Advanced Search

Journal Navigation

Journal Home

Subscriptions

Archive

Contact Us

Table of Contents

Sign In to gain access to subscriptions and/or personal tools.
Rationality and Society
This Article
Right arrow Full Text (PDF)
Right arrow References
Right arrow Alert me when this article is cited
Right arrow Alert me if a correction is posted
Right arrow Citation Map
Services
Right arrow Email this article to a friend
Right arrow Similar articles in this journal
Right arrow Alert me to new issues of the journal
Right arrow Add to Saved Citations
Right arrow Download to citation manager
Right arrowRequest Permissions
Right arrow Request Reprints
Right arrow Add to My Marked Citations
Citing Articles
Right arrow Citing Articles via HighWire
Right arrow Citing Articles via Google Scholar
Right arrow Citing Articles via Scopus
Google Scholar
Right arrow Articles by HECHTER, M.
Right arrow Search for Related Content
Social Bookmarking
Add to CiteULike   Add to Complore   Add to Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us   Add to Digg   Add to Reddit   Add to Technorati   Add to Twitter  
What's this?

The Role of Values in Rational Choice Theory

MICHAEL HECHTER

University of Arizona

Most empirical applications of rational choice employ a typical value assumption—that actors are motivated to pursue private and instrumental goods. When is this typical value assumption warranted, and when is it not? This article proposes guidelines for thinking about the use of value assumptions in rational choice theory. When instrumental and immanent values are substitutable, use of the typical value assumption is justifiable. However, in cases where there is imperfect substitutability—in which actors face production constraints, significant role conflict, or in which immanent values are nonrandomly distributed—the typical value assumption should be reexamined.

Rationality and Society, Vol. 6, No. 3, 318-333 (1994)
DOI: 10.1177/1043463194006003003
Add to CiteULike CiteULike   Add to Complore Complore   Add to Connotea Connotea   Add to Del.icio.us Del.icio.us   Add to Digg Digg   Add to Reddit Reddit   Add to Technorati Technorati   Add to Twitter Twitter    What's this?


This article has been cited by other articles:


Home page
 Rationality and SocietyHome page
M. M. Jaeger
Economic and Social Returns To Educational Choices: Extending the Utility Function
Rationality and Society, November 1, 2007; 19(4): 451 - 483.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Sport and Social IssuesHome page
B. Robbins
"That's Cheap." the Rational Invocation of Norms, Practices, and an Ethos in Ultimate Frisbee
Journal of Sport and Social Issues, August 1, 2004; 28(3): 314 - 337.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 International Journal of Comparative SociologyHome page
J. Vecernik
Skating on Thin Ice: A Comparison of Work Values and Job Satisfaction in CEE and EU Countries
International Journal of Comparative Sociology, October 1, 2003; 44(5): 444 - 471.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Rationality and SocietyHome page
W. Korpi
CONTENTIOUS INSTITUTIONS: AN AUGMENTED RATIONAL-ACTION ANALYSIS OF THE ORIGINS AND PATH DEPENDENCY OF WELFARE STATE INSTITUTIONS IN WESTERN COUNTRIES
Rationality and Society, May 1, 2001; 13(2): 235 - 283.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Journal of Theoretical PoliticsHome page
R. Sil
The Foundations of Eclecticism: The Epistemological Status of Agency, Culture, and Structure in Social Theory
Journal of Theoretical Politics, July 1, 2000; 12(3): 353 - 387.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Rationality and SocietyHome page
R. Breen
BELIEFS, RATIONAL CHOICE AND BAYESIAN LEARNING
Rationality and Society, November 1, 1999; 11(4): 463 - 479.
[Abstract] [PDF]

Home page
 Rationality and SocietyHome page
J. H. Goldthorpe
THE INTEGRATION OF SOCIOLOGICAL RESEARCH AND THEORY: GROUNDS FOR OPTIMISM AT THE END OF THE TWENTIETH CENTURY
Rationality and Society, November 1, 1997; 9(4): 405 - 426.
[Abstract]

Home page
 Rationality and SocietyHome page
J. A. Logan
RATIONAL CHOICE AND THE TSL MODEL OF OCCUPATIONAL OPPORTUNITY
Rationality and Society, May 1, 1996; 8(2): 207 - 230.
[Abstract]