What's In It For Me?
I have now spent over fifteen years in academia, primarily in business schools, and have watched social scientists at close quarters. I have also spent time in hard science environments. I may be completely wrong but social scientists (economists in particular) seem to value their time more than hard scientists, whether or not their time is or is not more valuable. Putting effort into something brings both material and hedonic benefits. Material benefits comprise money, reputation, external respect. Hedonic gratification comes from personal challenge, resulting in growing self-respect. We tend to value the former more than the latter. Valuing material benefits seems more concrete and easy to do than understanding the value of hedonic benefits. The greater the precision with which we can evaluate an outcome, the more we seem to value it. I have found that social scientists constantly weigh the costs and benefits of activities to assess how much they contribute to their own enrichment. T...