Emotion and the Structure of Interaction: Micro- and Macrolevel Approaches essay sample

Sociology of emotions encompasses a wide range of theorems and approaches aimed to discover social effects of human emotions. As emotions provide the reaction of individuals to what they experience in objective reality, they are important not only to make up judgment about the efficacy of social structure but also to anticipate outcomes of further social interaction. Yet the founders of sociology considered emotion to be an important subject for sociological analysis. After the behavioral and cognitive approaches treated emotions as irrelevant to the sociological study, they once again are supposed to play an important role in the interaction.

By this time, researchers agreed that emotions of individuals greatly influence social organization on various levels. From communication between family members to the interaction between ideologies,   they set the pace of interrelations. Theorists suggest that on the micro level emotions define everyday social interactions. Individual feelings, as well as social norms, modify expression and perception of emotions. The interaction between individuals or small social groups matters is a subject of the micro level approach.

On the macro level, emotions determine interactions of social institutions, discourses, and ideologies. The same expressions revealed on a much bigger scale involve more individuals to react, consequently, a large part of society will be affected by emotional expressions. For instance, emotions exchanged by managers or directors will influence the efficacy of the whole corporation, and the reaction of social classes to ideologies imposed by the authorities can change methods of government.