RATIONALITY AND EMOTIONS

Rational choice theory (RCT) developed in sociology in part as a reaction to the lack of cumulative scientific work in the field (Boudon 2003). One of the significant appeals of RCT within sociology was its capacity to provide a simple model of social action at the micro-level that facilitated derivations of macro-level consequences in the aggregate. A critique from sociology as well as psychology is the tendency for rational choice theories to avoid consideration of the more emotional determinants of behavior. We delineate some of the ways in which emotions can affect "rational" choices directly or indirectly, modify the process of decision-making entirely, or serve as alternatives to RCT as determinants of behavior. In so doing we hope to stimulate further theory and empirical work on the specific linkages between emotions, rationality, and behavior. In our concluding section we mention the possibility of future connections with further developments not only in economics (e.g. behavioral economics) but also new research in neuroscience on the determinants of both emotions and behavior (Science May, 2010).