Intending now or later: the rationality of constructed preferences

Abstract There is widespread agreement in the literature that preferences are often constructed up to the time of action. Sometimes, constructed preferences are also judged to be irrational. But why? And under what conditions? In this paper, I seek to answer these normative questions. I focus on the temporal distance between intention fixation and action as the normatively relevant feature of constructed preferences, rejecting the common focus on context-sensitivity or calculatedness. I draw on Reflexive Decision Theory , both to represent this temporal distance and to identify justifiers for ending preference construction at a time before the action is taken. With that framework, I analyze different types of reasons that might justify agents to rationally postpone the construction of preferences towards or up to the moment of action.