Topic 4- Social Action Theory Flashcards
What are social action theories?
Micro theories, less deterministic, believe individuals have free will and possess agency, and we shape society through choice, meanings and actions.
What does weber say about social action theory?
He believed to obtain verstehen we needed to look at structure and action, he found:
1) level of cause- we should understand how structures are imposed to shape peoples behaviour
2) level of action- understand meanings that individuals attach to actions
He also found 4 categories that helped sociologists understand peoples actions based on structures
1) traditional- routine actions, doesn’t require thought
2) affective action- actions based on emotion
3) value-rational- actions taken to achieve a goal that is important
4) instrumentally rational- the social actor calculates the most efficient way to achieve a goal
What is a criticism of webers view on actions?
He believes we need to look at actions and structures to achieve verstehen, however true verstehen cant be achieved.
Functionalists- they disagree as they see individuals as passive puppets.
What is symbolic interactionism?
A theory that believes the world around us is created through interactions based on meanings which are conveyed through symbols. Our actions develop through interactions.
How are meanings interpreted?
Mead- argues we attach meanings from taking the place of another person, whatever meanings another person attaches to an actions and how it would be in their position.
Blumer- found 3 key principles of the theory:
1) actions are not automatic they are based on meanings
2) meanings are not fixed at the outset of the interaction
3) meanings arise from taking on the role of another
What are criticisms of symbolic interactionism?
Reynolds- argues it lacks an idea of structure and therefore neglects to analyse conflicts such as power, gender and class and their impact on peoples actions. People don’t have full free choice ,for example,poverty can confine someones actions
What is ‘looking-glass self’ ?
Cooley- uses this idea to define self-concept
We develop self concept from our ability to take on the role of the other, we then learn to look at ourselves the same way creating a self fulfilling prophecy
What is the dramaturgical model?
Goffman- argues we actively construct ourselves by manipulating what people think of us. We are actors on a social stage, we try give convincing performances. We engage in:
1) impression management- we seek to present a particular image to our audience, controlling our act. We study how our audience respond, we manage it through voice ,body language.
2) roles- functionalists see our roles as very tightly scripted- goffman disagrees and believes there is role distance, between our self and roles. We change our roles to achieve what we want
What does giddens say?
Giddens attempts to combine structure and action
He says they depend on each other
He says actions of individuals shape the social world, but they themselves are shaped by society. This is the duality of structure.
This theory is based on a number of assumptions.
Giddens says we use rules and resources from structures to enable our interactions and their consistent use keeps their existence, this is called the reproduction of structures through agency. This is due to:
1) rules telling us how to do our routine activities
2) we need ontological security, this is the need to feel the world is the way it appears to be
However, we can change structures too:
1) reflecting on actions can bring change to structures
2) actions can have unintended consequences that change structures
