In this paper it is proposed that one way of integrating what we know of the sociology of violence into a framework of individual action is to consider violent behaviour from a rational choice perspective. It is argued that conceptualising violence as the outcome of a rational choice or a decision on the part of the offender illuminates the goal directed, instrumental character of violence. A n...

Rational choice theory analyzes how an agent can rationally act, given his or her preferences, but says little about where those preferences come from. Preferences are usually assumed to be …xed and exogenously given. Building on related work on reasons and rational choice (Dietrich and List forthcoming), we describe a framework for conceptualizing preference formation and preference change. In...

The main purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of the rational choice approach, followed by an identification of several of the major criticisms of RCT and its conceptual and empirical limitations. It goes on to present a few key initiatives to develop alternative, more realistic approaches which transcend some of the limitations of Rational Choice Theory (RCT). Finally, the arti...

This paper develops, using the revealed preference approach, a model of choice with an initial endowment and in the presence of alternatives that are grouped into categories. Our model generalizes the classical individual choice model which is rationalized by utility maximization, and reduces to that model in the absence of an initial endowment. Given an exogenous endowment, our decision maker ...

The implications of viewing the decision to kill oneself as a rational choice, based on an analysis of the costs and benefits, were explored. Suicide is but one symptom for an individual in distress to choose, and if suicide is prevented, other symptoms may appear in its place. Similarly, a critical question to be asked in suicide prevention is whether restriction of the availability of one met...