Rational Choice Theory and Religion

Lawrence Alfred Young

Psychology Press

1997

187 páginas

6h 14m

ISBN-13: 9780415911924

Often our practices of worship are determined by birth, but why do we choose a particular religion? Applying the theory of rational choice - that each individual will make her choice to maximize gain and minimize cost - to the study of religion, the essays in Rational Choice Theory and Religion find that an individual's choice has as much to do with demand for religious meaning as it does with the plurality of religions one can choose from. The contributors speak from a depth and breadth of knowledge almost unmatchable in the discipline of sociology, and the works contained in this volume present rational choice theory as a powerful, attractive, and useful theory for scholars of religion. The book is an important, original, and exciting contribution to sociology in general and to sociology of religion in particular.