Affektuelles Handeln : Emotionen und das Modell der Frame-Selektion

According to Max Weber, affectual action is one of four types of behavior. This type of action differs from instrumentally rational behavior in a way that the actors do not deliberately choose means with respect to certain ends, but are driven by their emotions prevalent in the situation. The emotional type of behavior has some "irrational" deviations from instrumental rationality in common with the traditional and value-rational types of behavior. As in the case of a value-rational orientation, the sense of behavior is not rooted in positively evaluated consequences, but in the particular behavior itself. The difference however is that emotional behavior does not imply a conscious elaboration of and a systematic orientation towards the most basic principles of behavior. With the traditional type of behavior it has in common the complete absence of any deliberation. Yet, emotional behavior does not simply imply a stimulus-driven execution of learned attitudes, but a vigorous and abrupt accomplishment of subjective preferences and a reaction to certain deviations from the usual course of events in everyday life. The problem with this typology of behavior is that it is not sufficient to label them, but it is necessary to predict under which conditions each has to be expected and how actors change from one to another. The aim of this paper is to show how this can be achieved with the Frame-Selection Model