Parsons Concept of Social Action

Parsons attempted to develop a grand theory focusing on social action as the basic
unit of social life. He defined social action as the meaningful response of an actor to
an external stimuli.
Influenced by Webers Verstehen methodology, Parsons
developed Voluntaristic theory of action implying that a person acts as per his
volition to achieve a goal.
Parsons believed that in social reality actions do not exist in isolation but as chain of
interconnected actions. These actions give rise to patterns of social interactions
which get institutionalised to form social system. A single social action when
considered as system consists of following components:
1. Actor - any agency which assigns meanings to a situation. Actor can be a
single individual, or group
2. Situation - whatever actor gives meanings to, in the environment constitutes
the situation. In every situation, some elements of the situation, are
conditions and some elements of situation are means. Conditions are those
aspect of situation which we cant change to achieve our goals. They act as a
constraint. They may be physical, cultural and social objects. Means are those
aspects of the situation which can be manipulated to achieve the goal
3. Cultural knowledge through which actor interprets the situation, finds
meanings in it or assigns meanings to it. Culture shapes both goal as well as
means employed to achieve them by the actor.

Parsons redefined action in terms of motivational orientations guided by need

dispositions and value orientations arising out of culture.

Later on Parsons restricts himself to social action only to the extent it is culturally
shaped. He refers to actor shaped by culture as not merely an individual but an

actor in role. Social system is patterned interactions among plurality of actors in

role. Parsons tried to dispel passive image of actor and highlighted Voluntaristic
dimension of action through his pattern variables.
Parsons Concept of Social Action System
Talcott Parsons, in his theory of Voluntaristic actions, advocated that social reality
must be viewed as system. He described social action as the basic unit of social life.
In reality a single social action does not exist in isolation, but it exists as a chain of
interconnected actions. These social interactions get patterned and institutionalized
over a period of time and are known as social system.
Parsons argued that every social action viewed as an action system consists of four
structural subsystems viz. cultural system, social system, personality system and
organismic system. These four action subsystems satisfy the functional
prerequisites of system leading to an equilibrium. Four functional perquisites of any
system are: Adaptation, Goal Attainment, Integration and Latency (AGIL)

Parsons states that social system constitutes the subject matter of sociology. Social
System has an integrative function as it holds all other subsystems together. The
science which is concerned with the study of other subsystems constitutes the
ecology of sociology. For example, organismic system is studied by biology,
personality system is studied by psychology, and cultural system is studied by
anthropology.
Parsons argues that social order in the system can be created by internalization of
common cultural values by the actors. Actor shaped by culture as not merely an
individual but an actor in role. Actors with reciprocal roles interact with one another
to bring coordination of action and harmony in social system
Parsons also related pattern variables with his paradigm of functional prerequisites. He argued that systems engaged in Adaptation largely follow the
Gesellschaft pattern, the systems engaged in Integration largely follow
Gemeinschaft pattern while the systems engaged in the Goal-Attainment and
Latency follow partly Gesellschaft and partly Gemeinschaft pattern.

Parsons conception of the system

Parsons theory of voluntaristic action stated that social reality must be viewed as a
system. According to Parsons, if sociology has to be a science, it must resort to
systemic analysis as has been done in natural sciences like biology.
1. System is a unified whole made up of interconnected and interdependent
parts. These parts are called subsystems. Each sub-system can also be
treated as a system by itself
2. System is structured, which implies that there exists a definite pattern of
relationships between sub-systems
3. System has goals and based upon the goals there is a boundary and beyond
the boundary there is the environment. The system exists in a symbiotic
relationship with the environment which implies that there is a continuous
interaction between the two.
4. System has a self-equilibrating tendency. However, the equilibrium is not a
fixed state, it is a dynamic process. System goes through a process of
constant change either owing to internal dynamics (i.e. changes within
various sub-systems) or due to changes in its environment with which it is in
continuous interaction.
5. System has needs which must be met if system is to exist and maintain itself.
These needs are of two types namely functional pre-requisites and derived
needs. Functional needs are universal to all systems while derived needs are
unique to each system
Threats to system
1. Maintaining Value Consensus
Patterns emerge at interaction level due to mutual steering mechanism
between the actors. Mutual steering emerges out of value consensus among
actors. This gives rise to patterned interaction which can be institutionalised
2. Motivational Problem of Order
Every social system needs to harmonize individual interest with collective
interest of the society. For e.g. Society needs good administrators and people
needs good careers

3. Subsystem Incompatibility
Social Order is threatened if subsystems change in such a manner that they
become mutually incompatible.
If these threats can be taken care of then a working order can be established

Equilibrium in society (as a whole)

Parsons argued that entire society in itself could also be viewed as a system. As a
structural functionalist, Parsons distinguished among four structures, or
subsystems, in society in terms of the functions (AGIL) they perform.
1. The economy is the subsystem that performs the function for society of
adapting to the environment through labor, production, and allocation.
2. The polity (or political system) performs the function of goal attainment by
pursuing societal objectives and mobilizing actors and resources to that end.
3. The fiduciary system (for example, in the schools, the family) handles the
latency function by transmitting culture (norms and values) to actors and
allowing it to be internalized by them
4. The integration function is performed by the societal community (for
example, nation, law) which coordinates the various components of society

5. Parsons further argues that these subsystems of society are interconnected

and interdependent. Hence, for equilibrium in society, it is necessary that
these subsystems exist in harmony with each other.
6. Since society is dynamic in nature, changes in one subsystem without
corresponding changes in other subsystems give rise to subsystem
incompatibility. Subsystem incompatibility would result in social disorder.
7. For Parsons, a general value consensus among the members of a given
society along with the subsystem compatibility is essential for social order
and equilibrium in society

Pattern Variables and Empirical Social Systems

Parsons argued that culture is not patterned monolithically, but rather dualistically.
This duality of cultural patterns at multidimensional level is known as pattern
variables. Thus, pattern variables offer a range of choice to the actor in every action
situation. The two sets of pattern variables are:
1.