For ten points, identify this concept from economics and political science that states that participants in a system nearly always make decisions that follow their best interests.
Green and Shapiro have argued in a paper titled after the "Pathologies" of this concept that its empirical value is limited. Blau attempted to address one problem of this theory by claiming that people are inclined to accept inconvenience if it came as a part of a longer chain of actions. The problem that he was attempting to solve was that of Norms and Obligations, while several theorists have attempted to improve conceptions of this theory by adding variables for promises and threats. The foundational theory for this concept came from a work of George Caspar Homans, who wrote Social Behavior: Its Elementary Forms, which drew heavily form the psychology of Skinner. This theory assumes completeness and transitivity of preferences, with the result that all participants can make a personally consistent ranking. For ten points, identify this concept from economics and political science that states that participants in a system nearly always make decisions that follow their best interests.
Green and Shapiro have argued in a paper titled after the "Pathologies" of this concept that its empirical value is limited.
{Rational Choice} Theory