Social Action Theories

What is social action theory?

A micro-level approach that focuses on individuals, their actions, interactions, meanings and choices rather than society as a whole.

How does social action theory differ from structural theories?

Structural theories focus on how society shapes individuals, whereas social action theories focus on how individuals actively create and shape society.

What is agency?

The ability of individuals to make free choices and control their own actions rather than simply being determined by social structures.

What did Max Weber argue about structure and action?

Weber argued that both structural causes and individual meanings are necessary to fully explain society.

What are Weber's two levels of sociological explanation?

The level of structural cause, which explains how social structures shape behaviour, and the level of meaning, which explains the subjective meanings individuals attach to their actions.

How did Weber use the Protestant Reformation to explain capitalism?

He argued that Calvinism changed people's worldview, encouraging individuals to work hard and accumulate wealth because they believed they needed to prove themselves worthy before God, helping contribute to the rise of capitalism.

What are Weber's four types of social action?

Instrumentally rational action, value-rational action, traditional action and affectual action.

What is instrumentally rational action?

Action chosen because it is the most efficient or logical way of achieving a particular goal.

What is value-rational action?

Action towards a goal because the goal itself is considered desirable, even when there is no certainty that the action will succeed.

What is traditional action?

Action based on habit, custom or the belief that something has always been done that way.

What is affectual action?

Action driven by emotions or feelings, such as acting angrily to express anger.

What is symbolic interactionism?

A micro-level approach associated with George Herbert Mead that argues people create society through their interactions and the meanings they attach to symbols.

What did Mead argue about symbols?

Symbols represent meanings that humans learn and share; society is created through people interpreting and using these symbols.

How are humans different from animals according to Mead?

Humans do not simply respond automatically to stimuli; they interpret situations and symbols before choosing how to respond.

What is the "interpreter phase" according to Mead?

The process whereby humans receive a stimulus, interpret its meaning and then choose an appropriate response.

What does "taking the role of the other" mean?

Putting ourselves in another person's position and imagining their perspective or intentions in order to interpret their behaviour.

How does taking the role of the other develop?

We first learn to see ourselves through the eyes of significant others such as parents, then develop the ability to see ourselves through the eyes of the wider or "generalized" other.

What is the "generalized other"?

Our understanding of how wider society expects us to behave, allowing us to judge our own actions from the perspective of others.

Why are shared symbols important for society?

They allow people to understand how they are expected to behave and make social interaction more predictable.

What did Herbert Blumer do with Mead's ideas?

Blumer systematised symbolic interactionism into three key principles explaining how meanings shape human behaviour.

What are Blumer's three principles of symbolic interactionism?

People act towards things based on the meanings they give them; meanings arise through interaction; and meanings are modified through an individual's interpretive process.

According to Blumer, are meanings fixed?

No. Meanings arise through interaction and can change as individuals reinterpret situations.

How does taking the role of the other affect behaviour according to Blumer?

It helps individuals interpret situations by considering how other people might see them, influencing the actions they choose.

Why is behaviour partly predictable according to interactionism?

People internalise shared meanings and expectations, so they often behave in predictable ways, although they retain the ability to negotiate and choose.

What is labeling theory?

An application of symbolic interactionism arguing that labels given to people, actions or situations influence how they are perceived and how individuals behave.

How does defining something create a label?

When we define or classify something, we attach a meaning to it, and that label influences how we respond to it.

What is the Looking Glass Self?

The idea that we develop our self-concept partly by internalising how other people see and label us.

What is a self-fulfilling prophecy?

A prediction or expectation that becomes true because people act in ways that make it come true.

What is a master status?

The dominant or overarching label or identity through which an individual is viewed, which can influence their behaviour and self-concept.

What is a deviant career?

A process in which an individual internalises a deviant label and increasingly acts according to it, potentially making the label become a central part of their identity.

Can labeling lead to positive as well as negative outcomes?

Yes. Labels can produce negative careers such as a career criminal, but they can also produce positive outcomes such as a career empath or hard worker.

What is Goffman's dramaturgical model?

Goffman applies ideas from drama to sociology, arguing that people construct their identities by managing how others see them.

How does Goffman compare people to actors?

People are like actors who perform roles, use scripts and props, and perform for an audience of other people.

What is impression management?

The process of controlling the impression we give to others through our language, tone, gestures, facial expressions, appearance and behaviour.

Why do people use impression management?

To give a convincing performance of the role they have adopted and present a desired image of themselves to others.

How tightly scripted are social roles according to Goffman?

Roles are loosely scripted and changeable, allowing individuals freedom to adapt their behaviour to different situations.

What is phenomenology?

The study of how phenomena appear to us through our senses and how we interpret and give meaning to the world around us.

What question does phenomenology ask about knowledge?

Whether we can ever have true knowledge of an objective reality, or whether everything we know is interpreted through our minds and senses.

How do phenomenologists see society?

As a product of shared meanings that people impose on the world, allowing them to understand and cooperate with one another.

What are typifications according to Alfred Schutz?

Shared concepts and categories that people use to organise their experiences and create a common world of meaning.

Why is context important to phenomenologists?

The meaning of an action depends on the situation in which it occurs; the same action can have different meanings in different contexts.

How did Berger and Luckmann develop phenomenological ideas?

They argued that although society is socially constructed by people, once constructed it becomes external and takes on a life of its own, influencing people in society.

What is ethnomethodology?

A method of studying how people create and maintain social order through shared meanings, common-sense procedures and taken-for-granted assumptions.

What did Garfinkel argue about social order?

Social order is an illusion created through common-sense procedures and culturally embedded assumptions rather than something naturally existing.

What did Atkinson's study of suicide show?

It showed that suicide can be understood as a social construction because coroners use available evidence and shared assumptions to interpret and classify a death as suicide.

What was Garfinkel's famous breaching experiment?

He asked students to behave like lodgers or visitors in their own homes to disrupt their families' normal expectations and reveal taken-for-granted assumptions.

What did Garfinkel's breaching experiment demonstrate?

It demonstrated how fragile social order can be and how much everyday interaction depends on shared assumptions about how people should behave.

What was a criticism of Garfinkel's breaching experiment?

Crab argued that the findings were trivial and commonsensical because people would naturally react strangely if a family member suddenly behaved like a stranger.

What are strengths of phenomenology and ethnomethodology?

They show how meanings are created and negotiated, how meanings can change through interaction, and how socially constructed meanings can have consequences for individuals.

What are criticisms of phenomenology and ethnomethodology?

They ignore social structures, do not fully explain people's motivations, underestimate unequal power in defining meanings, and can be criticised as another academic meta-narrative.

What is structuration theory?

Anthony Giddens' attempt to create a unified theory combining structure and individual action.

What is the duality of structure?

Giddens argues that structure and individual agency are two sides of the same coin: structures shape action while people's actions reproduce and change structures.

What is structuration?

The ongoing relationship in which people's actions reproduce or change social structures, while structures make those actions possible.

What are the two elements of social structure according to Giddens?

Rules, such as norms, customs and laws, and resources, including economic resources and power.

Why do people usually reproduce social structures?

People tend to follow existing rules and patterns because they provide order, stability, predictability and a sense of security.

How can individuals change social structures according to Giddens?

They can reflect on their actions and deliberately choose new behaviours, such as breaking traditions or challenging existing practices.

What are unintended consequences of action?

Changes to social structures that result from people's actions even though those changes were not part of their original intentions.

What is the main strength of structuration theory?

It attempts to combine the strengths of structural and action approaches by recognising both the influence of social structures and individual agency.

What is a key criticism of interactionist social action theories?

They may overstate the extent to which individuals freely create meanings because many meanings and behaviours are shaped by wider social structures.

Why is the origin of meanings a problem for interactionism?

Interactionism does not fully explain where labels and meanings originally come from or why very similar meanings exist across different societies.

Why is the similarity of human behaviour a criticism of interactionism?

If individuals have extensive freedom to create meanings, it is difficult to explain why people in similar social situations tend to behave in remarkably consistent and predictable ways.

Why do people often behave consistently in social roles?

Structuralists argue that roles are located within the social structure and individuals are socialised into the expectations attached to those roles.

What is the structuralist criticism of social action theory?

Structuralists argue that behaviour is not randomly created through interaction but is strongly influenced by the social and historical context in which it occurs.