Does the Law Change Preferences?
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Jennifer Arlen
Abstract
“I would prefer not”[1]
Scholars have recently challenged the claim in classical deterrence theory that law influences behavior only through the expected sanction imposed. Some go further and argue that law may also “shape preferences,” changing people’s wants and values. In this Article, we analyze existing claims that criminal and civil law alter preferences and conclude that none suggest that the law shapes preferences. We first clarify this preference-shaping claim by elaborating the structure of rational choice theory generally and “preference” in particular. We then investigate three mechanisms of legal influence suggested by the preference-shaping literature: (1) the “serious harm” mechanism; (2) the “social norm” mechanism; and (3) the “self-improvement” mechanism. We then show that each of these mechanisms operates by changing the agent’s beliefs about the attributes or consequences of her choice options rather than by changing her preferences.
© 2021 by Theoretical Inquiries in Law
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Addictive Law
- Framed by the Law: Experimental Evidence for the Effects of the Salience of the Law on Preferences
- Moral Norms, Adaptive Preferences, and Hedonic Psychology
- What’s So Special About General Verdicts? Questioning the Preferred Verdict Format in American Criminal Jury Trials
- Preference Change and Behavioral Ethics: Can States Create Ethical People?
- The Data Privacy Law of Brexit: Theories of Preference Change
- Do Good Citizens Need Good Laws? Economics and the Expressive Function
- Does the Law Change Preferences?
- Changing People’s Preferences by the State and the Law
- Preferences and Compliance with International Law
- Anti-preferences
- Influencing the Preferences of Children through Legal Impacts on Parenting Style
Artikel in diesem Heft
- Frontmatter
- Introduction
- Addictive Law
- Framed by the Law: Experimental Evidence for the Effects of the Salience of the Law on Preferences
- Moral Norms, Adaptive Preferences, and Hedonic Psychology
- What’s So Special About General Verdicts? Questioning the Preferred Verdict Format in American Criminal Jury Trials
- Preference Change and Behavioral Ethics: Can States Create Ethical People?
- The Data Privacy Law of Brexit: Theories of Preference Change
- Do Good Citizens Need Good Laws? Economics and the Expressive Function
- Does the Law Change Preferences?
- Changing People’s Preferences by the State and the Law
- Preferences and Compliance with International Law
- Anti-preferences
- Influencing the Preferences of Children through Legal Impacts on Parenting Style
