The Exchange Theory
The heart of Homans's exchange theory lies in propositions based on psychological principles. According to Homans they are psychological for two reasons: first, they are usually tested on people who call themselves psychologists and second, they are psychological because of the level at which they deal with the individual in society. Homans says, "they are propositions about the behavior of individual human beings, rather than propositions about groups or societies." He believed that a sociology built on his principles would be able to explain all social behavior. But, he regrets that his theory was labeled "Exchange Theory" because he sees this social behavior theory as a behavioral psychology applied to specific situations. Homans looked to Emilie Durkheim's work for guidance as well, but often disagreed in the end with particular components of Durkheim's theories. For example, Durkheim believed that although individuals are clearly the component parts of society, society is more than the individuals who constitute it. He believed that society could be studied without reducing it to individuals and their motivations. However, Homans, through his Exchange Theory, believed that individual beings and behavior are relevant to understanding society.
Read more about this topic: George C. Homans
Famous quotes containing the words exchange and/or theory:
“To coöperate in the highest as well as the lowest sense, means to get our living together. I heard it proposed lately that two young men should travel together over the world, the one without money, earning his means as he went, before the mast and behind the plow, the other carrying a bill of exchange in his pocket. It was easy to see that they could not long be companions or coöperate, since one would not operate at all. They would part at the first interesting crisis in their adventures.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)
“There never comes a point where a theory can be said to be true. The most that one can claim for any theory is that it has shared the successes of all its rivals and that it has passed at least one test which they have failed.”
—A.J. (Alfred Jules)