Abstract

Every action decision made by an actor is preceded by a special definition of the situation that first structures the preferences and expectations from which the selection of an action proceeds in a second step. In a conception based on the ‚subjective expected utility‘ (SEU) Esser 1996 modelled the definition of a situation as a dual structure comprising two stages of selection: the selection of the model and the selection of the mode of information processing. In this paper it is shown how a link to a threedimensional picture of the situation emerges from the formal assumptions of these two selection steps. Depending on the selected utility ratios this picture then represents the choice of the mode of information processing as a function of subjective probabilities.