Social action

The action and reaction of individuals are taken into account in social action. In particular social action denotes an act in which deals with the behavior of people. As Max Weber quotes, an action can be said to be social if the individual who is action notes the behavior of others.

 The non-positivist theory of Max Weber dealt with this concept which observed the behavior of human beings in relation to the cause and effect in the social dominion. Weber demanded sociology to peep into the heart of interaction since sociology is itself the study of society and behavior. The fact that human being vary from each other in terms of their action in accordance with the social contexts is accepted by social action more than that of structural functionalist. However, the action is modified if a potential reaction is not promised.

There are various types of social action which falls under the umbrella of rational actions, instrumental action.

Rational action which is also known as value rational ones directs to a valued goal. The value rational action is again divided in to two different groups. They are rational consideration and rational orientation. In rational action no consideration is given to the consequences and the appropriateness of the means chose to achieve the valued goal.

When the secondary results are accounted the rational orientation comes into account. Though it is quite hard to determine the means of an action, the rational orientation has proved itself in recognizing and understanding these mediums under a common condition. Weber has found that it is hard for the heterogeneous actors to comprehend the common social action and the settle certain medium.

Instrumental action:

On the other hand instrumental action is taking into consideration only after assessing the goal in relation to other goals. Even after complete examination of various means and consequences to achieve the goal the instrumental action is planned. A good example would be the efforts of a high school student who is planning his future as a lawyer. The student is very much aware of the processes that are involved in his attempt to become a lawyer. He knows very well that he has to take up tests and fill out many forms in order to get into the college and after getting into the college he aim for a good performance in the studies in order to get into law school and thereafter he realizes his ambition of becoming a lawyer.

Questions:

• What is social action?
• What are the types of social action?