Deck 11: Exchange and Rational Choice Theory

Question 1

Each party to the exchange must perceive that they are not paying too high a cost relative to the rewards gained; Homans's titled this concept

A) behavioral propositions.
B) elementary social behavior.
C) neoclassic economics.
D) distributive justice.

Answer 1

D

Question 2

Homans and Blau differed because Blau

A) went farther with the concept of behavioral psychology.
B) emphasized that interaction is shaped by a reciprocal exchange of rewards.
C) abandoned Homans's psychological behaviorism and emphasized power and inequality.
D) reinterpreted Homans's conception of distributive justice.

Answer 2

C

Question 3

Exchange theory differs from James S. Coleman's work in that exchange theory deals with relationships, while Coleman's deals with

A) decisions.
B) power.
C) symbols.
D) economics.

Answer 3

A

Question 4

According to the authors, Homans's basic theoretical orientation can be considered

A) Individual/rational.
B) Individual/nonrational.
C) Collective/rational.
D) Collective/nonrational.

Question 5

A woman who dates a wealthy but otherwise miserable to be around man could be assumed to be doing so for

A) intrinsic rewards.
B) extrinsic rewards.
C) imbalanced exchange.
D) distributive justice.

Question 6

Which concept does Homans's describe as an exchange of goods reinforced by the values that actors attach to rewards sought and costs endured?

A) economics
B) psychology
C) interaction
D) justice

Question 7

Unavoidable punishments that are experienced when a behavior also elicits positive reinforcement are called

A) losses.
B) retributions.
C) costs.
D) dysfunctions.

Question 8

For Blau, the concept of power was based upon

A) an unequal exchange due to monopoly over a desired resource.
B) an ability to exercise one's will economically.
C) a discrepancy in meaning actors possess during an interaction.
D) a biological difference realized through the study of behavior.

Question 9

Which scholar's work on the effects of operant conditioning greatly influenced Homans's work?

A) James Coleman
B) B.F. Skinner
C) Georg Simmel
D) Robert Merton

Question 10

Blau argues that social interaction is rooted in the seeking of rewards. Intrinsic rewards are those that

A) we value for their own sake, not because they produce additional advantages.
B) create the opportunity for further gains, particularly regarding wealth or power.
C) are less important to interaction than the pursuit of extrinsic rewards.
D) are valued because they produce additional advantages

Question 11

Homans sought to explain elementary social behavior which he defined as

A) face-to-face contact between individuals, in which the reward each gets from the behavior of the others, is relatively direct and immediate.
B) human beings acting toward things on the basis of the meanings that the things have for them.
C) based on the division of labor inherent within primitive societies.
D) a reciprocal relationship between an interdependent self and society.

Question 12

Which one of the following is not one of Homans's behaviorist propositions?

A) success
B) satisfaction
C) value
D) stimulus

Question 13

Which term do we use to refer to the instances where the same individuals are both the beneficiaries and the targets of the norm?

A) proscriptive.
B) disjoint.
C) prescriptive.
D) conjoint.

Question 14

Blau's basic theoretical orientation according to the authors is primarily

A) individual/rational.
B) individual/nonrational.
C) collective/rational
D) collective/nonrational

Question 15

The more often an action is followed by a reward, the more likely a person will repeat the behavior is referred to by Homans as

A) the value proposition
B) the stimulus proposition
C) the success proposition
D) the deprivation-satiation proposition

Question 16

The authors point to James S. Coleman as a significant other due to his work with _________ which is closely aligned with exchange theory.

A) symbolic interactionism
B) conflict theory
C) rational choice theory
D) structural functionalism

Question 17

Which scholar could it be argued was most influential on Blau's work on interaction?

A) Karl Marx
B) Emile Durkheim
C) Max Weber
D) Georg Simmel

Question 18

Which of the following represents the subtle difference between rational choice theory and exchange theory?

A) Only rational choice theory views the actor as rational
B) Rational choice theory situates strategic decisions within group dynamics
C) Only exchange theory views the actor as a purposeful agent
D) Exchange theory rarely situates decision-making within reward maximation

Question 19

Max Weber and Talcott Parsons influenced Blau's analysis of the role of

A) interaction in realizing our ambitions.
B) power and norms of legitimation in shaping group processes.
C) individual interactions resulting in the pursuit of extrinsic value.
D) Individual interactions symbolized by imbalanced exchange.

Question 20

George Homans's approach to exchange theory is based upon a fusion of principles of

A) structural functionalism and behaviorialism.
B) behavioral psychology and neoclassical economics.
C) symbolic interactionism and behaviorialism.
D) dramaturgy and social psychology.

Question 21

Homans calls economics a science of man most advanced.

Question 22

According to Blau, an important form of social capital is the potential for information that inheres in

A) human capital.
B) norms.
C) social relations.
D) physical capital.

Question 23

According to Blau, an important form of social capital is the potential for information that inheres in social relations.

Question 24

Discuss the role B.F. Skinner's work played as an influence on Homans.

Question 25

Rational choice theory and structural functionalism share the belief that norms are pre-existing and internalized universally by individuals within a social system.

Question 26

Explain Homans's assumptions regarding elementary social behavior.

Question 27

According to Coleman, conduct is subject to normative regulation and thus norms are best understood as absolute determinants of action.

Question 28

Blau was interested in connecting the studies of everyday interactions with those at the collectivist level.

Question 29

Norms are taken as preexisting "givens" more or less internalized universally by individuals within a social system.

Question 30

According to Coleman the "free rider" refers to the individual's rational decision not to participate in group activity if the goals of the group or the "joint goods" it produces cannot be denied to the individual and if their supply is not reduced by others consuming them.

Question 31

According to Coleman the "free rider" refers to the _____________decision not to participate in group activity if the goals of the group or the "joint goods" it produces cannot be denied to the individual and if their supply is not reduced by others consuming them.

A) individual's rational
B) individual's irrational
C) collective's rational
D) collective's irrational

Question 32

One of the larger issues rational choice theorists have dealt with is the free-rider problem.

Question 33

Blau disagreed with Simmel's idea that exchange relations contained the purest and most concentrated form of all human interactions.

Question 34

____________is created by changes in persons that bring about skills and capabilities that make them able to act in new ways.

A) Social capital
B) Cultural capital
C) Physical capital
D) Human capital

Question 35

Homans's theory assumed individual behavior could be adapted to social situations and animal behavior could be generalized to human behavior.

Question 36

Homans acknowledged two limitations on his rationalist position concerning action.

Question 37

One's sense of distributive justice arises from their expectations of future exchanges.

Question 38

Homans believed social systems exist as sui generis social facts independent of individuals.

Question 39

_________ are taken as preexisting "givens" more or less internalized universally by individuals within a social system.

A) Trusts
B) Mores
C) Taboos
D) Norms

Question 40

According to Coleman, the role of _____________ is of important resource that enables individuals to realize their interests. While it is in a sense something an individual or an organization possesses, ___________ "inheres in the structure of relations between actors and among actors."

A) human capital, cultural capital
B) human capital, human capital
C) social capital, social capital
D) cultural capital, cultural capital

Question 41

According to Blau, an important form of social capital:

Question 42

Following Coleman's theory, explain the roles trust and norms play within rational choice theory.

Question 43

Choose one of Homans's behaviorist propositions and use a concrete example to illustrate it.

Question 44

Choose one of Homans's main concepts and explain why it sits where it sits within his basic theoretical orientation. Be sure to provide quotations from the text to support your explanation.

Question 45

Define the assumptions underlying Homans's notion of elementary social behavior. Do you feel these assumptions can be generalized and be considered valid? If not, how else might we build a conception of what is "elementary" in our social behaviors?

Question 46

According to Coleman, human capital is understood to be:

Question 47

Discuss the areas Simmel, Weber, and Parsons influenced within Blau's body of work. Also explain the areas where Blau and Homans's respective works coincide and deviate from one another.

Question 48

Discuss Blau's conception of power and how it links to the work of Max Weber.

Question 49

Name, define, and provide concrete real life scenarios for all of Homans's behaviorist propositions. Also define and explain his term distributive justice.

Question 50

According to Coleman, why is the role of social capital an important resource that enables individuals to realize their interests.

Question 51

Define distributive justice and use a real world example to support your definition.

Question 52

Explain what Homans means from his quote: "for structures do not act on individuals automatically. They do so because they establish some of the contingencies under which persons act: their stimuli, rewards, and punishments…"

Question 53

Define rational choice theory and explain the similarities and differences it shares with exchange theory.

Question 54

According to Coleman the "free rider" refers to the individual's rational decision not to participate in group activity, when:

Question 55

Contrast rational choice theory's view on norms with those of the structural functionalists. Then discuss the similarities and differences between rational choice and exchange theory. Taking into account concepts such as "power" and "social capital" explain which theory - from your perspective - most accurately accounts for everyday social behavior.

Question 56

Define prescriptive and proscriptive norms providing concrete examples for both.

Question 57

Explain how Simmel's distinction between the content and forms of interaction helped shape major points in Blau's work.