Social action

• According to Max Weber sociology is the science of

social action. Obviously it means any action in
relation to other action and its important
characteristic is the nature of being social. Max
Weber himself differentiated such actions by giving
examples. A driver driving a car is doing social
activity and a student reading a book is not. From
the former example it is learnt that the car driver
affects others by his driving while the student has
no social effect or relation with others.
 Continued----
• That is why car driving is social activity while
book reading is not. The trait of being social is
due to the effect one puts upon others. It
means there is communication between the
actor and the people. 
 Continued----
• This communication is an effect or influence
upon others. It means a sort of relation­ship
develops during the action. This relationship
among the indi­viduals is called social, which
influences others. Thus it is such an attempt in
which one or more persons participate
belonging to some social system
 Definitions
• Talcott Parsons “Performing an action by the
actor according to defined goals.
• Duncan Mitchell "Action is social when
the actor be­haves in such a manner that his
action is intended to influence the action of
one or more other persons."
 Definitions
• Max Weber: Social action is the internal
or external activity of an individual to which
he attaches subjective meanings.
 Elements of social action
1-Actor:Actor is necessary to perform any social action.
2-Goal / Objective: Actor should have some goals or
objectives for his action.
3-Social Situation: Social situation is necessary for social
action .
4-Social Norm: Social norms are quite essential to perform
social action
5-Consuption of Energy:Consuption of energy is quite
essential for any action because w/o force nothing is possible.
 Types of social action
Max Weber stated that, there are four ideal types of social actions.
Which are as follow,
1-Traditional Social Action
Traditional social action is derived from the long standing
customs,traditios and usages of society.
Thus all those actions which are influenced, guided or determined by
these customs and traditions come under this type
 For example if someone eat food with their bare hands and someone
asks why are you not eating with fork and knife? If he/she replies that,
my ancestor used to eat with bare hands that’s why I am eating too
that way, such social action will come into the category of traditional
social action.    
Rational Social Action
 Valuational Social Action

 The social actions concerning values are

considered valuational actions.
 The religious and ethical actions come under
this type.
 For example, a soldier laying down his life for
the country. His action is not directed towards
attaining specific material goal like wealth. It is
for the sake of certain values like honor and
patriotism.
 Affective or Emotional Social Action

 An emotional reaction to the actions of others come under

this type.
 If there is expression of love,hatred,sympthy or pity in
response to the behavior of others the consequent social
actions would be emotional action.
 For example, if a football player gets angry during a match
and in that moment of anger, he hits opponent team
player, he knows that such action will weaken their team
position and may affect his career, despite knowing the
consequences he hits the player. The reason why “Weber”
called it the most irrational social action.