Question

The great English economist Lionel Robbins defined economics as "Economics is the science which studies human behaviour as a relationship between ends and scarce means which have alternative uses." This means that economists looks at our limited resources - like money, time, energy, intelligence etc. - and how we decide what the best choices are for how to use them, with the goal of maximizing the benefits. As you can see, this opens up almost all of human activity to study by economics.

For this first assignment you are to describe 3-4 areas of human behavior not typically associated with economics and how economics can be used to help understand the reasons for the choices made. Along with the text, you are welcome to use any resources you want. Your work should be 3-4 pages long, double spaced, and adhere to APA standards. All direct quotes, references etc. must be clearly cited in accordance with APA guidelines. Work submitted must be primarily in your own words. Submitting the writing of other students is unacceptable.

Answer 1

1. Social behaviour s the scientific study of how people's thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. In psychology, social behaviour is referred to human behaviour. It covers behaviours ranging from physical to emotional that we communicate in and also the way we are influenced by ethics, attitudes, genetics and culture etc. Economics can be used to understand this in the way that a positive social behaviour is beneficial to the individual. The cost for this individual is in the form of time invested for improving this behaviour. Using economics, a person can determine, based on his profession, etc, how much time he/she needs to spend to improve his social behaviour.

2. Poor parenting skills is one of the most common reasons why children are aggressive. Biological factors and lack of relationship skills are a couple to name. As children grow up, in many cases they tend to imitate behaviour from their elders such as violence or aggression. Aggressive behaviour can be irritating, and to stop a child from doing such, they receive attention for it from their parents, teachers or peers. However, there can be times where parents are not aware of when such behaviour is occurring and unknowingly reward it; they are encouraging the child. Economics can be used to determine, educational intervention by foundations to improve this knowledge in parents by considering its cost in the form of time and money, and benefits acquired in the form of lesser violence.

3. Mental illnesses are medical conditions that disrupt a person’s thinking, feeling, mood, ability to relate to others and daily functioning. Just as diabetes is a disorder of the pancreas, mental illnesses are medical conditions that often result in a diminished capacity for coping with the ordinary demands of life. Emotional behavior is hence, another important aspect of human behavior. Economics can be used by a person here to determine how much psychologic help he/ she gets based on the benefits they get in the form of peace of mind vs costs in the form of time and money spent.