ‘rational choice’, such as those based on Game Theory and Decision Theory, tend to work on the assumption that aims/preferences can be specified prior to the decision process, and remain fixed during it. Other approaches, by contrast, stress the dynamics of preference change and problem re-formulation. In the context of conflict and cooperation analysis, we have recently attempted to bridge these two traditions by introducing drama-theoretic models. This paper reviews some theories about preference change from this standpoint, some concerning individual preferences (including the role of emotions), others introducing group and organisational dimensions. We suggest that it is possible to build dynamic models of choice which use the paradoxes of rational choice to link and systematise research both on the strategic role of emotions and on the strategic use of argumentation.