Artikel

De bruikbaarheid van rationele-keuzemodellen in de sociale wetenschappen: een kritische analyse

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Abstract

The utility of rational choice models in the social sciences : a critical analysis - For some time, rational choice theories have been quite popular in the social sciences. In this article, we examine the validity of one of their most important premises : the premise that people are self-interested actors, whose behavior is based on rational choices. To illustrate this, we will refer to Olson’s theory of collective action. There is a lot of criticism against the narrow interpretation of rationality, according to which only material incentives motivate human behavior. A lot of authors keep thinking in the rational choice paradigm, but they interpret it in a broader sense : rationality is seen as efficient behavior. People act rationally, if they pursue their preferences in a rational way, whatever they are. This makes the economic theory parasitic upon sociology, psychology and other sciences which try to understand the structure of human preferences. But there is a more fundamental problem : in this broad interpretation the theory becomes empty and cannot be falsified anymore. We make a further step by questioning the premise that human behavior is always based on rational choices. Human behavior is also motivated by values, norms, social context, expectations, personality,... in a way that cannot be integrated in the rational choice paradigm. Very often, people make no choice. They follow a rule because it is a rule. They act like this, because it is the norm to act like this. Which means that they do not really choose. With all this, we do not want to say that there are absolutely no situations in which people make rational choices. Many aspects of social reality can be understood within the rational choice paradigm. Our conclusion is that the rational choice theory remains useful in the social sciences, but only if the model recognizes the limitations of its premises.

How to Cite:

Vos, H. & De Paepe, K., (1996) “De bruikbaarheid van rationele-keuzemodellen in de sociale wetenschappen: een kritische analyse”, Tijdschrift voor Sociale Wetenschappen 41(2), 123–146. doi: https://doi.org/10.21825/tvsw.95231