Nature of Social Interactions: Sociology of Emotions - Literature review Example

Sociology of Emotions Question One Sociology has been seen to be of major influence over the years to the diversity and dynamics of social movements. The purpose of this section is to analyse the basic ways in which emotions are involved in the dynamics of social movement according to Goodwin and Jasper and Whittier. Since time immemorial, emotions have had a major role to play in social movements. Social movements are a type of group action that involves a large group of informal and loosely organised individuals or organisations who are brought together with the aim of achieving common interests. This is usually in the effect to carry out, resist or undo social change. According to Goodwin, Jasper and Whittier, political science and sociology have initialised and developed a variety of theories and research that explains social movements. Emotions have been considered as a major driving factor of almost all political mass actions that have occurred outside of the normal institutional scope. Crowds have been defined as impulsive, irritable, suggestible and credulous. Their actions have always been primarily guided by somewhat exaggerated emotions. This shared emotions between groups of people is what develops a temporary relationship tending toward a common goal. Given this characteristic in crowds, it makes them prone to the emotional pleas of political leaders in the case of any unrest. Given the amplification in its feelings and emotions, a crowd is said to be only made happy by similar extreme sentimental expressions (Goodwin and Jasper, p. 614). This would hence mean that generally a leader or an orator trying to move crowd in their favour should make great use of violent affirmations, repetitions and they should never attempt to prove anything to the crowd by method of logical reasoning. The portrait of emotions having a major impact on social movement has also been flawed in quite a number of ways. In the traditions involving crowds and mass movements, the emotions therein came from either the crows of leaders with great influence and had nothing to do with each individuals drive, interests or goals. The emotions came about and also disappeared dependent on the immediate environment of a situation but had very little lasting resonance (Whittier, p. 239). According to the Freudian tradition, emotions are perceived to come from am person’s character and personality conflicts with little contribution being as a response to changes in the social environment. This would leave only a certain type of people vulnerable to movement appeals since they are filled with pessimistic or distressed emotions instead of optimistic and happy ones; they are a sign of psychological problems that may or may not go away with time. In essence, the individual participants of a mass movements and crowd mentality do not enjoy the protests but are instead compelled by their inner needs and desires (Goodwin and Jasper, p. 617). Even though mass action involves a collection of individuals with similar interests and goals, research conducted has shown minimal relation between the individual interests and the macro social interests. No social groups or organisations of people showed similarity in cultural meanings, or negotiation and interactivity processes. However, the individuals in the organisation are observed to be driven by forces that are supposedly out of their control which can either be subconscious individual motivation or the ‘pull’ effect of a crowd. The end result is always a group filled with emotion but with no personal interests of their own. The more emotional a crowd got, the more irrational they became, but the emotions were generally fuelled on a personal level. Emotions and social movements however common and frequent they occur are never exactly similar. This is exemplified when activist movements display different kinds of emotions in different institutional contexts. Emotional displays in public settings are hence determined by variations in the views of the opposing groups of people. It is therefore safe to conclude that social movements, even if structured, have a major degree of emotional contribution to their actions. Question Two This section delves in elaborating on how personal experiences of shame or pride and personal insecurities or self-esteem issues promote social conformity. Conformity is a type of social act or occurrence that involves the change in belief, attitude or behaviour of an individual in order to fit in within a group (Nicol, p. 66). It is simply put as the act of caving in to group pressures which may take different forms. People in most cases choose to conform from their personal desires to find security within a group; particularly one of a certain social status. Social conformity to a group may either be normative or due to informational influence. Normative conformity involves changing and adapting one’s behaviour in order to fit within a group while informational conformity occurs when a person lacks knowledge and looks to join a particular group with the aim of seeking knowledge or some sort of direction. There are however other types of social conformity namely: Identification, compliance and Internalisation. Identification occurs when an individual conforms to what is expected of them based on their social roles. Compliance conformity involves varying one’s behaviour while still disagreeing within the group and internalisation is a situation that occurs when an individual tries to change their behaviour to be like that of another person. The group pressure that often leads to conformity may take different forms such as bullying, persuasion criticism and so forth. According to Nicol, certain personal experiences of individuals actually promote conformity. When individuals are faced with experiences that lead to embarrassment and shame or on the contrary leading to pride, their social view and correspondence are likely to change. This hence shows the effect that external influence has on conformity. In a scenario where an individual has been caught in a precarious position that leads him to feel ashamed, their psychology and general view of society can be affected negatively and they take the defensive social position. Such situations, as shown by research, can lead to withdrawal from a group especially if one does not feel comforted by the group they have cohesion to. Individuals become vulnerable to emotional breakdowns and hence may change their behaviour further to reflect the current situation that they are in which then leads them further to seek comfort elsewhere which could possibly involve joining another group which in essence is still a way of conforming socially. Similarly, pride among individuals on their own or within a group can also have an effect on social conformity. Pride almost always gives individuals a feeling of superiority over others (Nicol, p. 113). This effect is likely to shape how social conformity occurs. Situations arising that give an individual pride may lead them to change their attitude and behaviour to conform to their current situation hence leading to conformity based on their feeling of superiority that can lead to them seeking cohesiveness in a group that is apparently of a higher status than what they are currently in. In addition to pride or shame, personal insecurities and self-esteem needs also have a major influence on social conformity. Personal insecurity is a social defect in which an individual views themselves as inferior compared to their peers, either of the same age, same social or educational background. It could also emanate from the feeling that arises mostly in females where they would feel inferior based on their physical attributes. Some women may feel ‘ugly’ and not to standard that society considers beautiful. Personal insecurities in whatever form they may take, shape social conformity in a negative rather than positive aspect. For example, an individual with personal insecurities is more likely to be a social misfit and would fear being associated with a group. They tend to feel unappreciated and unrecognised in the society. In a different view, these insecurities may turn out somewhat positive in social conformity especially in such a situation of informational conformity where an individual may join a particular group with the aim of learning how to help themselves or to overcome the aspect of inferiority complex that they have in them. Similarly, self-esteem needs are also likely to have an impact on social conformity. Self-esteem is an individual’s reflection of his or her own worth. A person can either have a high or low self-esteem. Persons with high self-esteem are more outgoing and will thus have a tendency to have better conformity as compared to those with low self-esteem. This can be attributed to the fact that individuals with a high confidence have a high emotional perception of their worth and therefore they are able to fit in and relate well in groups as compared to those who have a high propensity of devaluing themselves. Question Three The purpose of this section of the paper is to explain the importance of understanding love as being socially embedded and historic emotional experience based on the insights of Petersen (2004) and Illouz (2012). Love, according to Merriam Webster is termed as a strong affection for another arising out of personal or kinship ties. It can also be an attraction based on sexual desires. Love has been viewed as a form of madness; yet, it is a peculiar form of madness for its power is derived from the fact that it boosts the ego and further provides it with an accrued perception of its power. (Illouz, p. 124). Research has shown that romantic love enhances self-image in individuals to whom it is shown to. Love is seen to be socially embedded in individuals as is demonstrated by the natural human need for recognition as presented by Illouz in his insights on love and recognition. For example when an individual feels like they are insignificant and yet they are chosen by another who may be considered to be very attractive, they are more likely to climb up the social relation ladder and have a boost in their egos or their self-esteem. It satisfies an individual’s need for recognition. Love and emotions in this modern times has been perceived to have the capability to produce, increase and stabilise social value (Petersen, p. 94). This is proven by the fact that Love and desires form ‘nodes’ in a social chain in which emotional energy is channelled into another. Love can be considered as a paradigm for the creation of recognition which is a sociological and at the same time a psychological process. Over the years, there have been conflicting arguments ass relates to love and social constructionists have argued that love is a historic variable and that there is a learning curve phenomenon to it. They prescribe that Love is relayed from a generation to the next through various means such as examples, myths, stories told and direct instructions from those with experience (Illouz, p. 153). It is said to be an accomplishment of sorts that involves interacting with others and its endurance is dependent on the repetition of practices and performances of the activities that demonstrate love. Over time, some scholars have argued that the development of the concept surrounding love during the romantic period was in line with the formation of the reflexive kind of self. In depicting the historic specific emotional experience that is rooted in love, it can be shown that love plays a major part in social development and fitting in but this has been seen to vary with time as the social platform has been changing. In the sixteenth and the seventeenth centuries love was looked as a disease to some extent. “love-sickness” was viewed as a disorganisation in the body which was seen to affect the soul but it did not necessarily point to ones sense of self-worth. In modern times, the reflection of love as being embedded in the social aspect has been revolutionised and radically changed by facilities such as the internet. The internet has modified present social forms such as marriage and cohabitation and other romantic activities that may relate to courtship. According to recent research findings, recent changes in the conduct of sexual relationships and modifications in the traditional ways of dating that has an effect of loosening emotional connections in sexuality and love has led to a dramatic change in the society’s perception of love. Works Cited Goodwin, Jeff, and James M. Jasper. "Emotions and Social Movements." Handbook of the Sociology of Emotions. Eds. Jan E. Stets and Jonathan H. Turner. New York: Springer, 2007. De CourvilleNicol, Valerie. "Analyzing Social Interaction." Social Economies of Fear and Desire: Emotional Regulation, Emotion Management, and Embodied Autonomy. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2011 Illouz, Eva. "The Demand for Recognition: Love and the Vulnerability of the Self." Love Hurts. Malden: Polity, 2012 Petersen, Alan. "Love, Intimacy, and Sex." Engendering Emotions. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004. Whittier, Nancy. "Emotional Strategies: The Collective Reconstruction and Display of Oppositional Emotions in the Movement Against Child Sexual Abuse." Passionate Politics: Emotions and Social Movements. Eds. Jeff Goodwin, James M. Jasper, and Francesca Polletta. Chicago: The University of Chicago Press, 2001 Read More