What is a Social Trap - Essay Example

Both in the context of social traps and in the context of paradoxes, it is seen that long-term circumstantial effects must be taken into consideration when one makes a decision; and it is not proper to neglect them for the sake of short-term benefits of an individual or a group (Bazerman and Samuelson, 1983, p. 632). 2. Social traps are mostly representative of situations where a single individual or a collective group of individuals focus on generating short-term benefits in the form of profits and increased revenues from an unexpected window of opportunity through the use of a favorable law or practice ( Platt, 1973, p. 641). Social traps arise mostly due to the process of increasingly indulging in business activities today, which leads to long-term complications in the future.

The complications are mutually exclusive in nature, and this eventually leads to a scenario of situational deadlock. Due to social traps, it is seen that individuals mostly resort to a similar line of reasoning in the issues that show the promise of a good opportunity which can help satisfy business or individual needs. Talking in lines of the ‘Tales of the Unexpected’, it can be said that the making, delivering and effectively executing critical decisions for the benefits of a particular scenario requires effective implementation of ideas based on common sense and rational logic (Drummond, 2001, p. 148) The piece also draws the attention of the readers to the importance of the maintenance of the fine level of balance in the case of a logically taken decision and to the evaluation of all related possibilities; it discourages from taking decisions on the basis of focus on immediate gains and opportunities.

Paradoxes in the process of decision-making exist, as some problems come directly in conflict with the theory of utility and the choices that can be made (Goldstein and Hogarth, n.d., p.12). The paradoxes are created mainly because people prefer to simultaneously stick to the rational approach to decision-making and to adhere to the established rules and guidelines (Hitt, Black, and Porter, 2005, p. 370).