The theory I initially chose to critique was the social exchange and rational choice framework from our class book. I chose this theory because when we talked about it in class, it made a lot of sense to me. Its propositions and foundations are very applicable to many situations, and I felt like I understood its concepts and structure well. However, while researching this article, I discovered that contrary to what our book led me to believe, social exchange is an entirely separate theory from rational choice theory. So, in accordance with this finding and despite my better judgment, I will do my best to relay and critique the information I find on either or both theories and then only compare social exchange theory to the framework of symbolic interaction. Although I will try to get the same information for both theories, there aren't many resources describing social exchange theory, and there are many more for rational choice theory, so that criticism and discussion can be a bit unbalanced. Exchange theory, in very simple language, is a model describing an exchange of benefits. In the case of social exchange theory, these benefits do not necessarily have to be monetary or tangible, but certainly could be, if that was what was necessary (Molm, 2006, p. 30). According to Linda Molm, “people depend on each other for much of what they need and value in social life, and they provide these benefits to each other through the process of social exchange.” (Molm, 2006, p. 24). The longest definition and the focal point of the social exchange framework as defined by Linda Molm is "the benefits that people derive from and contribute to social interaction, as well as the opportunity structures and interdependencies that govern these exchanges. ...... ychological theories (pp. 02-30). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=8Jzkgbq2vYwC&printsec=frontcover&source=gbs_ge_summary_r&cad=0Cook, K., Levi, M., O'Brien, J., and Faye, H. (2008). Introduction: The limits of rationality. In K. Cook & M. Levi (Eds.), The limits of rationality (pp. 02–47). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=7M82yReFf4sC&oi=fnd&pg=PR7&dq=social Exchange and Rational Choice Theory DefinitionMcCall. (2006). Symbolic interaction theory. In P. Burke (Ed.), Contemporary social psychological theories (pp. 1-12). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=7M82yReFf4sC&dq=social Exchange and Rational Choice Theory DefinitionDowding, K. (2011). Rational choice theory. In M. Bevir (Ed.), The SAGE Handbook of Governance (pp. 36-40). Retrieved from http://books.google.com/books?id=dU8BNNYnZesC&printsec=frontcover