Rational Choice Theory Citations in Sociological Theory

Breakdown of Will (2001) by George Ainslie

• Explores the concept of will and willpower and whether those can provide satisfactory explanations for self-destructive behaviours (askrasia, according to Aristotle)
• Our concept of willpower is that of giving into "weakness of the flesh" (note the link to traditional religious concepts around this idea as well)
• Does willpower failure alone explain askrasia, or do we need other explanations 
• Does not draw a certain conclusion, but considers both lack of willpower and other aspects such as hedonism and Paul MacLean's idea that we use 'animal' parts of our brains for some decisions, and these can then be self destructive

Explaining Social Behaviour: More Nuts and Bolts for the Social Sciences (2007) by Jon Elster

• There is a large subjective element to RCT
• There are three requirements for an action to be counted as rational: that it be "optimal, given the beliefs; [that] the beliefs ... be as well supported as possible, given the evidence; and the evidence must result from an optimal investment in information gathering" (Elster 2007)

Goldthorpe (1998). Rational Action Theory for Sociology. The British Journal of Sociology

• By RAT means RCT
• Focuses on the range of types of RCT theory there are (it is not a single theory, there are many variations)
• Only sees RCT as being valid when it can explain actions directly in terms of actual rationality and not in terms of evolutionary benefits or other biological drivers 
• Also posits three kind of requirements or 'rules' for RCT: people's wants/desires do not change (they remain consistent); people's wants/desires fall along spectrums and NOT separate categories; and desires remain the same between different people (Goldthorpe 1998 but also general understanding)
• They distinguish three metrics or scales of rationality (as illustrated in their diagram below, showing different appraoches taken by different theorists): strength of the requirements for actual rationality, situational/procedural rationality, general/specific focus of the theory 

• Procedural rationality means rationality driven by forethought and careful consideration before the act
• Situational rationality means rationality in the moment, after the action, 'retrospective rationality' (Quora), making the decision then recognising its rationality, in a way

Pathologies of Rational Choice Theory: A Critique of Applications in Political Science (1994) by Donald Green & Ian Shapiro

• Focuses on RCT and politics, and especially on the intersections between the two
• Minor critique of common mistakes in political theory, which also affect RCT (misapplication of statistics, overdrawing of conclusions from small case studies, ignoring mistakes or fallacies in research or statistics)
• Their main critique is what they describe as far more fundamental "methodological failings", especially that of focusing on angling research to try to prove a particular …