Affectional action
type of social action as defined by Max Weber
An affectional action (also known as an affectual, emotional, or affective action) is one of four major types of social action, as defined by Max Weber. Unlike the other social actions, an affectional action is an action that occurs as a result of a person's state of feeling, sometimes regardless of the consequences that follow it. Because the action is a result of our state of feeling, an affectional action may sometimes be described as irrational and reactive. An example of an affectional action can be the act of a father striking their daughter because of an action that she carried out that the father saw as frustrating.
Max Weber's writings
Max Weber describes the actions that we take as rarely occurring with the influence of only one of the four types of social actions. He describes the action as: "an uncontrolled reaction to some exceptional stimulus." The action taken by the individual is also described as a reaction that consists of a release as a result of emotional tension. An affectional action may not always be uncontrolled and strictly reactive, as a person may act strictly on their emotions, but the emotions of the person may take some form of rationalization, resulting in an action that is not purely affectional anymore.
In The Managed Heart
The Managed Heart is a book that was written by Arlie Russell Hochschild. First published in 1979, the book speaks about the role of emotions and feelings in our society, "feeling rules", as well as the use of emotions and affectional action in the workplace. Hochschild presents the idea that actions that result from our emotions is rational, not irrational.
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