The Social Action Theory and Symbolic Interactionism
Max Weber believed that individuals were the key to society. He
developed social action theory, the purpose of which was to find out
why individuals function in certain ways. He thought that every social
action performed by an individual had a meaning attached to it. Social
actions are the result of conscious thought processes that take into
consideration the reactions of other individuals. Weber identified
four types of social action which include, reason (an instrumentally
rational or calculated action), value or rational action (determined
by belief), emotion or effectual action (dependent upon the feelings
of the individual), and traditional action (determined by habit).
In order to investigate society and the role of the individual within
it, Weber developed a method of understanding called Verstehen. There
are two types of Verstehen. Aktuelles Verstehen is a process of direct
observation, and Erklarendes Verstehen, which is a process by which
you try to understand the motives of the individual from their own
perspective. The main concept of Verstehen is to look at society
through the eyes of the individual to try to interpret things in a
similar manner to which they would themselves.
Verstehen has various criticisms. It is possible that observation may
be influenced by personal bias. Direct observation also requires prior
knowledge of the culture being studied. Also, Verstehen assumes that
people in society rationally consider their actions, which may not
always be the case.
Weber believed that class would diversify (instead of the polarisation
that Marx predicted) ...
... middle of paper ...
...e consciously interpret situations - a lot of actions take
place on automatic pilot almost, often out of habit.
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Race is a very interesting subject of sociology, and it is also immensely studied. What is race? Race is presumed common genetic heritage resulting in distinguishing physical characteristics” (Social Stratification). There are three basic theories to explain race in sociology; Functionalist Theory, Conflict Theory, and the Symbolic Interaction Theory.
In the fallowing paper I will be talking about the article “The Automaticity of Social Life,” by John A. Bargh. For those of you that aren’t familiar with the word Automaticity, let me give you a brief explanation, automaticity is when you do something unconsciously or from force of habit. In the article Bargh talks about automaticity from different perspectives. He gives us a couple experiences that he did in different types of occasions.
Symbolic interactionist’s like to understand the world through understanding the specific meanings and causes that society attributes to particular events. When analyzing health and illness symbolic interactionist’s like to look at individuals or groups and how they give meaning to their particular illness. Then they take that information and see how it affects their relationships with others and how it makes them view themselves. The symbolic interactionist theory also claims that we socially construct health and illness much like we do with race. For instance if someone spends his days staring at the sun and goes blind people blame him for staring at the sun. They believe that if they do not engage in sun staring then they will not go blind. The same reasoning usually follows people who get lung cancer or AIDS. The person is blamed for having the illness regardless of how they got it; people assume the sick brought it upon themselves.
The theory I originally 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 had a good grasp of its concepts and structure. However, in doing research for this paper, I discovered that contrary to what our book led me to believe, Social Exchange is a theory entirely separate from Rational Choice theory. So, in keeping with this discovery and despite my better judgment, I will do my best to relay and critique the information I find on either one or both theories and then compare only Social Exchange theory to the Symbolic Interaction framework. Although I will try to get the same information for both theories, there are not many resources which describe Social Exchange theory, and there are far more for Rational Choice theory, so the critique and discussion may be a little lopsided.
In my sociology analysis essay I will be discussing Menace II Society. There are five concepts that I will define and use to show a broader vision of scenes from the movie which are: master status, differential association, self-conflict, stereotyping, and street crimes. Also, there will be two theories I will be discussing about the movie which are symbolic interaction theory and social conflict theory.
If one were to get mad at their printer because it was failing to do its job and even went so far as to hit it, it would be overt action by all means, but as this behaviour is taken to an object, it is not social (BST. p. 109). There are four types of social action that Weber mentions, instrumental-rational which is the way one is expected to act around their surroundings and other people, so if an individual is at a gym and gets angry at another person, it is expected of them to not throw the weights to another person and resolve the matter through other means. Value-rational which is something that’s done for its own sake rather than an outside-goal, so giving change to a homeless person despite there being absolutely no return on the investment, it is done for the sake of being good. Affectual which is deals with a particular actor’s emotions and feelings, and finally traditional, which is just action that’s done habitually (BST, p.
Zastrow, C., & Kirst-Ashman, K. K. (2007). Understanding human behavior and the social environment. Australia; U.S.A.: Thomson Brooks/Cole.
I have plenty of African American friends. I just don’t stay in contact with them like I do with all of my other friends. I guess in the back of my mind I thought, “She is going to try to steal my boyfriend.” I didn’t realize this until now. The society has led me to believe that black women go after every single man. My conscience was telling me to not invite my African American friends or else they will disrespect me. However, my best friend Marie changed my mind about African American women. Marie is helpful, strong, and beautiful. I thought all African Americans didn’t how to talk properly, they lived up to every stereotype, and that they judged all the time. Through symbolic interactionism I believe all African Americans are different and need to be treated fairly.
Sociologists view society in different ways. Sociologists use three major theories: symbolic interactionism, functional analysis, and conflict theory. The symbolic interactionist perspective, also known as symbolic interactionism, directs sociologists to consider the symbols and details of everyday life, what these symbols mean, and how people interact with each other (Cliff). Some examples of symbolic interactionism are the meaning of marriage, the meaning of divorce, the meaning of parenthood, and the meaning of love. Symbols may include wedding bands, vows of life‐long commitment, a white bridal dress, a wedding cake, a Church ceremony, and flowers and music. American society attaches general meanings to these symbols, but individuals also maintain their own perceptions of what these and other symbols mean (Cliff). Symbols have a shared social meaning that is understood by all members of society. Symbolical interactionism is analyzed at a micro-sociological level. It examines small-scale patterns of social interaction. It focuses mainly on face-to-face interaction and how people use symbols to create a social life.
Relationships play an important role in everyday life. It is essential for the positive, social and mental development of the people required in the relationship. It starts off with infatuation and goes through several stages. Somewhere along the way the relationship can take a toll and will take the brunt of the fall. It’s a theory that describes how relationships and relational partners change over time. This communication theory research paper will identify the theorist, his educational and professional background, along with other contributions that he has made. It will define the theory and explain it using tangible examples. Finally, I will describe what I have learned from my research.
As with most group projects, I started out with a basic understanding of the issue; essentially pollution and environmental changes humans make impact the environment in very bad ways. I grew up with a family who believes in intelligent design, young earth theory, and they all vehemently deny that anything humans do cause damage to the planet- everything reported in the news or by scientists are part of a larger “Liberal Democrat conspiracy.” Thus, my views had become largely hazy and even though I pride myself on being a Liberal, educated, intelligent young person, sometimes I was unsure what was actually true or what had been dramatized or exaggerated by scientists or the media to actually get people to pay attention. In addition, I also
...ry, it is easy to notice how people need different things, and require alternate ways of studying. You notice people’s emotions and how they react to their surroundings. Some people need silence, some need music, some need space, some need distraction and some people just do it to look good.
The Symbolic Interaction theory refers to ways in which a family or society attaches meaning to verbal communication, non-verbal communication, people, and objects. We are taught from a young age communication using verbal language and accepted ways to express our needs. The theory represents perception of objects or actions (Macionis, 2007, p.17).
The sociology of everyday life focuses on studying people in their natural context, ie. the everyday social world. Social interactions is viewed as a fundamental aspect of understanding society and how social reality is constructed. The scrutiny of our social world in micro-sociology reveals that our everyday routines and social interactions produce an appearance of stability and continuity in our social life, when in fact, our social reality is profoundly fragile. This essay explores two different forms of sociological analysis, Symbolic Interactionism and Dramaturgy, through the arguments presented by George Herbert Mead and Erving Goffman respectively, and are both equally influential in their contributions to micro-sociology. Both sociologists
The last principle is thought, or taking the role of the other. When we interpret symbols we do this through our own thought processes. Interactionists refer to this as "an inner conversation." People naturally talk to themselves to sort out meanings of situations. They often put themselves in another person's shoes and act as they would act. When we think about assignin...