Project supported by The George Washington University and the Center for Policy Research. .... psychologists call 'reasoned action' (Ajzen and Fishbein 1980). The ..... buy Houston newspapers to learn about jobs for 50 cents; this isa loI1g.
Journal of Economic Psychology7 (1986) 17-36 North-Holland
RATIONALITY IS ANTI-ENTROPIC * Amitai ETZIONI The George Washington University, Washington,USA Received December 6,1984; acceptedJune 3,1985
The article explores the fruitfulness of assuming all economic behavior to be non-rational unless special factors intervene to make it rational. The definition of rationality applied is that of intentional or calculative rationality.. This is deemed to be a variable, not a trait of a species.The association of rationality with three kinds of investment is indicated. Prior researchon information costs,learning curves, habit and impulse buying are shown to be compatible with the article's core thesis. So is the evidence about rational behavior being 'cool'.
1. The thesis No matter how many challenges are thrown at the rationalist assumptions entailed in the notion of 'economic man' (and macro-economic theory which assumesrational decision making), it is understandable that many economists continue to base their analyses on these postulates. Every scientific paradigm faces challenges and it is reasonable not to abandon a paradigm until a more productive one is found; otherwise the result is theoretical anarchy. If one abandons the rationality postulates, what should one adopt in its place? That people's economic behavior is non-rational? Irrational? Biologically determined? This article examines the merits of one alternative concept, the notion that rationality is anti-entropic.That is, the 'normal' (or base-line) state of human behavior is assumedto be non-rational; for behavior to be rational even in part forces must be activated to pull it in the .The author is indebted for comments to Arthur Snow and Lucy Ferguson and for research assistance by Kathy Wilson and James Baldwin. The article is a product of the Socio-Econoinic Project supported by The George Washington University and the Center for Policy Research. Author's address: A. Etzioni, The George Washington University, Room 714, Melvin Gelman Library, 2130 H Street, NW, Washington, DC 20052,USA. 0167-4870/86/$3.50
