Are economists rational, or just different?

There is evidence that American economics undergraduates are more likely than others to act self-interestedly and less likely to behave cooperatively. In two experiments, differences between Americans and Canadians and between economics students and psychology students were examined. Data from simple bargaining and a prisoner’s dilemma game are presented, which suggest that Canadian students may be more cooperative than American students, and psych-ology students less selfish than either economics students or students from other disciplines. However, these results suggest also that these relationships are not simple, and that other variables – such as gender – need to be taken into account.