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THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Rational choice theory, also known as choice
theory or rational action theory, is a framework for
understanding and often formally modeling social and
economic behavior. The basic premise of rational choice theory
is that aggregate social behavior results from the behavior of
individual actors, each of whom is making their individual
decisions. The theory also focuses on the determinants of the
individual choices (methodological individualism).
So where does rational choice theory come from? Much of
the ideas can be traced back to the economist Adam Smith. Smith,
who wrote in the 1700s, tried to make sense out of how people come
to make choices, especially economic ones. Basically, Smith
wanted to know how an economy can work when everyone is
basically self-interested and making choices based on this self-
interest. Smith argued in his famous treatise The Wealth of
Nations that people ultimately act in their own self-interest but
that they also take into consideration the wider society or
greater good. So, it's not simply that we're all just selfish, even if
we're making decisions based on our self-interest.
THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Both the assumptions and the behavioral predictions
of rational choice theory have sparked criticism from various
camps. As mentioned above, some economists have
developed models of bounded rationality, which hope to be
more psychologically plausible without completely
abandoning the idea that reason underlies decision-making
processes. Other economists have developed more theories
of human decision-making that allow for the roles
of uncertainty, institutions, and determination of individual
tastes by their socioeconomic environment (cf. Fernandez-
Huerga, 2008).
Martin Hollis and Edward J. Nell's outlined an
alternative vision to neo-classicism based on a rationalist
theory of knowledge. Within neo-classicism, the authors
addressed consumer behaviour (in the form of indifference
curves and simple versions of revealed preference theory)
and marginalist producer behaviour in both product and
factor markets. Both are based on rational optimizing
behaviour.
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THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Rational choice theory then assumes that an
individual has preferences among the available choice
alternatives that allow them to state which option they prefer.
These preferences are assumed to be complete (the
person can always say which of two alternatives they
consider preferable or that neither is preferred to the other)
and transitive (if option A is preferred over option B and
option B is preferred over option C, then A is preferred over
C).
Rationality is widely used as an assumption of the
behavior of individuals in microeconomic models and
analyses and appears in almost all economics textbook
treatments of human decision-making. It is also used
in political science, sociology, and philosophy. A
particular version of rationality is instrumental rationality,
which involves seeking the most cost-effective means to
achieve a specific goal without reflecting on the
worthiness of that goal.
THE FEMINIST THEORY
Feminism is a range of political
movements, ideologies, and social movements that
share a common goal: to define, establish, and achieve
political, economic, personal, and social equality of
sexes. This includes seeking to establish educational and
professional opportunities for women that are equal to those
for men.
Feminist movements have campaigned and
continue to campaign for women's rights, including the right
to vote, to hold public office, to work, to earn
fair wages or equal pay, to own property, to receive
education, to enter contracts, to have equal rights
within marriage, and to have maternity leave. Feminists
have also worked to ensure access to legal abortions
and social integration, and to protect women and girls
from rape, sexual harassment, and domestic
violence. Changes in dress and acceptable physical activity
have often been part of feminist movements.[4]
 THE FEMINIST THEORY
Some scholars consider feminist campaigns to be a
main force behind major historical societal
changes for women's rights, particularly in the West,
where they are near-universally credited with
achieving women's suffrage, gender neutrality in
English, reproductive rights for women (including
access to contraceptives and abortion), and the right to
enter into contracts and own property. Although feminist
advocacy is, and has been, mainly focused on women's
rights, some feminists, including bell hooks, argue for the
inclusion of men's liberation within its aims because they
believe that men are also harmed by traditional gender
roles. Feminist theory, which emerged from feminist
movements, aims to understand the nature of gender
inequality by examining women's social roles and lived
experience; it has developed theories in a variety of
disciplines in order to respond to issues concerning gender.
THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Individual decision-making forms the basis
for nearly all of microeconomic analysis. These
notes outline the standard economic model of rational
choice in decisionmaking. In the standard view, rational
choice is defined to mean the process of determining
what options are available and then choosing the most
preferred one according to some consistent criterion. In
a certain sense, this rational choice model is already an
optimization-based approach. We will find that by
adding one empirically unrestrictive assumption, the
problem of rational choice can be represented as one
of maximizing a real-valued utility function.
Rational choice theory starts with the idea
that individuals have preferences and choose
according to those. Our first task is to formalize what
that means and precisely what it implies about the
pattern of decisions we should observe.
THE FEMINIST THEORY
Numerous feminist movements and ideologies have
developed over the years and represent different viewpoints
and aims. Some forms of feminism have been criticized for
taking into account only white, middle class, and college-
educated perspectives. This criticism led to the creation of
ethnically specific or multicultural forms of feminism,
including black feminism and intersectional feminism.
Feminist theory is the extension of feminism into
theoretical or philosophical fields. It encompasses work in a
variety of disciplines,
including anthropology, sociology, economics, women'
s studies, literary criticism, art
history, psychoanalysis and philosophy. Feminist
theory aims to understand gender inequality and focuses
on gender politics, power relations, and sexuality.
THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Attempts to explain all (conforming and
deviant) social phenomenon in terms of how self-
interested individuals make choices under the
influence of their preferences. It treats social
exchange as similar to economic exchange where
all parties try to maximize their advantage or
gain, and to minimize their disadvantage or
loss. Rational Choice Theory's basic premises are
that (1) human beings base their behavior on
rational calculations, (2) they act with
rationality when making choices, (3) their
choices are aimed at optimization of their
pleasure or profit. This concept has applications
in economics and marketing, and in criminology
and international relations.
 THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Rational choice theory is based on the
premise of individual self-interested utility
maximization.
Rational choice theory is the most serious
attempt to fully acknowledge the normativity that is
crucial to intentional explanation, and the subjective
meanings that play their indispensable role in
behavioral and attitudinal rationality, without giving up
the aim of a unified science based on erklären.
Rational choice theory is often criticized,
sometimes with good arguments, and sometimes with
bad. Although some of the bad arguments may apply to
bad versions of the theory, critics ought to address the
best versions. The most common misunderstanding is
that the theory assumes agents to have selfish
motivations. Rationality is consistent with selfishness,
but also with altruism.
THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Critics have argued that there are several
problems with rational choice theory. The first
problem with the theory has to do with explaining
collective action. That is, if individuals simply
base their actions on calculations of personal profit,
why would they ever choose to do something that
will benefit others more than themselves? Rational
choice theory does address behaviors that are
selfless, altruistic, or philanthropic.
Related to the first problem just discussed,
the second problem with rational choice theory,
according to its critics, has to do with social
norms. This theory does not explain why some
people seem to accept and follow social norms
of behavior that lead them to act in selfless ways
or to feel a sense of obligation that overrides
their self-interest.
THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Rational choice theory was pioneered
by sociologist George Homans, who in 1961
laid the basic framework for exchange theory,
which he grounded in hypotheses drawn from
behavioral psychology. During the 1960s and
1970s, other theorists (Blau, Coleman, and
Cook) extended and enlarged his framework
and helped to develop a more formal model
of rational choice. Over the years, rational
choice theorists have become increasingly
mathematical. Even Marxists have come to
see rational choice theory as the basis of a
Marxist theory of class and exploitation.
THE RATIONAL CHOICE THEORY
Rational choice theory tries to
understand the economy by thinking about the
actions of one individual and adding up what
would happen if everyone acted like them. To
do this, rational choice theorists need to settle on
what the average, or representative, person looks
like, and how he or she acts. One of the oldest,
and most popular versions of a representative
person, and the one typically used in rational
choice theory, is called ‘economic man’, or
homo economicus.
Homo economicus is the ‘ideal’
decision-maker, a master of rationality, a
logician’s poster child. Every choice he (and it’s
usually assumed he’s a ‘he’)¹ makes is meticulous.
He wants to be as happy as he can possibly be.