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SilasBarta comments on Human values differ as much as values can differ - Less Wrong
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As evidence for someone like this, consider dictators like Kim Jong Il. Opening up North Korea would result in much greater wealth for both him and his people, but it comes with a loss of power and status for Kim Jong. No one thinks he's opening those borders anytime soon. The comparison isn't as drastic, however - Kim Jong's comforts are probably only a decade or two behind modern (I'm speculating).
In How the Mind Works, Steven Pinker has an excellent discussion of Schelling's work on game theory, and argues that, per Schelling's work, the appearance of being a rational individual can actually be a liability for a rogue dictator, so they have an incentive to look kooky.
Kim Jong Il is playing it by the book.
Good point. However, why would the dictator put on the charade and try to keep his status/power unless he valued it more than the wealth he could obtain by opening the country up? If the gains are small, this is probably a good margin to look irrational on, but if the gains are large enough, opening up outweighs the irrational act (on this margin). There are plenty of other things to appear irrational about with lower stakes. You don't have to appear kooky about every single decision you make in order to convince others that you are kooky - just enough of them.
So in a nutshell, if the difference in standards of living for the dictator under the two scenarios are large enough, the irrationality ploy shouldn't matter (much).