Abstract
We’re back y’all!! And we’re starting off our third season with a deep dive into the field of the Sociology of Emotions, a relatively young but uber fascinating subfield. What exactly are emotions? How are some emotions more social than others? And why is it that Ellen cried twice watching Avengers: Endgame, while Penn was frustrated and Omar was just a little sad? Tune in to learn more! And remember to give us a rating and subscribe if you haven’t already.
Keywords
Emotions, feelings, microsociology, social psychology
Sources
- Peggy Thoits is seen as one of the founding scholars of the Sociology of Emotions
- She argues in her article, “The Sociology of Emotions” (1989) that emotions are comprised of 4 elements:
- 1. Appraisals of a situational stimulus or context
- 2. Changes in physiological or bodily sensations
- 3. The free or inhibited display of expressive gestures
- 4. A cultural label applied to specific constellations of one or more of the first three components
- ***All 4 components do not need to be present for an emotion to be expressed or recognized by others***
- Arlie Hochschild (who we’ll be covering in the very near future) is also a huge scholar of emotions, so check her out.
- A great book of hers on emotions is The Managed Heart
- Peter Burke and Jan Stets in Identity Theory (2009) define emotions as, “emotions generally refer to the feelings individuals experience in situations” (p. 155).
- Avengers: Endgame trailer for all of you living under a rock who haven’t seen it (sry ‘bout the spoilers!)
- Amazon rainforest is burning!
- Alaska is burning!
- Disneyland’s recent opening of Star Wars: Galaxy’s Edge is a) Phreaking phenomenal and b) Causing decreased attendance at the entire park