Rational choice beyond the classroom: Decision making in offenders versus college students

•Tests of rational choice theory often utilize undergraduate student samples.•This reliance on student samples raises questions regarding external validity.•A rational choice survey was given to undergraduates and incarcerated offenders.•The groups’ perceived consequences of crime and decisional processes were similar.•Students appear to provide valid insight into the decisions of known criminals.

PurposeTests of rational choice theory commonly utilize samples of university students. The current study examines whether these samples provide meaningful insight into real offenders’ decisions.MethodsA total of 760 undergraduates from a southwestern university and 1,013 offenders incarcerated in the same state were surveyed. Both groups were given a hypothetical drunk driving scenario and completed rational choice questions.ResultsResults indicate that although the samples were very different in their background characteristics (e.g., age, sex, race, prior criminal history), they identified similar costs and benefits of drunk driving, gave similar ratings of the certainty/severity of these consequences, and utilized these consequences to inform their drunk driving intentions in a similar fashion.ConclusionDespite social science being largely criticized as the “study of sophomores,” in this instance it appears college student samples can provide meaningful insight into the decision calculus of known offenders. Implications and limitations of the study are presented.