The concept and essence of social action. Concept of social action

The concept of “social action (activity)” is peculiar only to man as a social being and occupies one of the most important places in the science of “sociology”.

Every human action is a manifestation of his energy, prompted by a certain need (interest), which gives rise to a goal for their satisfaction. In an effort to more effectively achieve a goal, a person analyzes the situation and looks for the most rational ways to ensure success. And what is especially important is that he acts self-interestedly, that is, he looks at everything through the prism of his interest. Living in a society of people like themselves, who respectively have their own interests, the subject of activity must take them into account, coordinate, comprehend, focus on them: who, what, how, when, how much, etc. In this case action takes on character social actions, i.e. characteristic features social action(activities) are comprehension and orientation towards the interests of others, their capabilities, options and consequences of disagreements. Otherwise, life in a given society will become uncoordinated, and the struggle of all against all will begin. Due to the enormous importance of the issue of social activity for the life of society, it was considered by such famous sociologists as K. Marx, M. Weber, T. Parsons and others.

From the point of view of K. Marx, the only social substance, creating man and its essential forces, and thereby society as a system of interaction between many individuals and their groups, is active human activity in all its spheres, primarily in production and labor.

In the process of such activity, a specifically human world is created, which is realized both culturally and historically given to a person objective reality, not only contemplated and cognized by man, but also created materially and spiritually, transformed by him. According to Marx, it is in social activity that the development and self-development of man, his essential powers, abilities and spiritual world occur.

M. Weber made a very significant contribution to the understanding and interpretation of activity with his theory of “social action”. According to it, an action becomes social when it:

is meaningful, that is, aimed at achieving goals clearly understood by the individual himself;
consciously motivated, and the motive is a certain semantic unity that appears to the actor or observer as a worthy reason for a certain action;
socially meaningful and socially oriented towards interaction with other people.

M. Weber proposed a typology of social actions. In the first case, a person acts according to the principle “the best means are those that help to achieve the goal.” According to M. Weber, this purposeful type of action. In the second case, a person tries to determine how good the means that are at his disposal are, whether they can harm other people, etc. In this case, they talk about value-rational type of action (this term was also proposed by M. Weber). Such actions are determined by what the subject must do.

In the third case, a person will be guided by the principle “everyone does this”, and therefore, according to Weber, his action will be traditional, i.e. its action will be determined by the social norm.

Finally, a person can take action and choose means under the pressure of feelings. Weber called such actions affective.

The last two types of action, in essence, are not social in the strict sense of the word, since they do not have a conscious meaning underlying the action. Only purposeful and value-rational actions in the full sense of the word are social actions that are of decisive importance in the development of society and man. Moreover, the main trend in the development of the historical process, according to M. Weber, is the gradual but steady displacement of value-rational behavior by goal-oriented behavior, since modern man believes not in values, but in success. Rationalization of all spheres of activity, according to Weber, is the fate of Western civilization, where everything is rationalized: the way of farming, the implementation of politics, the sphere of science, education, culture, and even the thinking of people, their way of feeling, interpersonal relationships, their way of life in in general.

The sociological understanding and interpretation of social action has been significantly deepened and enriched by the famous American sociologist T. Parsons, especially in his works "The Structure of Social Action" and "K general theory actions."

According to this concept, real social action includes 4 elements:

subject - actor, which is not necessarily an individual, but can be a group, a community, an organization, etc.;
situational environment, which includes objects, objects and processes with which the actor enters into certain relationships. An actor is a person who is always in a certain situational environment; his actions are a response to a set of signals that he receives from the environment, including both natural objects (climate, geographical environment, human biological structure) and social objects;
set of signals and symbols, through which the actor enters into certain relationships with various elements situational environment and ascribes a certain meaning to them;
system of rules, norms and values, which guide the actor's actions, giving them purposefulness.

After analyzing the interaction of elements of social action, T. Parsons came to a fundamental conclusion. Its essence is this: human actions always have the features of a system, therefore The focus of sociology should be on the system of social action.

Each system of action, according to T. Parsons, has functional prerequisites and operations, without and in addition to which it is not able to act. Any current system has four functional prerequisites and carries out the corresponding four main functions. First of which is adaptation, aimed at establishing favorable relationships between an action system and its environment. With adaptation, the system adapts to environment and to its limitations, adapts it to his needs. Second function is goal achievement. Goal achievement consists of defining the goals of the system and mobilizing its energy and resources to achieve them. Integration-third a function that is stabilizing parameter current system. It is aimed at maintaining coordination between parts of the system, its connectivity, and protecting the system from sudden changes and major shocks.

Any system of social action must ensure motivation of its actors, which constitutes fourth function.

The essence of this function is to provide a certain supply of motivations - a reservoir and source of energy necessary for the operation of the system. This function is aimed at ensuring that actors remain faithful to the norms and values of the system, as well as at the actors’ orientation towards these norms and values, and therefore at maintaining the balance of the entire system. This function does not immediately catch the eye, so T. Parsons called it latent.

Motive- internal, subjective-personal motivation to act, which pushes a person to action. Having defined the components, we can present an algorithm for social action. Social values, together with motive, generate corresponding interest in the subject of activity. To realize interest, certain goals and objectives are set, in accordance with which the actor (doer) carries out social reality, striving to achieve the set goal.

As we see, social action motivation includes individual purpose and orientation towards others, their possible response. Therefore, the specific content of the motive will be a synthesis of public and personal, objective and subjective, formed and educated potential of the subject of social activity.

The specific content of the motive is determined by how these two sides of a single whole, diverse objective conditions and the subjective factor will be correlated: special qualities of the subject of activity, such as temperament, will, emotionality, perseverance, determination, etc.

Social activities are divided to various species:

material-transformative(its results are various products of labor: bread, clothing, machines, buildings, structures, etc.);
educational(its results are embodied in scientific concepts, theories, discoveries, in the scientific picture of the world, etc.);
value-oriented(its results are expressed in the system of moral, political and other values existing in society, in the concepts of duty, conscience, honor, responsibility, in historical traditions, customs, ideals, etc.);
communicative, expressed in communication person with other people, in their relationships, in political movements etc.;
artistic, embodied in the creation and functioning of artistic values (the world of artistic images, styles, forms, etc.);
sports, implemented in sporting achievements, V physical development and personal improvement.

In the structure of social activity, social action is highlighted as one of the conditions for its implementation. According to M. Weber, social action is carried out thanks to individuals and their interactions with other people (the basic principle of M. Weber’s “understanding sociology”). "Understanding Sociology" seeks to understand social behavior, based on typical motives and their typical understanding that guides the acting individual. Social action- an action that correlates with the actions of other people and is aimed at them in accordance with the necessary means to achieve their goals. An action becomes social if it meets three criteria: 1) it is meaningful, i.e. aimed at achieving goals realized by the individual; 2) it is consciously motivated and a certain semantic unity acts as a motive, which seems to a person to be the cause of an action; 3) it is socially meaningful and socially oriented towards interaction with other people. In accordance with these criteria, M. Weber identifies types of social action that differ in the degree of rationality and motivation.

Motivation– a set of motivations that cause social activity and determine its direction. An essential place in determining human actions is occupied by motive(lat. motiv- reason for action) is the internal reason for a person’s behavior and actions. Unlike motivation, motive is not directly the cause of social action, therefore, in relation to it, we should speak not about motive, but about motivation. In the course of social action, socially conditioned attitudes and internal motivations are transferred to each other. M. Weber highlights four types of social action:

purposeful action– behavior focused on achieving a rationally chosen goal. It comprehends the relationship of means to ends and by-products of action, and also comprehends the relationship of various goals to each other. His motivation is to achieve a goal and identify the reactions of people around him;

value-rational action- orientation of behavior, the direction of which is based on the individual’s personal beliefs about duty, conscience, dignity, beauty, goodness and other values. It is motivated by socially determined and individually rethought values:

traditional action– behavior based on habit and performed by individuals without reflection. His motivation is habits, traditions, customs. Their meaning is not always realized or is lost;

affective action- behavior caused and guided by the unconscious passions and feelings of the individual. The motivation for such an action is a person’s emotions, feelings, and desires.

The last two types of action are not social in the strict sense of the word: they lack conscious meaning. Only purposeful and value-rational actions are social, since they have a certain significance in the development of man and society.

PUBLIC OPINION AS AN INSTITUTION OF CIVIL SOCIETY.

COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR.

THE CONCEPT AND ESSENCE OF SOCIAL ACTION.

SOCIAL INTERACTION AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS

LECTURE TOPIC

“Sociology... is a science that strives

interpreting, understanding social

action and thereby causal

explain its process and effects."

Max Weber

The concept of “social action” is one of the fundamental concepts of sociology. Social action is the simplest element of any type of social activity of people. Initially, it contains all the main features, contradictions, driving forces, inherent social processes. It is no coincidence that many famous sociologists (M. Weber, T. Parsons) highlight social action as the fundamental basis of social life.

The concept of “social action” was first scientifically substantiated by Max Weber.

According to Weber, social action is an action that, Firstly, conscious, has a motive and purpose, and, secondly, focused on the behavior of other people (past, present or future). If an action does not meet at least one of these conditions, it is not social.

Thus, social action is any manifestation of social activity aimed at other people.

Weber identified four types of actions:

1) purposeful– conscious action aimed at achieving a specific goal;

2) value-rational– an action based on the belief that the act being performed has a specific purpose, the main motive being value;

3) traditional- an action performed due to habit, tradition;

4) affective– action determined by emotions.

Weber considered only the first two types of action to be social.

Talcott Parsons, in his work The Structure of Social Action (1937), developed a general theory of action, believing that it should become a universal theory for all social sciences.

Social action is an elementary unit of social reality and has a number of features:

· the presence of another actor;

· mutual orientation of the actors;

· integration based on common values;

· presence of a situation, goal, normative orientation.

In a simplified form, the structure of social action can be represented as follows: individual need – formation of motivation and interest – social action – goal achievement.

The starting point of social action is the emergence of a need in the individual. These may be needs for security, communication, self-affirmation, achieving a high position in society, etc. Fundamental theory, recognized by experts all over the world, is the theory of Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs, sometimes called Maslow's “pyramid” or “ladder”. In his Maslow's theories divided human needs into five main levels according to a hierarchical principle, which means that when satisfying his needs, a person moves like a ladder, moving from low level to a higher one (Fig. 4).

Rice. 4. Hierarchy of needs (Maslow's pyramid)

The need is correlated by the individual with the conditions external environment, updating strictly defined motives. A social object in combination with an actualized motive arouses interest. The gradual development of interest leads to the emergence of goals in the individual in relation to specific social objects. The moment the goal appears means the individual’s awareness of the situation and the possibility of further development of activity, which leads to the formation of a motivational attitude, meaning readiness to commit social action.

Social actions that express people's dependence form a social bond. The following elements can be distinguished in the structure of social communication:

· subjects of social connection (can be any number of people);

· the subject of the social connection (i.e. what the connection is about);

· mechanism for regulating social connection (“rules of the game”).

Social connection can be in the form of both social contact and social interaction. Social contacts are, as usual, external, superficial, shallow connections between people. A much more important role is played by social interactions, which determine the main content of social life.

2. SOCIAL INTERACTION AND SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS.

Social action in practice rarely occurs as a single act. In reality, we are faced with a whole series of interdependent social actions connected by cause and effect.

Social interactionis a process of direct or indirect influence of social subjects (actors) on each other.

All social phenomena, processes, relationships arise as a result of interaction. In the process of interaction, information, knowledge, experience, material, spiritual and other values are exchanged; the individual determines his position relative to other people, his place in social structure. According to P.A. Sorokina, social interaction is a mutual exchange of collective experience, knowledge, concepts, highest result which is the emergence of culture.

The most important component of social interaction is predictability of mutual expectations. A significant influence on the understanding of the essence of social interaction was exerted by exchange theory of George Homans. According to this theory, each of the parties to the exchange strives to obtain the maximum possible rewards for their actions and minimize costs.

Exchange, according to Homans, is determined by four basic principles:

· success principle: the more often a given type of action is rewarded, the higher the likelihood of its repetition;

· incentive principle: if a stimulus led to a successful action, then if this stimulus is repeated, this type of action will be reproduced;

· value principle: the higher the value of the probable result, the more effort is made to achieve it;

· "saturation" principle: When needs are close to saturation, less effort is made to satisfy them.

Homans cites social approval as one of the most important rewards. Mutually rewarded interactions tend to become regular and develop into interactions based on mutual expectations. If expectations are not confirmed, then the motivation to interact and exchange will decrease. But there is no direct proportional relationship between remuneration and costs, since in addition to economic and other benefits, people’s actions are determined (conditioned) by many other factors. For example, the desire to receive the maximum possible reward without the necessary costs; or, on the contrary, the desire to do good without expecting reward.

One of the scientific directions in the study of social interaction is symbolic interactionism(from interaction- interaction). According to George Herbert Mead (1863-1931), the most important role in interaction is not this or that action, but its interpretation. In other words, how this action is perceived, what meaning (symbol) is given to it. For example, such a minor gesture (action) as winking in one situation can be considered as flirting or courtship, in another - as support, approval, etc.

Social interaction is divided into three types: physical impact(handshake, handing over lecture notes); verbal(verbal); nonverbal(gestures, facial expressions, body movements).

Based on the identification of spheres of society, interaction is distinguished economic, political, religious, family etc.

Interaction can be direct And indirect. The first arise in the course of interpersonal communication; the second - as a result of the joint participation of people in complex systems.

There are also three main forms of interaction: cooperation(cooperation), competition(rivalry) and conflict(collision). Cooperation presupposes the existence of common, joint goals. It manifests itself in many specific relationships between people (business partnership, political alliance, trade alliance, solidarity movement, etc.). Rivalry presupposes the presence of a single indivisible object of claims of the subjects of interaction (votes, territory, powers, etc.). It is characterized by the desire to get ahead of, remove, subjugate or destroy an opponent.

The diverse connections that arise between people in the process of interaction are called public (social) relations.

Social relationship is a stable system of social interactions that presupposes certain mutual obligations of partners.

Social relationships are distinguished by their duration, systematicity, and self-renewing nature. Social relations are extremely diverse in content. Species social relations: economic, political, national, class, spiritual, etc.

Among social relations special place are occupied by relationships of dependence, since they permeate all systems of social connections and relationships. Social addiction can take the forms of structural and latent (hidden) dependence. The first is related to the difference in status in a group or organization. The second arises from the possession of socially significant values, regardless of official status.

3. COLLECTIVE BEHAVIOR.

Some forms of group behavior cannot be called organized from the point of view existing standards. This primarily concerns collective behavior - the way of thinking, feeling and acting that develops in large number people, which remains relatively spontaneous and unorganized. Since ancient times, people have engaged in a wide variety of collective behavior, including social unrest, riots, psychoses, crazes, panics, massacres, lynchings, religious orgies, and riots. These behaviors are more likely to occur during periods of dramatic social change.

Collective behavior can be expressed in a huge variety of forms. Let us take a closer look at some manifestations of collective behavior.

Rumorsis information that is difficult to verify and relatively quickly transmitted by people to each other. Rumors act as substitutes for official news; they are a collective attempt by people to obtain information about events that are important to them, but about which they know nothing.

In modern social psychology it is customary to distinguish two fundamental conditions for the occurrence of hearing. The first is the interest of a significant part of society in a certain problem. The second is the lack of reliable information. Additional condition, which contributes to the faster spread of rumors, is a state of emotional tension, expressed in a state of constant anxious anticipation of negative news and requiring some kind of emotional release.

According to the type of reaction caused, rumors are distinguished:

When transmitting rumors, we can observe the effect of the so-called “damaged phone”. Distortion of information occurs in the direction of smoothing or sharpening. Both mechanisms reflect the general tendency operating in the conditions of interpersonal communication - the tendency to adapt, i.e. adaptation of the content of hearing to the dominant picture of the world in society.

Fashion and hobbies. Fashion is predominantly an affective and meaningless form of regulation. Fashion is mores and preferences that last for a short time and gain widespread in society. Fashion reflects the dominant interests and motives existing in society at a given time. Fashion arises, develops and spreads thanks to its influence on the unconscious.

Fashion usually spreads from the top down. Even in the early days of the development of sociological science, G. Spencer, based on an analysis of large ethnographic and cultural-historical material, identified two types of imitative actions: (1) motivated by the desire to express respect for persons with a higher status and (2) stimulated by the desire to emphasize one’s equality with them . These motives are the basis for the emergence of fashion. G. Simmel, who made a particularly notable contribution to the sociological understanding of the phenomenon of fashion, noted that fashion satisfies a dual human need: to be different from others and to be like others. Fashion, therefore, educates and forms a community, a standard of perception and taste.

Hobbies are morals or preferences that persist for a short time and become widespread only among a certain part of society. Hobbies are often observed in the field of entertainment, new games, popular tunes, treatments, silver screen idols and slang. Teenagers are the most susceptible to new hobbies. Hobbies become the engine by which young people identify themselves with a particular community, and clothing attributes and behavior patterns serve as signs of belonging to a related or alien group. Most often, hobbies have only an occasional impact on people's lives, but sometimes they turn into an all-consuming passion.

Mass hysteria associated with the rapid spread of behavior patterns characterized by transmitted feelings of anxiety. Examples, medieval “witch hunts”; epidemics of "syndrome" conveyor line"- a mass disease of psychogenic origin.

Panic – these are irrational and uncontrollable collective actions of people caused by the presence of some immediate terrible threat. Panic is collective because social interaction increases the feeling of fear.

Crowd – is a temporary, relatively unorganized gathering of people in close physical contact with each other, one of the most famous forms of collective behavior.

The first researcher of the crowd phenomenon was a French sociologist and social psychologist Gustave Lebon(1844-1931). His main job“Psychology of the Masses” is the most complete study of the psychological patterns of mass consciousness and behavior. IN modern science most interesting research crowd phenomena belong to a French scientist Serju Moscovici(work “The Age of Crowds”).

The most important mechanisms contributing to the emergence and development of crowd behavior are:

· mechanism of suggestion;

mechanism of emotional contagion;

· imitation mechanism.

Serge Moscovici notes that “the people who make up the crowd are driven by a boundless imagination, excited by strong emotions that have no relation to a clear goal. They have an amazing predisposition to believe what they are told. The only language they understand is a language that bypasses reason and turns to feeling.”

Based on the nature of behavior and the type of dominant emotions, the crowd can be divided into several types.

Types of passive crowd:

· random crowd- a crowd that arises in connection with some unexpected event;

· conventional crowd- a crowd gathering on the occasion of an event announced in advance, driven by the same interests and ready to comply with the norms of behavior and expression of emotions accepted in such situations;

· expressive crowd- a crowd formed, as a rule, on the basis of a random or conventional one, when crowd participants jointly express their attitude to what is happening.

Types of active crowd:

· aggressive crowd- a crowd driven by hatred, manifested in destruction, destruction, murder;

· panicky crowd- a crowd driven by fear, the desire to avoid real or imagined danger;

· money-grubbing crowd- a crowd driven by the desire to possess certain objects, whose participants come into conflict with each other.

General characteristics all crowds are:

suggestibility;

· deindividuation;

· invulnerability.

4. PUBLIC OPINION AS AN INSTITUTE OF CIVIL SOCIETY.

It is believed that the term “public opinion” was introduced into political use by the English writer and public figure J. Salisbury. The author appealed to public opinion as evidence of the population's approval of the activities of parliament. The category “public opinion” in its modern meaning substantiated in the work of the French sociologist Jean Gabriel Tarde (1843-1904) "Public Opinion and the Crowd". In this work, Tarde explored the influence of mass-market daily and weekly newspapers.

Public opinion- it's collective value judgment a social subject regarding an object of public interest; state public consciousness, which contains the attitude (hidden or explicit) of various groups of people to events and facts of social reality.

The formation of public opinion is characterized by an intensive exchange of individual and group opinions, during which a collective opinion is developed, which then acts as the judgment of the majority. The structural components of public opinion are public judgment And public will. Public opinion influences assessments of social reality by specific individuals. It also influences the formation of their social qualities, instilling in them the norms and rules of existence in society. Public opinion can act as one of the mechanisms for transmitting norms, values, traditions, rituals and other components of culture from generation to generation. Public opinion has a formative influence on social actors. In its regulatory function, public opinion ensures the implementation of certain (developed independently or introduced from outside) norms public relations. It is no coincidence that J. Stuart Mill considered the prevailing opinion in society as “moral violence” against the personality, the individual.

Experts identify the following necessary and sufficient conditions for the emergence and functioning of public opinion:

· social significance, vital relevance of the problem (issue, topic, event);

· debatability of opinions and assessments;

· required level of competence(availability of awareness of the content of the problem, topic, issue being discussed).

We can agree with the point of view of the famous German public opinion researcher Elizabeth Noel-Neuman about the presence of two main sources generating public opinion. First- this is direct observation of others, approval or censure of certain actions, decisions or statements. Second source - funds mass media, which generate the so-called “spirit of the times”.

Public opinion is a social institution that has a certain structure and performs certain functions in society, and is a certain social force. The central issue in the functioning of public opinion is the problem of its effectiveness. There are three main functions of public opinion:

· expressive– expression of public sentiment;

· advisory– expression of socially approved ways to solve problems;

· directive- acts as an expression of the will of the people.

The importance of public opinion as an institution of civil society is especially evident in the conditions modern Russia. Currently, there are more than two dozen public opinion research centers operating in the country. The most famous among them are the All-Russian Center for the Study of Public Opinion (VTsIOM), the Public Opinion Foundation (FOM), Russian Public Opinion and Market Research (ROMIR), Levada Center, etc.

The concept of “social action (activity)” is valid only for man as a social being and occupies one of the most important places in the science of “sociology”.

Every human action is a manifestation of his energy, prompted by a certain need (interest), which gives rise to a goal for their satisfaction. In an effort to more effectively achieve a goal, a person analyzes the situation and looks for the most rational ways to ensure success. And what is especially important is that he acts self-interestedly, that is, he looks at everything through the prism of his interest. Living in a society of people like themselves, who definitely have interests, the subject of activity must take them into account, coordinate, comprehend, focus on them: who, what, how, when, how much, etc. In this case action takes on character social actions, i.e. characteristic features of social action (activity) will be comprehension and orientation towards the interests of others, their capabilities, options and consequences of disagreements. Otherwise, life in a given society will become uncoordinated, and the struggle of all against all will begin. Due to the enormous importance of the issue of social activity for the life of society, it was considered by such famous sociologists as K. Marx, M. Weber, T. Parsons and others.

From the position of K. Marx, the only social substance, creating man and its essential forces, and thereby society as a system of interaction between many individuals and their groups, will active human activity in all its spheres, primarily in production and labor.

In the process of such activity, a specifically human world is created, which is realized as an objective reality culturally and historically given to man, not only contemplated and cognized by man, but also created materially and spiritually, transformed by him. According to Marx, it is in social activity that the development and self-development of man, his essential powers, abilities and spiritual world occur.

A very significant contribution to the understanding and interpretation of activity was made by M. Weber with his theory of “social action”. In conjunction with her, an action becomes social when it:

will be meaningful, that is, aimed at achieving goals clearly understood by the individual himself;
consciously motivated, and the motive is a certain semantic unity that appears to the actor or observer as a worthy reason for a certain action;
socially meaningful and socially oriented towards interaction with other people.

M. Weber proposed a typology of social actions. In the first case, a person acts according to the principle “those means are good that help to achieve the goal.” According to M. Weber, ϶ᴛᴏ purposeful type of action. In the second case, a person tries to determine how good the means at his disposal are, whether they can harm other people, etc. In this case, they talk about value-rational type of action (the term was also proposed by M. Weber) It must be remembered that such actions are determined by what the subject must do.

Finally, a person can take action and choose means under the pressure of feelings. It must be remembered that Weber called such actions affective.

The last two types of action, in essence, will not be social in the strict sense of the word, since they do not have a conscious meaning underlying the action. Only purposeful and value-rational actions in the full sense of the word will be social actions that are of decisive importance in the development of society and man. Moreover, the main trend in the development of the historical process, according to M. Weber, is the gradual but steady displacement of value-rational behavior by goal-oriented behavior, since modern man believes not in values, but in success. Rationalization of all spheres of activity, according to Weber, is the fate of Western civilization, where everything is rationalized: the way of farming, the implementation of politics, the sphere of science, education, culture, and even the thinking of people, their way of feeling, interpersonal relationships, their way of life in in general.

According to this concept, real social action contains 4 elements:

subject - actor, who will not necessarily be an individual, but may be a group, a community, an organization, etc.;
situational environment, which includes objects, objects and processes with which the actor enters into certain relationships. An actor is a person who is always in a certain situational environment, his actions are a response to a set of signals that he receives from the environment, including both natural objects (climate, geographical environment, human biological structure) and social objects;
set of signals and symbols, through which the actor enters into certain relationships with various elements of the situational environment and ascribes a certain meaning to them;
system of rules, norms and values, which guide the actor's actions, giving them purposefulness.

After analyzing the interaction of elements of social action, T. Parsons came to a fundamental conclusion. Its essence is this: human actions always have the features of a system, because The focus of sociology should be on the system of social action.

It is worth saying that each system of action, according to T. Parsons, has functional prerequisites and operations, without and in addition to which it is not able to act. Any current system has four functional prerequisites and carries out the implementation of them four main functions. First of which is adaptation, aimed at establishing favorable relationships between an action system and its environment. With the help of adaptation, the system adapts to the environment and its limitations, adapting it to their needs. Second function is goal achievement. Goal achievement consists of defining the goals of the system and mobilizing its energy and resources to achieve them. Integration-third a function that is stabilizing parameter current system. It is worth noting that it is aimed at maintaining coordination between parts of the system, its connectivity, and protecting the system from sudden changes and major shocks.

Any system of social action must ensure motivationϲʙᴏtheir actors, which is fourth function.

The essence of this function is to provide a certain supply of motivations - a reservoir and source of energy necessary for the operation of the system. This function is aimed at ensuring that actors remain faithful to the norms and values of the system, as well as at the actors’ orientation towards these norms and values, and therefore at maintaining the balance of the entire system. By the way, this function does not immediately catch the eye, which is why T. Parsons called it latent.

Motive- internal, subjective-personal motivation to act, which pushes a person to action. It is appropriate to note that having defined the components, we can present an algorithm for social action. Social values, together with the motive, generate a compelling interest in the subject of activity. It is worth saying that in order to realize interest, certain goals and objectives are set, in conjunction with which the actor (actor) realizes social reality, striving to achieve the goal.

As we see, social action motivation contains individual purpose and orientation towards others, their possible response. Therefore, the specific content of the motive will represent a synthesis of public and personal, objective and subjective, formed and educated potential of the subject of social activity. The material was published on http://site

Social activities are divided to various species:

material-transformative(its results are various products of labor: bread, clothing, machines, buildings, structures, etc.);
educational(its results are embodied in scientific concepts, theories, discoveries, in the scientific picture of the world, etc.);
value-oriented(its results are expressed in the system of moral, political and other values existing in society, in the concepts of duty, conscience, honor, responsibility, in historical traditions, customs, ideals, etc.);
communicative, expressed in communication a person with other people, in their relationships, in the dialogue of cultures, worldviews, political movements, etc.;
artistic, embodied in the creation and functioning of artistic values (the world of artistic images, styles, forms, etc.);
sports, realized in sports achievements, physical development and personal improvement.

Social Actions — This specific system actions, means and methods, using which the individual or social group seek to change the behavior, attitudes or opinions of other individuals or groups. The basis of social action is contacts; without them, the desire to provoke certain reactions of an individual or group or change their behavior cannot arise.

Max Weber defines social action as a person’s conscious behavior, which has a motive and purpose, in which he correlates his meanings of this action with the meanings of the actions of other people. In this definition, orientation towards another person is very important, since it constitutes characteristic feature not just actions, but social actions. Social action, according to Weber, can be focused on past, present or future behavior of people. It can be revenge for past grievances, protection from present danger or future danger.

Subject social action is denoted by the term “ social actor." Actors influence social reality by developing a strategy for their actions. Strategy is about choosing goals and means to achieve them.

A social actor always acts within the framework specific situation with a limited set of capabilities, and therefore cannot be absolutely free. But his actions, due to the fact that their structure is a project, that is, planning the organization of means in relation to a goal that has not yet been realized, are probabilistic, free in nature. An actor can abandon a goal or reorient to another, albeit within the framework of his situation. The ultimate success largely depends on the correct choice of means and method of action.

Structure of social action O must include the following necessary elements:

1) actor;

2) the actor’s need, which serves as the immediate motive for action;

3) action strategy (a conscious goal and means of achieving it);

4) the individual or social group towards whom the action is directed;

5) the final result (success or failure).

Max Weber, depending on the degree of participation of conscious, rational elements in social action, highlighted goal-rational, value-rational, affective And traditional action. All four types of action are arranged in descending order of rationality.

Goal-rational type of action is an ideal type of action that allows one to clearly determine the meaning of an individual’s action. Targeted rational action is characterized by a clear understanding by the influencer of what he wants to achieve and what means are most effective for this.

The criterion for goal-oriented action is the success of the planned action. Possible contradictions between an individual goal and an orientation towards another person are resolved by the acting individual himself.

Value-rational actions are most widespread in real life . In contrast to purposeful-rational actions, which are based on a rationally understood goal, in value-rational actions the influencer is strictly focused on fulfilling his beliefs about duty, dignity or beauty (for example, duty to the Fatherland). Such actions, according to Max Weber, are subject to “commandments” or “demands”, obedience to which is the duty of every person. In this case, the influencer strictly adheres to and fully relies on the values and norms accepted in society, sometimes even to the detriment of his personal goals. A value-rational action does not have a goal, but there is a motive, there is meaning, an orientation toward others.

Affective action — This is an action committed in a state of passion, a relatively short-term, but intensely violent emotional state that arose in response to a strong stimulus. It is based on the feelings of the individual, and is characterized by the desire for immediate satisfaction of the thirst for revenge, passion or attraction. In a fit of anger, extreme irritation, or fear, a person acts thoughtlessly, although these actions may be directed at other people. Such actions often contradict the individual’s own interests and bring him negative consequences. Affective actions have no goals at all. The degree of rationality here approaches a minimum.

Traditional action — This is a traditionally habitual action, performed, as a rule, without reflection, automatically. This action is carried out on the basis of social patterns of behavior and norms deeply internalized by individuals, which have long since become habitual and traditional. In these actions the work of consciousness is extremely reduced. Traditional actions are especially common in the domestic sphere.

The last two types of action occur on the border, and most often outside the conscious or meaningful, i.e. They are characterized by a low degree of participation of conscious, rational elements. Therefore, according to Max Weber, they are not social in the strict sense of the word.

The real sociological action of a person includes two or more types of action: both goal-oriented and value-rational, affective or traditional aspects of behavior are possible in it.

Depending on the content actions are divided into reproductive actions, social denial And social creativity.

Reproductive actions - actions, the main goal of which is to preserve and maintain the normal functioning of a particular social institution (social control). Social denial - actions aimed at abolishing some elements of public life (criticism of existing shortcomings). Social creativity - actions aimed at creating new forms of social relations and developing social consciousness (inventive and rationalization activities).

Depending on the way to achieve what you want all actions aimed at changing people’s behavior can also be divided into two types: negative coercion and positive belief . Negative coercion most often manifests itself in the form of orders and prohibitions of unwanted behavior. Positive belief is based on the action of such means that cause the desired behavior of an individual or group without the use of threats and repression.

There are other ways to classify social actions.