Definition of Rationalization
(noun) A long-term process whereby beliefs based on morality or superstition are replaced by rules and procedures based on logic and efficiency.
Rationalization Pronunciation
Syllabification: ra·tion·al·i·za·tion
Audio Pronunciation
Phonetic Spelling
- American English – /rash-uh-nuh-luh-zAY-shuhn/
- British English – /rash-uh-nuh-lie-zAY-shuhn/
International Phonetic Alphabet
- American English – /ˌræʃənləˈzeɪʃ(ə)n/
- British English – /ˌraʃn̩əlʌɪˈzeɪʃn/
Usage Notes
- Plural: rationalizations
- Also called systematization.
- A (noun) rationalist uses rationalization as a framework to (verb) rationalize decisions.
Related Videos
Additional Information
- Word origin of “rationalization” – Online Etymology Dictionary: etymonline.com
- Bauman, Zygmunt. 1989. Modernity and the Holocaust. Cambridge: Polity.
- BonJour, Laurence. 1997. In Defence of Pure Reason: A Rationalist Account of A Priori Justification. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
- Cook, Clarissa. 2004. “Who Cares about Marx, Weber and Durkheim? Social Theory and the Changing Face of Medicine.” Health Sociology Review 13(1):87–96. doi:10.5172/hesr.13.1.87.
- Cottingham, John. 1988. The Rationalists. New York: Oxford University Press.
- Gane, Nicholas. 2002. Max Weber and Postmodern Theory: Rationalization versus Re-enchantment. London: Palgrave Macmillan.
- Kalberg, Stephen. 1985. “Max Weber’s Types of Rationality: Cornerstones for the Analysis of Rationalization Processes in History.” American Journal of Sociology 85(5):1145–79. doi:10.1086/227128.
- Katz, Jerrold J. 1998. Realistic Rationalism. Cambridge: MIT.
- Nelson, Alan Jean, ed. 2005. Companion to Rationalism. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
- Phemister, Pauline. 2006. Rationalists: Descartes, Spinoza and Leibniz. Malden, MA: Polity.
- Ritzer, George. 2015. The McDonaldization of Society. 8th ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
- Scully, Matthew. 2003. Dominion: The Power of Man, the Suffering of Animals, and the Call to Mercy. New York: St. Martin’s Press.
- Van Dijk, Jan. 2012. The Network Society. 3rd ed. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Related Terms
Works Consulted
Brym, Robert J., and John Lie. 2007. Sociology: Your Compass for a New World. 3rd ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Ferrante, Joan. 2011a. Seeing Sociology: An Introduction. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Ferrante, Joan. 2011b. Sociology: A Global Perspective. 7th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Ferris, Kerry, and Jill Stein. 2010. The Real World: An Introduction to Sociology. 2nd ed. New York: Norton.
Giddens, Anthony, and Philip W. Sutton. 2014. Essential Concepts in Sociology. Cambridge: Polity.
Griffiths, Heather, Nathan Keirns, Eric Strayer, Susan Cody-Rydzewski, Gail Scaramuzzo, Tommy Sadler, Sally Vyain, Jeff Bry, Faye Jones. 2016. Introduction to Sociology 2e. Houston, TX: OpenStax.
Henslin, James M. 2012. Sociology: A Down-to-Earth Approach. 10th ed. Boston: Allyn & Bacon.
Kendall, Diana. 2011. Sociology in Our Times. 8th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Macionis, John, and Kenneth Plummer. 2012. Sociology: A Global Introduction. 4th ed. Harlow, England: Pearson Education.
O’Leary, Zina. 2007. The Social Science Jargon Buster: The Key Terms You Need to Know. Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
Shepard, Jon M. 2010. Sociology. 11th ed. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth.
Shepard, Jon M., and Robert W. Greene. 2003. Sociology and You. New York: Glencoe.
Stewart, Paul, and Johan Zaaiman, eds. 2015. Sociology: A Concise South African Introduction. Cape Town: Juta.
Stolley, Kathy S. 2005. The Basics of Sociology. Westport, CT: Greenwood Press.
Turner, Bryan S., ed. 2006. The Cambridge Dictionary of Sociology. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Wikipedia contributors. (N.d.) Wikipedia, The Free Encyclopedia. Wikimedia Foundation. (https://en.wikipedia.org/).
Cite the Definition of Rationalization
ASA – American Sociological Association (5th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “rationalization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Retrieved March 25, 2023 (https://sociologydictionary.org/rationalization/).
APA – American Psychological Association (6th edition)
rationalization. (2013). In K. Bell (Ed.), Open education sociology dictionary. Retrieved from https://sociologydictionary.org/rationalization/
Chicago/Turabian: Author-Date – Chicago Manual of Style (16th edition)
Bell, Kenton, ed. 2013. “rationalization.” In Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Accessed March 25, 2023. https://sociologydictionary.org/rationalization/.
MLA – Modern Language Association (7th edition)
“rationalization.” Open Education Sociology Dictionary. Ed. Kenton Bell. 2013. Web. 25 Mar. 2023. <https://sociologydictionary.org/rationalization/>.