What Are The Main Strengths and Weaknesses of The Rational Choice Approach To Religions Behavior?
One of the pioneers of the rational choice theory has been Gary Becker.
He states that this approach can be applied to all human behaviour, including religion. This approach has three assumptions. It assumes that people engage in maximising behaviour. When applying this approach to religion we are not concerned with money. We are concerned with the maximisation of personal benefits. When we make a decision we weigh up the costs and benefits and choose the option which offers the most benefit. Secondly, there are ‘markets that with varying degrees of efficiency allow the actions of different participants to function together efficiently.' Thirdly, prices and other market functions can affect demand and supply, controlling desires and affecting the actions of consumers. Becker explains that price is not described in money terms but as a shadow price. For example, muslims cannot drink alcohol.
This approach involves four theorems. Firstly, a rise in price reduces the quantity demanded. The example he gives is if people have to put more time and effort into having children then less people will do so. Secondly, a rise in price increases the quantity supplied, the example given is women in the labour market. Thirdly, competitive markets are more efficient then monopolistic markets and lead to the diversity of a product. Fourthly, a tax on the output of a market reduces that output eg the punishment of criminals is a tax on crime.
Finke and Iannaccone have applied this theory to religious behaviour and understand that the high degree of religion in America is attributed to the existence of a free market and therefore competition and diversification in religion. Finke argues that in a free market start up costs are low and this leads to new ideas and more diversity and therefore more chance of everyone finding a religion they like. Also in a competitive free market earning a living acts as an incentive to clergy to work harder and try to tailor their religion to suit the demands of the consumer. He also suggests that state monopolies are less efficient in the absence of competition and believes that state churches would therefore allow high costs.
Bruce highlights some weaknesses of this theory. He states that the early Christian church had very high startup costs eg persecution and this did not prevent the recruitment of new followers. On the other hand, according to the maximisation theory, the benefits must have outweighed the cost of the threat of persecution or no-one would have joined. Bruce criticises the theorem
Social support withdrawn. Friendship cessation. A family disowns its own. A community turns its back. These are the hallmarks of religious shunning. Because many people have never dealt with a repressive religion, they may not understand the concept of ‘being cast out.’ A person who experiences religious shunning may suffer many turbulent emotions and phases. Many ex-followers may endure extreme disbelief and fear during their initial shunning. Similarly, shunned members may experience turmoil and extreme depression after being shunned. Without social and physical support, the transitional period after their disassociation is marked by extremely negative circumstances. If a member survives the initial shunning, they often feel anger and resentment, while others may eventually return to their faith. Apostolate members may become a ‘self-fulfilling prophecy’ inasmuch that many openly begin to denounce their previous religion. Although shunning is said to be an act of love, ultimately, the act is a painful means of control that causes the ‘beloved’ to suffer greatly.
According to Karl Polanyi, a market is a meeting place for the purpose of exchange and transaction (Polanyi 1957, 56). The prompt states that a standard view of market holds that most or all values are external to the logic of self-interested, mutually beneficial exchange. Karl Polanyi and Friedrich Hayek analyze this view of market in their writings and evaluate it according to their own beliefs. Hayek seems to agree with the standard view. He believes that values like the concern for justice or the minimizing of people suffering are not embedded in the market, but are external from it. He supports this view by introducing the concept of what he calls “catallaxy.” Polanyi, however, takes an opposing view to externalized values by saying that values are, in fact, embedded in the market. He presents an overview of how history supports this view.
because they wanted to not because they were afraid to. A good example of this
There are thousands upon thousands of theories about why human beings need religion, one of the most popular being that we are sheep and will always need a Shepard, leader or set of rules to follow. This theory was tested by a team of psychological scientists in Ontario, Canada, by assessing whether or not religious beliefs had an effect on ones self control. The results were somewhat
There are many ways that show that we can separate religion from morality in order to show that they are distinct. Morality shows the choices we make deciding right from wrong which ends with one or more parties receiving benefits. Religion is the belief in a being that is supernatural or present in the environment. The followers of that typical religious ideal may choose to follow under that being's guidance or stem off from the primary goal and change what is recommended for that. I can see that the followers of the different types of religions in the world follow their respective beings because they are symbols of authority to them, which means that they should be obedient to that being. Holding power and knowledge over the world and our
Nineteenth century British philosophers, Jeremy Bentham and John Stuart Mill sum up their theory of Utilitarianism, or the “principle of utility,” which is defined as, “actions are right in proportion as they tend to promote happiness, wrong as they tend to produce the reverse of happiness” (Munson, 2012, p. 863). This theory’s main focus is to observe the consequences of an action(s), rather than the action itself. The utility, or usef...
Religion is a symbolic representation of society. The sociological approach to religious belief looks at how society behaves on a whole, to answer the question, “Why are people religious?” We express our participation in religious events through plays, acts of confession, religious dances, etc. To begin to understand why we have such term, let’s understand the common elements of religion. There are different types in which people believe in or follow and that is: animatism, animism, ancestral spirits, god and goddesses, and minor supernatural beings. Beyond these different elements, such one is to have religious leaders to follow.
The Economy is the backbone to society. There are many factors that operate in, and govern our society’s economical structure. Factors such as scarcity and choice, opportunity cost, marginal analysis, microeconomics, macroeconomics, factors of production, production possibilities, law of increasing opportunity cost, economic systems, circular flow model, money, and economic costs and profits all contribute to what is known as the economy. These properties as well as a few others, work together to influence the economy. Microeconomics and Macroeconomics are two major components. Both of these are broken down into several different components that dictate societal norms and views.
Parsons claims that religion is our primary source of meaning; it answers the eternal questions and help to understand things like suffering and pain. It also produces, sacralises and legitimises the core values of society e.g. Protestantism in the USA encouraged individualism, democracy and equality of opportunity. Bellah claims that there is a civil religion and gives the example of America and its faith in Americanism, he says that civil religion unites society. However the functionalist view can be criticised: It focuses on the positive aspects of religion and ignores that it is the cause of conflict in much of the world e.g. Northern Ireland and conflict between protestants and Catholics, It does not explain the origins of religion, explaining what functions religion performs does not help us to know where it came from. Durkheim did his studies I small scale non-literate societies, it is difficult to see how religion performs its functions in out large complex religiously plural society.
Rational choice theory, developed by Ronald Clarke and Derek Cornish in 1985, is a revival of Cesare Becca...
Rational choice theory, also known simply as choice theory, is the assessment of a potential offender committing a crime. Choice theory is the belief that committing a crime is a rational decision, based on cost-benefit analysis. The would-be offender will weigh the costs of committing a particular crime: fines, jail time, and imprisonment versus the benefits: money, status, and heightened adrenaline. Depending on which factors outweigh the other, a criminal will decide to commit or forgo committing a crime. This decision-making process makes committing a crime a rational choice.
An 'economic cost-benefit analysis' approach to reasoning sees actions favoured and chosen if the benefit outweighs the cost. Here, the benefits and costs are in the form of economic benefits and costs, such as, monetary loss or profit. One who is motivated by such an approach will deem a course of action preferable if doing so results in an economic profit. Conversely, actions will be avoided if they result in an economic loss (Kelman 1981).
The Utilitarian Approach: the ethical decision should provides the greatest good for the greatest number;
Religiosity and morality stood out because it is a controversial topic that is compelling to learn about. Everyday life can be affected by these two factors in a positive or negative light. People do not usually think about the morals they obtain and where their morals came from. Researching this topic and understanding the relationship between these two issues will provide a better, clearer view of how people respond in different situations.
That is, it is sensitive to price change, and also to the quantity demanded. This means that if many people are consuming a good, the demand is greater than if less people are consuming the good. To further clarify, take the example of attending college. In an environment where most of an individual's peers are going to attend college, the individual will see college as the right thing to do, and also attend college to be like his peers. However, in an environment where most of an individual's peers are not going to attend college, the individual will have a decreased demand for college, and is unlikely to attend.