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Motives and Mechanisms
Motives and Mechanisms
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Theories include causal relations and
causal mechanisms.
Mechanisms are an essential
component of theory.
Mechanisms
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Statements of causal relations tell us
that two factors are related
Mechanisms tell us WHY
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Describe the process through which X
produces Y
Mechanisms are general
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For example:
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Self-fulfilling prophecy (Merton)
Network diffusion (Coleman)
Threshold theory of collective action
(Granovetter)
These theories explain different
phenomena, but rely on the same
MECHANISM (Hedstrom & Swedberg 1998 Social Mechanisms: An
Analytical Approach to Social Theory)
Mechanisms usually refer to
lower-level processes
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Causal mechanisms usually explain
higher-level phenomena by referring to
events at a lower level.
So, mechanisms explaining social
behavior usually refer to individuals
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Social theories require understanding why
individuals act as they do
The challenge
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Typically, we cannot observe these
mechanisms
While action is observable, motives are
not
What to do?
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Make simplifying assumptions
These assumptions don’t describe the full
complexity of human beings, but are useful
for developing social theories
Common assumptions
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Individuals will maximize
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Wealth
Power
Prestige
Types of Mechanisms
Macro-level
Macro-level
Outcome
cause
Situational
mechanisms
Transformational
mechanisms
Behavioral
mechanisms
Individual
internal
states
Individual
action
Situational mechanisms
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Explain how macro-level phenomena
affects individuals
Example. Durkheim: IntegrationLack of purpose
Individualism
Lack of
Purpose
Suicide Rates
Individual
Suicide
Transformational mechanisms

Explain how individual actions combine to
produce group-level phenomena
Example. Individual Suicide  Suicide Rates
Protestantism
Individualism
Suicide Rates
Individual
Suicide
Transformational Mechanisms
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Aggregation
Strategic Interaction (game theory)
Behavioral mechanisms
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How individual internal states affect individual behavior
 In other words, how people act given their motives and
situations
Example: Individualism  Individual Suicide
Protestantism
Individualism
Suicide Rates
Individual
Suicide
Behavioral assumptions
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An important source of causal
mechanisms in sociology
Max Weber (1864-1920)
Max Weber (1864-1920)
on ‘orientations to action’
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I. Consequentialist
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Instrumental action (zweckrationalitat)
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People choose a course of action that they
believe is the most effective to attain their most
preferred end (or goal)
Works for any end
Has to do with the ‘rationality’ of the means,
not the ‘rationality’ of the ends
‘orientations to action’ cont’d
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II. Non-consequentialist action
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Value-rational (wertrational)
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Action motivated because of
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Affective
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Action motivated by emotion (affect)
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Duty, right, or its own sake
Sir Thomas More. “A Man for All Seasons”
Crimes of passion
Reflex
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Habit
Nota Bene
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Non-consequentialist action occurs
regardless of its consequences for the
individual’s welfare
Typical asumptions
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Typical sociologist assumption:
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People are value rational
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People have been socialized
Typical economist assumption
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People are instrumentally rational
A caveat
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Neither view is completely accurate
Motives differ
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Fehr & Gintis report evidence
suggesting that people vary
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Some are instrumentally rational (selfinterested)
Others are more value rational (“strongreciprocators”)
Are we hard-wired?
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While sociologists have traditionally
emphasized socialization as a source of
values, work by evolutionary
psychologists suggests that evolution is
a factor
Evolution produces widely shared
human values
Behavioral assumptions and
social order
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Social order is high to the degree that
individuals obey rules and laws
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If people are instrumentalists with selfish goals,
they may undermine social order
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criminal behavior
If people are value-rational who always want to
‘do the right thing,’ they will tend to uphold the
social order (at least in their own societies)
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September 11
Analyzing Theory
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Identify
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Cause
Outcome
Mechanisms
Applying Theory
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Ask: What are the empirical
implications?