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Tables of Contents for Toward a General Theory of Action
Chapter/Section Title
Page #
Page Count
Introduction to the Transaction Edition
vii
Preface
xxi
PART 1 The General Theory of Action
Some Fundamental Categories of the Theory of Action: A General Statement
3
27
Talcott Parsons
Edward A Shils
Gordon W. Alport
Clyde Kluckhohn
Henry A. Murray
Robert R. Sears
Richard C. Sheldon
Samuel A. Stouffer
Edward C. Tolman
Introduction
The frame of reference of the theory of action
Some fundamentals of behaviour psychology
Interaction and the development of personality
Cultural aspects of action systems
The social system. A note on the place of economic theory and political theory in the general theory of action
Some Observations on Theory in the Social Sciences
30
23
Richard C. Sheldon
PART 2 Values, Motives, and Systems of Action
Talcott Parsons
Edward A. Shils
James Olds
Introduction
47
6
Categories of the Orientation and Organization of Action
53
57
Action and its orientation
Components of the frame of reference of the theory of action
Commentary on the frame of reference
Classification of objects
Orientation to the situation
Dilemmas of orientation and the pattern variables
The definition of pattern variables
The interrelations of the pattern variables
Classification of need-dispositions and role-expectations
Classification of components of the object situation
The basic structure of the interactive relationship
The concept of system and the classification of types of systems
Personality as a System of Action
110
49
Motivational concepts
Need-dispositions
Functional prerequisites of the personality system
Learning processes and performance processes
The mechanisms
Subintegrations in the personality system
The articulation of personality and social systems
Need-dispostions and role-expectations
Individuality
Deviance
Systems of Value-Orientation
159
31
The place of value-orientation patterns in the organization of culture
The classification of the elements of culture
Cognitive symbols
Expensive symbols
Evaluative symbols
Pattern consistency and sources of strain
The integration of systems of value-orientations into the social system
Systems of personal values
The problem of classification of value systems
The Social System
190
44
Major features and prerequisites
The foci of organization
The allocation of rewards
The integration of the social system
Classification of social systems and their components: structural types
The content of roles
Integration: consensus and power
The analysis of social structure
Motivation and the dynamics of social process
The problem of social change
Conclusion
234
13
Figures 1-15
247
30
Index
277