The Action Frame of Reference and the General Theory of Action Systems: Culture, Personality and the Place of Social Systems

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Book No. – 24 (Sociology)

Book Name – The Social System

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The Action Frame of Reference and the General Theory of Action Systems: Culture, Personality and the Place of Social Systems

Chapter – 1

Harshit Sharma

Alumnus (BHU)

The volume presents a conceptual scheme for analyzing social systems through the action frame of reference.
This work is theoretical and focuses on conceptual analysis rather than empirical generalization or methodology, although it touches on both.
The ultimate value of the scheme will be tested by its use in empirical research, but the focus here is on the theoretical framework.
The starting point is the concept of social systems of action, where individual actors interact in a manner that can be studied as a system, subject to theoretical analysis.
Action frame of reference focuses on the orientation of actors to a situation that includes other actors, structured by a relational scheme.
The situation is composed of objects of orientation, categorized into social, physical, and cultural objects.
- Social objects include other actors (alter), the self (ego), or collectivities.
- Physical objects are entities that don’t interact with the actor but serve as means and conditions for action.
- Cultural objects are symbolic elements (ideas, beliefs, values) treated as situational objects but not internalized as parts of the actor’s personality.
Action is a process that has motivational significance for the actor, aiming for gratification or avoiding deprivation.
Motivation arises from the actor’s relationship to the situation, with the ultimate source of energy in action derived from the organism.
Action is organized not just by biological needs but by the relationship to the situation and the actor’s experience.
Expectations are central in action, as the actor anticipates reactions from other actors, particularly in social interaction, affecting choices.
Signs or symbols within the situation acquire meanings, especially in social interactions, and facilitate communication.
The emergence of symbolic systems marks the development of culture, becoming integral to the actor’s action system.
A social system involves multiple actors interacting in a situation with physical or environmental aspects, motivated by gratification optimization, and mediated by a shared system of cultural symbols.
A social system is one of three aspects of a complete social action system, alongside personality systems and cultural systems.
These three systems—social, personality, and cultural—are interdependent but not reducible to one another. Each is necessary for the others to exist.
The action frame of reference connects all three systems, allowing for transformations between them.
Empirical systems are described in terms of a frame of reference and analyzed as mechanisms that influence system functioning.
The study of action involves motivational constructs organized in terms of structural categories.
Need-disposition systems are fundamental to action, with two primary aspects: the gratificational (what is gained from interaction) and the orientational (how the actor relates to objects).
Cathectic orientation is the significance of the actor’s relation to objects for their gratification-deprivation balance.
Cognitive orientation defines the relevant aspects of the situation, helping the actor judge their interests.
Evaluation refers to the ordered selection of alternatives in action orientation, including cathectic and cognitive aspects.
A unit act consists of the actor’s cognitive, cathectic, and evaluative modes of orientation toward the situation.
Systems of action integrate these modes of orientation, and system integration refers to the selective ordering of alternatives.
Expectation includes cathectic interests, cognitive definition of the situation, and evaluative selection, and is structured over time with reference to future developments.
Anticipation refers to passive interest in a future state, while a goal involves active attempts to shape the future state.
Both anticipation and goal differ from stimulus-response in that they involve explicit orientation to the future, unlike responses to unpredictable stimuli.
The fundamental concept of the “instrumental” aspects of action applies to cases where the action is goal-oriented. It involves considerations about the situation, the actor’s relations to it, the alternatives open to him, and their probable consequences relevant to the attainment of a goal.
There is a need to observe the rule of parsimony when discussing the ultimate structure of gratification-needs in action theory, especially at the social system level.
A theory of action must address the unity or plurality of ultimate genetically given needs and their classification and organization.
Motivations are organized on the personality level, and they are conceived as products of interaction between genetically given need-components and social experience.
Knowledge of uniformities on the personality level is usually sufficient for sociological problems, and only in specific cases must the genetic and experiential components be unraveled.
Every empirical analysis of action assumes biologically given capacities that vary between individuals, but for most sociological purposes, variations between individuals are more important than between large populations.
Even elementary orientations of action involve signs, which represent the beginning of symbolization.
On the human level, this moves from sign-orientation to true symbolization, which is essential for the emergence of culture.
Symbolization is involved in cognitive orientation and the concept of evaluation.
The role of symbol systems in action involves differentiation across various aspects of the action system and is crucial for communication and the development of culture.
True symbolization functions through interaction with social objects, and it cannot arise in isolation.
In social interaction, the meaning of a sign must be abstracted beyond the particularity of the situation, meaning its interpretation is stable across various alternatives and actor reactions.
Symbol systems allow communication because they abstract meaning from specific situations, making interaction between actors possible.
A shared symbolic system that functions in interaction is referred to as a cultural tradition.
There is a fundamental relationship between symbol systems and the normative orientation of action.
The mutuality of expectations is oriented to a shared order of symbolic meanings, which governs the actions of individuals in society.
As actors’ gratifications depend on the reactions of others, the relation between these conditions and reactions becomes part of the meaning system.
The normative orientation of action is rooted in the action frame of reference.
Values can be categorized into cognitive, appreciative, and moral standards, which guide selection among alternatives in action.
The motivational orientation involves not only the cathectic (emotional) aspect but also the cognitive and evaluativeaspects of action.
Value-orientation relates to the content of selective standards and governs how individuals evaluate situations, which are part of the larger cultural tradition.
Values inherently have a social reference, as even personal values are formed in relation to shared cultural traditions.
The primary relevance of values is related to their functional relations to action. These values may pertain to cognitive, cathectic, or integrative aspects of the action system.
Cognitive standards concern the validity of cognitive judgments and can be universal or culturally specific.
Cathectic standards involve the rightness and propriety of emotional orientations toward objects, influenced by normative evaluations.
Evaluative standards help integrate cognitive and emotional aspects of action into a coherent whole.
Moral standards are critical in the evaluation of action systems, as they govern the integration of both cognitive and cathectic elements in action.
Moral standards are particularly relevant to social systems because they help define rights, obligations, and interactions between individuals.
Moral standards are of great importance in sociological analysis, as they shape the structure and functioning of social systems.
The classification of value-orientation and motivational orientation is conceptually distinct but interrelated, with their content being independently variable.
Failure to recognize the independent variability of value-orientation and motivational orientation has contributed to the oscillation between psychological determinism and cultural determinism in social science.
Recognizing the independent significance of social systems, personality, and culture is essential for a comprehensive understanding of human action.
In anthropological theory, there is no close agreement on the definition of culture, but three key aspects can be identified:
- Culture is transmitted: It constitutes a heritage or social tradition.
- Culture is learned: It is not a product of genetic constitution.
- Culture is shared: It influences and is influenced by systems of social interaction.
Transmissibility of culture is essential for distinguishing it from the social system, as culture can be diffused between systems. Culture, as a pattern element, is abstracted from a specific social system but remains interdependent with other components of that system.
Cultural systems are pattern-consistent, but they face integration challenges due to strains from situational and motivational elements of concrete actions. This issue arises from the need for individuals to learn cultural patterns and integrate them into their actions.
Learning a culture means incorporating cultural elements into an individual’s action system. This process is not limited to intellectual learning but extends to conforming to behavior norms or valuing art styles. Learning occurs in the context of both personalities and social systems.
The compatibility of learned cultural elements with existing elements in an individual’s personality system is a key issue. Learning is constrained by an individual’s genetic constitution and environment, but also by the need to interact in a social system.
Culture cannot be fully integrated into individual personalities due to the imperatives of social interaction. A completely pattern-consistent cultural system cannot be fully motivated in all actors within a social system.
The integration of the total action system is a compromise between the need for consistency within personality, social, and cultural components, resulting in partial integration, not perfect conformity.
Interaction plays an equal role in both the social system and personality. While interaction is constitutive of both, the focus of integration differs. The social system focuses on the organization and functional integration of interactions, while personality focuses on the functional adequacy of motivational balance.
Social systems and personalities are empirical action systems, combining motivational and cultural elements. While both have a pattern-consistency, the social system focuses on functional adequacy within social roles, whereas personality focuses on individual functional integration.
The difference between social systems and personalities lies in their functional focus. Personality is an integration of the organism interacting with a situation, whereas social systems are based on roles structured in a uniform way for individuals but interpreted differently by each individual.
The social system is not a direct application of personality theory or a part of culture but should be understood independently. Social structures and motivations in social systems must be studied separately from the psychological aspects of individual personalities.
Psychology, while related to the theory of action, is not the foundation of social system theory. The correct approach is to treat the theory of social systems as a branch of the broader theory of action, with psychology as a part of the same framework.
The theory of social systems must be considered within the broader action frame of reference, focusing on the structure and functioning of social systems rather than on culture or personality alone.
Social systems must be understood as self-subsistent systems, capable of long-term persistence through biological reproduction and socialization. These systems are not necessarily isolated but can be interdependent with other societies.
The term society refers to a social system that can persist independently through its own resources, while a partial social system is a smaller system that is part of a larger society.
In sociological analysis, it is essential to identify whether a system is a society or a partial social system, as this distinction helps locate the system within its broader societal context.
A structural-functional approach is necessary for theory development in the absence of a complete dynamic theory of social systems. This approach allows for analysis and comparison of parts of social systems and processes within them.
Empirical systems must be described using a carefully worked-out set of categories that enable comparability and transition between different aspects of a system, thus aiding the development of dynamic knowledge.
The structural aspect of theory provides the conceptual framework for understanding how different parts of a system fit together and how changes occur within the system. As dynamic knowledge progresses, the explanatory role of structural categories diminishes but remains essential for scientific analysis.
The primary concern of this work is the categorization of the structure of social systems, the modes of structural differentiation, and the ranges of variability in these structures across systems.
The goal is not just to categorize for its own sake but to provide an indispensable tool for further purposes in sociology.
A generalized system of categories allows for the systematic description and comparison of social system structures, setting the stage for applying dynamic knowledge of motivational processes.
Dynamic knowledge in social systems is still fragmentary and of uneven analytical quality, so it is essential to organize it relative to a reference scheme of the social system.
The concept of function is crucial for this process, as it helps to place dynamic processes structurally within the social system and test their significance.
The functional relevance of a process is assessed by asking what the consequences would be for the system if two or more alternative outcomes occurred, focusing on stability, change, integration, or disruption.
Mechanisms in sociological theory are used to account for the functioning of social systems, the maintenance or breakdown of structural patterns, and transitions between patterns.
A mechanism is an empirical generalization about motivational forces, sometimes backed by established laws or psychological mechanisms, and must be relevant to the functioning of the social system.
The scientific value of a generalization depends not just on its validity but also on its relevance to the functioning of social systems.
The book’s organization begins with a brief outline of the action frame of reference, followed by a chapter on essential components and reference points for social system analysis, focusing on how these components are organized through role institutionalization.
The next chapters will explore the structure of social systems, with one chapter focusing on principal subsystems, and two chapters analyzing modes of differentiation and structural variation within societies.
After laying out the framework for social process analysis, attention will shift to the analysis of social processesthemselves, focusing on socialization mechanisms and deviant behavior in subsequent chapters.
Chapters on motivational aspects of social behavior will be followed by chapters addressing cultural aspects, particularly value-orientation patterns, systems of beliefs, and expressive symbols.
Although motivational and cultural aspects could be treated in either order, motivational processes are addressed first to clarify their significance for the cultural patterns within a social system.
The analysis pauses at this point for a case study illustrating key concepts, specifically modern medical practice as a partial social system.
The final theoretical task is an analysis of social change, examining processes and types of change.
The book will conclude with a brief methodological reflection on the scope of sociological theory and its relationship to other conceptual frameworks in the sciences of action.