Social Action

Social action occurs when thought processes intervene between a stimulus, an actor, and their subsequent response. In other words, it is a process whereby an individual attaches a subjective meaning to his or her action. This is different from reactive behavior in that a simple reaction involves a response to a stimulus with no intervening thought. The concept of social action is of particular importance to sociology because many aspects of the field are built on the principle of understanding the subjective meanings that actors attach to actions and how they come to understand the actions of others (and themselves).

The sociology of Max Weber rested on his concept of social action. He stated that the goal of sociological analysis was “the interpretation of action in terms of its subjective meaning” (Weber [1921]1968:8). This did not, however, lead him to support the psychological study of the mind but, rather, to pursue a sociological study of mental processes. He was not as concerned with the roots of action in consciousness as much as he was interested in the ways in which social structures affected individual action.

The focus of Weber's interest in social action was on the individual. He acknowledged that there were occasions when the collective had to be treated as an individual, but only as “the resultants and modes of organization of the particular acts of individual persons, since these alone can be treated as agents in a course of subjectively understandable action” (Weber [1921]1968:13). Therefore, in contrast to what the name might imply, social action is in nearly all instances performed by the individual actor and not the social collective.

Weber outlined four basic ideal types of action. The most important to him were the two basic types of rational action because these are the ones most likely to be understood by sociologists. The first of these, means-ends rationality is based on a set of expectations of other actors and their assumed responses to environmental stimuli and other human actors. These expectations are the “means” by which the actor calculates his or her own actions in order to obtain his or her desired “ends.” An example of this type of action would be extending one's hand to a new acquaintance with the expectation that that person will shake your hand and the goal of a successful social exchange. The second type of rational action, value rationality, is based on the belief that some actions must be undertaken for their own sake regardless of whether or not they will be successful. The confession of sins to a Catholic priest in hopes of saving one's soul is an example of this type of action.

The other two types of action for Weber have a seemingly more irrational basis. Affectual action is the result of the emotional state of the actor. An example of this would be throwing expensive dinner plates across the room in a fit of rage or acting in socially unprescribed ways in the name of love. Traditional action is rooted in the individual's routine systems of behavior. This would include things such as showering at night versus in the morning, having tea at a certain time every day, or celebrating one's birthday with a cake and candles.

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