M2 Transactional decision vs relational/expressive decision

Topic

The starting point remains the individual, represented as a generalized actor who makes choices based on a cost-benefit decision function applied to whatever set of options the context presents: what to consume, how much to work, how much to save, whether to migrate, have children, trust others, vote, marry, or join in collective action. This cost-benefit decision function relies on a vector of personal characteristics, while resource constraints limit the individual to choosing from a bounded set of options.

Because this cost-benefit decision function is not always limited to a private instrumental term, it may—depending on the choice set facing the individual—incorporate an expressive term, an interdependent term, or an option-value term, without ever ceasing to be a cost-benefit calculation.

Any of three conditions causes the weight of this decision function to shift from the private instrumental term to the corresponding term: low individual pivotalness—meaning a near-zero probability that the individual's decision will determine the outcome—shifts the weight toward the expressive term; high interdependence with another optimizing agent—such as within a relationship, for instance, upon marriage—shifts it toward the interdependent term; and high reversal costs—such as those associated with a long-term commitment—shift it toward the option-value term. If the weight remains concentrated on the private instrumental term, the individual's decision is transactional; if it shifts toward any of the other three terms, the decision becomes relational or expressive.

The canonical example of this shift is political voting: here, the individual's pivotalness is negligible, and this near-zero probability renders the private instrumental term empty, failing to provide a sufficient reason to vote. This, in turn, means that the individual's behavior comes to be explained by the expressive term—specifically, the civic duty and identity expressed through voting, in the sense developed by Brennan and Lomasky.

Thus, distinguishing between a transactional decision and a relational or expressive one—regardless of the decision being made (whether consuming, working, saving, migrating, having children, trusting, voting, marrying, or joining a collective action)—allows us to recognize when behavior is explained by the private instrumental term and when, even if that term is virtually empty (as in political voting), the behavior remains validly explicable within the same cost-benefit framework through the expressive term, the interdependent term, or the option-value term.

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