What are the Types of social action?
Types Of Social Action Max weber . has classified social action into four categories. Social action, like other forms of action, may be classified in the following four types according to its mode of orientation: (1)-in terms of rational orientation to a system of discrete individual ends (zweckrational), that is, through expectations as to the behaviour of objects: in the external situation and of other human individuals, making use of these expectations as `conditions' or `means' for the successful attainment of the actor's own rationally chosenThe rational orientation to system of discrete individual ends:it means that for achievement of an individual objective the logic of cause and effect is applied.With out cause an aim can not be attained. The logic that every event has its cause is the main idea in such social action. Social actions have ends and objective for the individual .instrumental action (also known as value relation, goal-instrumental ones, zweckrational): actions which are planned and taken after evaluating the goal in relation to other goals, and after thorough consideration of various means (and consequences) 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 (in the form of time and money) tend to grow in membership. (2)-in terms of rational orientation to an absolute value (wertrational); involving a conscious belief in the absolute value of some ethical, aesthetic, religious, or other form of behaviour, entirely for its own sake and independently of any prospect of external success;such action is done for the pursuit of a value of highestdignituyReal truth can be named as absolute value. Truth.faith. sacrifice and beliefs are its examples in religion. Service of humanity is general value. Social action for such aims also require logical performance.rational actions (also known as value-rational ones, wertrational): 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 ('the end justifies the means'). Value rational or Instrumentally rational social action is divided into two groups: rational consideration and rational orientation. Rational Orientation comes into account 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; (3) in terms of affectual orientation, especially emotional, determined by the specific affects and states of feeling of the actor;affectional action (also known as emotional actions): 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 affectional actions. Affectual 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 (often manifests itself in anxiety), emotions that are generated by joy and grief (examples are found in responses typically seen when a student gets a good grade and when a person is at a funeral, respectively), thought triggered emotions (sometimes manifested as flashbacks), and finally emotion of love and disgust. All of these emotions are considered to be unresolved. There are six features that are used to define emotions. They are as follows; 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. Rational choice theorist 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 (self)-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 hyper rational although theorist mitigates these assumptions by adding variables to their models. Affective action is dictated immediately by the state of mind or humour of the subject: the slap the mother gives her child because it has been unbearably bad; the punch administered during a football game by a player who has, as we say, lost control of himself. In all these examples, the action is defined, not with reference to a goal or system of values, but by the emotional reaction of an actor placed in a given set of circumstances (4) Traditionally orientated, through the habituation of long practice. Traditional action is action that is dictated by customs, by beliefs become habitual and second nature, as it were, so that to act according to tradition the actor need not imagine a goal, or be conscious of a value, or be stirred to immediate emotion; he simply obeys reflexes that have become entrenched by conditioning.By tradition; a belief in the legitimacy of what has always existed;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. These types of social action are distinguished in Weber's sociology. Men may engage in purposeful or goal-oriented rational action (zweckrational); their rational action may be value-oriented (wertrational); they may act from emotional or affective motivations; or, finally, they may engage in traditional action. prepared by : isak abdi
