Frank, R. H., Gilovich, T., &Regan, D. T. (1993). Does studying economics inhibit cooperation?. Journal of economic perspectives, 7(2), 159-171.

In this paper we investigate whether exposure to the self-interest model commonly used in economics alters the extent to which people behave in self-interested ways. First, we report the results of several empirical studies—some our own, some by others—that suggest economists behave in more self-interested ways. By itself, this evidence does not demonstrate that exposure to the self-interest model causes more self-interested behavior, since it may be that economists were simply more self-interested to begin with, and this difference was one reason they chose to study economics. Second, we present preliminary evidence that exposure to the self-interest model does in fact encourage self-interested behavior.

 

 

Frank, R. H., Gilovich, T., & Regan, D. T. (1993). Does studying economics inhibit cooperation?. Journal of economic perspectives, 7(2), 159-171.

10.1257/jep.7.2.159