The DOI matches its Crossref record; 110 of the 110 references it cites were found in a registry or an index.
Sociological Rational Choice Theory
Abstract
Although rational choice theory has made considerable advances in other social sciences, its progress in sociology has been limited. Some sociologists' reservations about rational choice arise from a misunderstanding of the theory. The first part of this essay therefore introduces rational choice as a general theoretical perspective, or family of theories, which explains social outcomes by constructing models of individual action and social context. “Thin” models of individual action are mute about actors' motivations, while “thick” models specify them ex ante. Other sociologists' reservations, however, stem from doubts about the empirical adequacy of rational choice explanations. To this end, the bulk of the essay reviews a sample of recent studies that provide empirical support for particular rational choice explanations in a broad spectrum of substantive areas in sociology. Particular attention is paid to studies on the family, gender, and religion, for these subareas often are considered least amenable to understanding in terms of rational choice logic.
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Cites
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Metadata
- Authors
- Hechter, M., & Kanazawa, S.
- Venue
- Annual Review of Sociology
- Publisher
- Annual Reviews
- Published
- 1997-08
- Volume
- 23
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 191-214
- ISSN
- 0360-0572 (ISSN-L)
- 1545-2115
- OpenAlex
- W2141002625
- Cited by
- 450
- References
- 110
- FWCI
- 7.58
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- closed
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Contains information from the Semantic Scholar Academic Graph Datasets, made available under the ODC Attribution License (ODC-BY 1.0).
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