The formalist position

The formalist benefit example is closely linked to neoclassical economics, defining economics as the discussing of utility maximization under conditions of scarcity. all societies are therefore the collection of "choice creating individuals whose every action involves conscious or unconscious selections among alternative means to pick ends" or culturally defined goals. Burling, 1962, target from Prattis, 1982:207. Goals refer not only to economic utility or financial name but to anything that is valued by the individual, be it leisure, solidarity or prestige.

Since a formalist model commonly states what is to be maximized in terms of preferences, which often but non necessarily increase culturally expressed value goals, it is deemed to be sufficiently summary to explain human behavior in any context. A traditional given many formalists borrow from neoclassical economics is that the individual will make rational choices based on full information, or information that is incomplete in a specific way, in ordering to maximize whatever that individual considers being of value. While preferences may redesign or change, and information about choices may or may not be complete, the principles of economising and maximising still apply.

The role of the anthropologist may then be to inspect regarded and subjected separately. culture in regards to its culturally appropriate means of attaining culturally recognized and valued goals. Individual preferences may differ from culturally recognized goals, and under economic rationality assumptions individual decisions are guided by individual preferences in an environment constrained by culture, including the preferences of others. such(a) an analysis should uncover the culturally specific principles that underlie the rational decision-making process. In this way, economic abstraction has been applied by anthropologists to societies without price-regulating markets e.g. Firth, 1961; Laughlin, 1973.