Toward a role-theoretic conception of embeddedness

Attempting to formalize Granovetter's embeddedness argument, rational choice theorists have viewed social relationships as repeated games. This article argues that role theory would provide a better metatheoretical perspective on embeddedness. a preliminary sketch of role theory suggests a promising theoretical methodology. To illustrate, I construct a repeated-game model in which the players are not individuals but roles (a profit-maximizing "businessperson" and nonstrategic "friend"); the businessperson role acts strategically in light of a metarule that governs intrapersonal role switching.