Social Action Theory

• social action theorists reject the view that social behaviour is primarily determined by society, it's social structures and being pushed along by forces beyond their control

  they believe that society is shaped by the individual actions of humans who have free will, not social institutions

  individuals have social agency
• verstehen


  empathy
• Max Weber


  thought that human action is also directed by meanings, which sociologists must then try to interpret

  identified 4 types of action:

  • instrumentally rational - to attain a particular goal are rationally chosen e.g. exams, training for a marathon
  • value rational - striving for a goal which may not be rational, but is pursued by rational means e.g. praying, self care, spending time with friends
  • affectual - action via emotional means e.g. flowers, praying, crying, smiling
  • traditional - actions are guided by customary habits e.g. flowers, praying, not wearing white to a wedding
• 5 features of social action

  1. micro-level, 'bottom-up' approach
  2. verstehen
  3. voluntaristic, individuals have free will and choices=agency
  4. focus on behaviour influenced by beliefs, meanings and feelings
  5. interpretivist methodology
• 2 levels of sociological explanation

  1. level of cause (macro) - explaining the objective structural factors that shape people's behaviour
  2. level of meaning (micro) - understanding the subjective meanings that individuals attach to their action

  Weber claimed individuals construct their own meaning, have to account for both
• evaluation of social action theory

  Alfred Schutz - Weber's view is too individualistic and cannot explain the shared nature of meanings

  application - can you apply Weber's types of actions to all aspects of life, do all actions fit under one type, difficult to apply, actions can go in multiple types

  verstehen - may not be able to emphasise in every situation, could sympathise but not emphasise, we cannot actually be that other person - can never be sure we have truly understood their motives