Max Weber's Social Action Theory
Added on 2021-04-24
7 Pages1995 Words89 Views
Sociology
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Max Weber's Verstehen and Social Action
IntroductionMax Weber who grew up amidst struggles coined the social action theory influenced by his life outcomes (Edles & Appelrouth, 2008). According to Weber's Verstehen theory, life has meanings and value systems, which are important for symbolism and interpretation. Weber expressed his ideas unveiling connections to the Marxian and Nietzsche approaches. In his opinion, Sociology takes an interpretative approach to social action by arriving at causal explanations of certain effects. The implication of this is that actions influence individual and group decisions. Therefore, organizations and individual persons have interests, which determinetheir end. The National Steps Challenge is a profit making business with seasons of fun and games with prices that encourage people to live a healthy life. Families and friends gather in these exciting events in the shopping malls and neighborhoods. The popularity of its events is due to various factors. Weber’s ideology explains why and how the company achieves it ends through means. This is a definition of why the company designs strategies with an aim of attaining greater profits and why people see these activities as opportunities for self-improvements. Although it explains rationality, it has limitations[ CITATION Bru13 \l 1033 ]Weber’s Category of ActionIn order to explain this, Weber’s category of action presents different concepts for traditional, affective, rational and substantive rationality. First, it is possible that more people see the need toengage in healthy activities because of what they have always done. The National Steps Challenge has seasons that motivate people to gather at these events as a tradition. Weber sees sociology as a science that interprets social action through causal factors (Edles & Appelrouth, 2008, p. 194). In this case the number of attendants at the social events grows fom 156000 to 35000 in Season 2 because of the nationwide tradition.
Secondly, there are chances that the rewarding system captivates more people to participate. In this case, Weber affective action answers this notion pointing out that people do things out of utility. In this case, the company seeks to satisfy the consumer’s emotional action regardless of the consequences. This means that participants are not afraid of the extreme exercise involving 5000 steps every day. For some, the motivation could be the tangible rewards of a shopping voucher and the healthy behavioral change (Forbes, 2012). This thought holds that people are social beings responsible for individual choices. Both individuals ad groups have benefits in this case. Rational Action supports the idea that people do things because of the underlying value. A researcher looking into the social media craze for these activities might consider the group influence as friends and family gather together for fun. The sophistication of being in such a fun group motivates the consumer to participate in groups of families and friends. Consequently, TheNational Steps Challenge undertakes a brand marketing strategy with a focus on developing a quality event targeting thousands [ CITATION Bre12 \l 1033 ]. This factor depends on the efficiency,reliability and status of the event. In this explanatory approach, rational action may be substantive in that it has the ultimate goal of achieving a healthy nation. The social action may also be formative focusing on multiple goals such as prize reward, healthy effect and group competition. Classical Theory and Modern ExplanationsWeber’s opinion about society and changes in social change indicates that human action influences change in society. These notions explain the essence of extreme actions in the modernsystem[ CITATION Bur15 \l 1033 ]. Technology influences, sporting activities, and reality shows
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