See Action Theory for a different sociological construct
In sociology, social action, also known as "Weberian social action" refers to an
act which takes into account the actions and reactions of individuals. According
to Max Weber, "an Action is 'social' if the acting individual takes account of
the behavior of others and is thereby oriented in its course".(Secher 1962)
Social action and Max Weber The basic concept was primarily
developed in the non-positivist theory of Max Weber to observe how human
behaviors relate to cause and effect in the social realm. For Weber, sociology
is the study of society and behavior and must therefore look at the heart of
interaction. The theory of social action, more than structural
functionalist positions, accepts and assumes that humans vary their actions
according to social contexts and how it will affect other people; when a
potential reaction is not desirable, the action is modified accordingly. Action
can mean either a basic action or an advanced social action, which not only
has a meaning but is directed at other actors and causes action.
The term is more practical and encompassing than Florian Znaniecki's
"social phenomena", since the individual performing social action is not passive,
but rather active and reactive. Although Weber himself used the word 'agency', in
modern social science this term is often appropriated with a given acceptance of
Weberian conceptions of social action, unless a work intends to make the direct
allusion. Similarly, 'reflexivity' is commonly used as a shorthand to refer to
the circular relationship of cause and effect between structure and agency
which Weber was integral in hypothesising.
Types of social action Rational actions: actions which are
taken because it leads to a valued goal, but with no thought of its consequences
and often without consideration of the appropriateness of the means chosen to
achieve it. Value rational or Instrumentally rational social action is
divided into two groups: rational consideration and rational orientation.
Rational consideration is when secondary results are taken into account
rationally. This is also considered alternative means when secondary
consequences have ended. Determining this mean of action is quite hard and
even incompatible. Rational orientation is being able to recognize and
understand certain mediums under common conditions. According to Weber,
heterogeneous actors and groups that are competing, find it hard to settle on a
certain medium and understand the common social action;
Instrumental action: actions which are planned and taken after evaluating the
goal in relation to other goals, and after thorough consideration of various
means to achieve it. An example would be a high school student preparing for life
as a lawyer. The student knows that in order to get into college, he/she must
take the appropriate tests and fill out the proper forms to get into college and
then do well in college in order to get into law school and ultimately realize
his/her goal of becoming a lawyer. If the student chooses not to do well in
college, he/she knows that it will be difficult to get into law school and
ultimately achieve the goal of being a lawyer. Thus the student must take the
appropriate steps to reach the ultimate goal.
Another example would be most economic transactions. Value Relation is divided
into the subgroups commands and demands. According to the law, people are given
commands and must use the whole system of private laws to break down the
central government or domination in the legal rights in which a citizen possess.
Demands can be based on justice or human dignity just for morality. These demands
have posed several problems even legal formalism has been put to the test.
These demands seem to weigh on the society and at times can make them feel
immoral. The rational choice approach to religion
draws a close analogy between religion and the market economy. Religious firms
compete against one another to offer religious products and services to
consumers, who choose between the firms. To the extent that there are many
religious firms competing against each other, they will tend to specialize and
cater to the particular needs of some segments of religious consumers. This
specialization and catering in turn increase the number of religious
consumers actively engaged in the religious economy. This proposition has
been confirmed in a number of empirical studies.
It is well known that strict churches are strong and growing in the
contemporary United States, whereas liberal ones are declining. For
Iannaccone’s religious experience is a jointly produced collective good. Thus
members of a church face a collective action problem. Strict churches, which
often impose costly and esoteric requirements on their members, are able
to solve this problem by weeding out potential free riders, since only the
very committed would join the church in the face of such requirements.
Consistent with the notion that religious experience is a collective
good, Iannaccone et al. show that churches that extract more resources
from their members tend to grow in membership.
Affective action: actions which are taken due to 'one's emotions, to express
personal feelings. For examples, cheering after a victory, crying at a
funeral would be affective actions. Affective is divided into two subgroups:
uncontrolled reaction and emotional tension. In uncontrolled reaction there
is no restraint and there is lack of discretion. A person with an
uncontrolled reaction becomes less inclined to consider other peoples’
feelings as much as their own. Emotional tension comes from a basic belief that a
person is unworthy or powerless to obtain his/her deepest aspirations. When
aspirations are not fulfilled there is internal unrest. It is often difficult
to be productive in society because of the unfulfilled life. Emotion is often
neglected because of concepts at the core of exchange theory. A common
example is behavioral and rational choice assumptions. From the behavioral
view, emotions are often inseparable from punishments.
Emotion: Emotions are one's feelings in response to a certain situation. There
are six types of emotion: social emotions, counterfactual emotions,
emotions generated by what may happen, emotions generated by joy and grief,
thought-triggered emotions, and finally emotions of love and disgust. All of
these emotions are considered to be unresolved. There are six features that
are used to define emotions: intentional objects, valence, cognitive antecedents,
physiological arousal, action tendencies, and lastly physiological
expressions. These six concepts were identified by Aristotle and are still
the topic of several talks. Macro institutional theory of Economic
Order: Nicole Biggart and Thomas Beamish have a slightly different approach to
human habit then Max Weber. Whereas Weber believed economic organization is
based on structures of material interest and ideas, institutional sociologist
like Biggart and Beamish stress macro-institutional sources of
arrangements of market capitalism. Micrological theories of economy
consider acts of a group of individuals. Economic theory is based on the
assumption that when the highest bidder succeeds the market clears.
Microeconomics theories believes that individuals are going to find the
cheapest way to buy the things they need. By doing this it causes providers
to be competitive and therefore creates order in the economy.
Rational choice theorists, on the other hand, believe that all social action is
rationally motivated. Rationality means that the actions taken are analyzed and
calculated for the greatest amount of-gain and efficiency. Rational choice
theory although increasingly colonized by economist, it does differ from
microeconomic conceptions. Yet rational choice theory can be similar to
microeconomic arguments. Rational choice assumes individuals to be egoistic and
hyperrational although theorist mitigate these assumptions by adding variables to
their models. Traditional actions: actions which are
carried out due to tradition, because they are always carried out in a
particular manner for certain situations. An example would be putting
on clothes or relaxing on Sundays. Some traditional actions can become a
cultural artifact Traditional is divided into two subgroups: customs and habit. A
custom is a practice that rests among familiarity. It is continually
perpetuated and is ingrained in a culture. Customs usually last for
generations. A habit is a series of steps learned gradually and sometimes
without conscious awareness. As the old cliché goes, “old habits are hard to
break” and new habits are difficult to form.
Social Action models help explain Social Outcomes because of basic sociological
ideas such as the Looking Glass Self. The idea of Cooley’s Looking glass self
is that our sense of self develops as we observe and reflect upon others and what
they may think of our actions. Additionally, impression formation
processes allow us to interpret the significance of others' actions.
Social Actions and Institutions Model: An ‘institution’ consists of specialized
roles and settings that are linked together semantically, with the complex
typically being devoted to serving some function within society.
In sociological hierarchy, social action is more advanced than behavior, action
and social behavior, and is in turn followed by more advanced social
contact, social interaction and social relation.
See also