2.

Stratification, Emotional Energy,and

the Transient Emotions
RanaIICollins

Emotion potentiallyoccupiesa crucial position in generalsociologicaltheory. As we attempt to be more preciseand more empiricalaboursociological concepts, we find that many of the most important rest to a
extent upon emotionalprocesses.
considerable
Durkheim raisedthe fundamentalquestionof sociology:\7har holds
societytogetherl His answeris the mechanismsthat producemoral solidarity; and thesemechanisms,I suggest,do so by producingemotions.Parso'
nian sociology,which took the most reified, agentlessside of Durkheim,
put the argumentin equivalentterms:Society is held togetherby values.
But values,to the extent that they exist-and leavingopen the issueof
how far they are shared,and under what conditions-are cognitionsinfused with emotion. On the conflict side of sociologicaltheory, !ileber's
centralconceptsalso imply emotion: (a) the legitimacythar underliesstable power, (b) the statusgroup ranking by which stratificationpermeates
everydaylife, and (c) the religiousworld viewsthat motivatedsomecrucial
periodsof economic action. When we attempt to translateany of these
it is apparentthat we are dealingwith particular
conceptsinto observables,
and
Engelsare perhapsfarthesrawayfrom theo'
kinds of emotions.Marx
processes;
in their mode[s,everythingis structural
rizing about emorional
(even alienation,which for Marx is an ontologicalrelationship,not a psyof classmobi'
chologicalone). But it is apparentthat in Marxian analyses
part-whether
it is the
play
a
lization and classconflict, emotion must
murual distrust within frgmentedclassesthat keepsthem apart (Marx
haveand that oppressed
185211963),
or the solidaritythat dominant classes
lvlarx and
classes
acquireonly in revolutionarysituations.In theserespects,
Engels'conflict theory comescloseto a dynamicand non-reifiedversionof
Durkheim'sthemes.
These are some reasonswhy the sociologyof emotions should be
brought into the central questic>ns
of sociology.What holds a societyto'

27

28

Emortonsand SocialMacrt>Processes

,,glue"of solidarity-and what mobilizesconflict-the energy

gerher-rhe
o f m o b i l i z e d g r o u p s - a r e e m o t i o n s ; s o i s w h a t o p e r a t e s t o u p h o l d s tlfr a t i f i c a f..tittgs, whetherdominant' subservient'or resentful'
;;.;:h;;*Jhi.ul
peopleto feel thesekinds of emo*" .r., explain the conditionsthat cause
rions,wewillhaveamajorpartofacoresociologicaltheory'Thereisof
a cognitive part' but the
.o"rr. u structuralpart of zuch a rheory, and
a realistic theory on its
for
essential
emotional parr gives us something
dynamics'
r
| -L
Letmeputtheissueinanotherway'Theclassicsociologicaltheorres
but they do not usuallyrefer
mentionedaboveimplicitly concernemorions'
torhemexplicitly.Thisisbecauseourtheorieshaveamacroprimacy'0rat
abstractionand aggregai.or, a"rt *ith sociallife at a level of considerable
ot worseyet' "values"'
"legitimacy"'
ii"". fV. are told of somethingcalled
headsof real peoplein
the
flo"ti.,g somewherein u cuttt"ptual sky beyond
situations.If we attempt a micro-translationof sociology-not
".at.".,
groundingof macro-concepts
.,.l"rrut,tt an absolutemicro-reduction,but a
spaceand numbers-we
in real interactionsacrossthe macro-gridof time,
ln other words' the
processes'
are led to see the importanceof emotional
above) yields
discussed
(like
those
micro-rranslarionof macro concePts
us emotlon.
microrhe'
Unforrunately,this is not what classic(and even modern)
process'
emphasize
ories have stressed.Mead and symbolicinteraccionism
routine
emphasize
emergence,and cognition; Schutz and phenomenology
the
payoffs;
and
behaviors
and Jognition; the exchangerheory ernphasizes
could
of
course
Emotion
statestheorYag'i" 'tt""t' cognition'
"*p..,Jrion into thesethreories,
but it is central to none of them. But there
be brought
that do not have to be pressed
are two crucial versionsof micro-sociology
tlf cmotion as a social provery far ro yield us the cenrral micro-,.lynamics
is'
..rr-u processrhat will serve us fcrrunpackingthe Inacro'sociological
suesmentionedat the outset.
Thefirstoftheseiswhatlcall..InteractionRitualTheory.''The
else' speaksof emo'
term is Goffnran's(196?). But Goffnran,like everyone
tiononlyinpassing.Hefocusesonthestructureofmicro-interaction'on
and obirs consrraintsand levels,on rhe interplaybetweenits subjective
is
applying
coffman
is
that
jective componenrs.The crucial rhing to see
he is concernedwith how ritual
Durkheimian rheory ro micro-situations,
at the
solidarityis generaredin rhe lirtle transientgroupsofeveryday.[ife,
are
them)
(as
call
would
I
level of rhe encounrer.These "narural riruals"
c.eremonies
equivalentro rhe tormal rituals Durkheim analyzed-religious
produce
in aboriginetribes, patriotic rituals in rhe nrodernstate-which
in a
Durkheim
broadened
,r...d ol1".ts and moral constraints'Goffrnan
is
to
thar
micro-level:
on
the
way that ,ho*s hc,* stlcial order is produced

Transienr
Emorions

Z9

say,all over the map, in transientsituationsand local groups,which may

or otherwisedivided againsteachother, insreadof in
well be class-stratified
the reifiedDurkheimianway (which Parsonsfollowed)in which it seemsto
be "Society" as a whole that is being inregrated.
Goffmaniananalysisof lnteractionRitual, then, is the analysisof a
wide-rangingand flexible mechanism,which producespocketsof moral solthroughout society. It helps us to
idarity, but variouslyand discontinrrously
especiallyvia stratification.And
connect upwardsto the macro-structure,
it connectsdownwardto the nricro-details
of human experience
and action,
becauserituals are made with emotional ingredients,and they produce
other sortsof emotions(especiallymoraI solidarity,but alsosometimesaggressiveemotions) as outcomes. I will make considerableuse of the
model of rituals in my stratificationtheory of
Durkheimianr,/Coffmanian
emouons.
'We
see emotions in another important version of micro-sociology.
at tirst sight, seemsto be pirchedon a difCarfinkel'sethnomerhodology,
ferent level. Wirh its concernfor the constructionof mundanereality,and
its heavyuseof phenomenological
abstractions,it seemsto be essentiallya
cognitive theory. Cicourel (1971) even called his own version"Cognitive
Sociology."Nevertheless,I want to suggestthat ethnomethodology
reveals
emotionat its core.Garfinkel'smost importantcontributionis to show that
h u m a n sh a v ei n r r i n s i c a l l lyi m i t e dc o g n i t i v ec a p a b i l i t i e sa,n d t h a t t h e yc o n struct mundanesocial order by consistentlyusing pracricesto avoidrecognizing how arbitrarily social order is actually pur together.We keep up
conventions,not becausewe believe in them, but becausewe srudiously
avoid questioningthem. Carfinkel (1967)demonstrated
this most dramatically in his "breaching"experiments,in which he lorcedpeopleinto situations that causedthem to recognizeindexicality(i.e. that they rely on tacit
acceptanceof what things mean contextually)and reflexivity (that rhere
are infinite regressesof justifying one's interpretations).Interestingly
enough,the reactionsof his subjectswerealwaysintenselyemotional.Usually it was an emotionaloutburst;(becomingred in the face, blurting out
"You lcnowwhat I meanl Do you want to have a conversationor don't
youl") Sornetimesit wasdepression,
bewilderment,or angerat having been
put in a situation where they constructeda reality they later discoveredto
be false.In shorr, when peoplehave to recognizethat they are tacitly constructing their social worlds, and in an arbitrary and conventionalway,
rather than simply reactingto a world that is objectivelythere, they show
intensenegativeemotions.
I suggestthat Garfinkel'sbreachingexperimentsreveal something
v e r y m u c h l i k e D u r k h e i m ' sw o r l d . l n t h i s c a s e ,c o n v e n r i o n asl o c i a lr e a l i t y
is a sacredobject; Garfinkel'sexperiments,violating the sacredobject, call

lO

Emotionsand SocialMacroProcesses

fbr a tribal member,

forth rhe sameeffecrsas would violating a ritual taboo
for a patriot. In
the
fiag
defaming
or
a
christian,
for
d.r".oring rhe Bible
When rhey
objects.
to
sacred
attach
sentiments
moral
Durkheimt rheory,
into
negative,
turns
solidarity
moral
of
sentiment
positive
are violated,this
experiCarfinkel's
so
in
culprit.
the
against
Just
righreousanger direcred
conven*.nrr, there is outrageagainstthe violator of everydaycognitive
that
conditions
the
show
to
Durkheim's:
parallels
tions. Carfinkel'sstraregy
brois
it
when
that
occurs
opposition
the
uphotd a socialfact by revealing
social
the
of
highlighting
means
as
crime
and
ke.,. Du.kheim usedsuicide
realitysolidaritythat is their opposite;Garfinkel extendedthe method to
constructionas a whole'
lack of explicit focuson emotionsis misleading.
Erhnomethodology's
O n e c o u l d w e l l s a y r h a r e v c r y d a yI i f e r e a l i t y - c o n s t r u c t i (i )sna n e m o r i o n a l
process,ancl rhat rhe emorionsthat uphold reality come forth in intense
frr* *h"., rhe social realiry is broken. Furthermore,Gartinkel has shown
thar human cognirion is limited; social order cannot be basedon rational,
the
consciousagreement.(Durkheim, 1893/1964,arguedthe same' but in
to'
society
hold
not
does
lf
cognition
urilitarianism.)
conrexrof criricizing
coglevel
of
the
on
this
leave
ro
tends
doesi
carfinkel
gether,rhen, what
iiriu" pru.ti.es (mosrlyborrowedfronr Schutz);but it is a peculiarform of
cognition, cognitive practicestbr httw to get by wichout too much-cogni'
ri. Eth.,o*"thodology seemsro have an mysteriousx-factor underlying
socialorder, which rhe very notion of indexicalityprohibitsus from probing. But let us take the plungeanyway:leavethe cognitiveplane, and rectlgnizethe x-factoras emotitln.
OR "DRAMATIC"
EI/IOTIONS:
AND LONG-TERlv'l
DISRUPTIVE
ENERGY
AND E]V{OTIONAL
EA,IOTIONS
This analysis(trces us to widen our conceptittnof emotion, our orthat are, for the most part'
dinarv usagerefersto emotionsas experiences
is advicepredicatedon this
etnotional"
be
so
"Don't
suddenand drarnatic.
dratnaticones:fear, terror,
most
are
the
emotions
famous
conception.The
people
and someculturesare
joy,
Some
forth.
so
and
anger,embarassment,
currently trendy dis(nore
the
for
example
"unemotional"
as too
regar,,led
Carfinkel tbrce us
and
Coffman
But
both
culture).
purrg.^.rr, of "WASP"
are long-lasting'
they
undranratic;
are
thar
emorions
ro ,.. th"r" are also
mundane
Carfrnkel's
life.
permeare
social
that
underlyingronesor moods,
rhis is a
that
stress
feeling-l
by
the
reality, for example,is characterized
ordi'
the
"nothing
of
out
cognition-that
feeling rarher rhan an explicir
p
ornt
t
h
e
f
r
o
m
e
m
o
t
l
(
'
n
,
u
n
i
n
t
e
r
e
s
t
i
n
g
a
n
n a r y i s h a p p e n i n gh e r e . "T h i s i s
tnto
went
work
considerable
right,
is
of view of the actor but, if Carfinkel

Transient
Emotions

II

producingthar feelingof ordinariness,and into keepingourselves

frorn seeing that work itself. Mundane reality is a "members'accomplishment.,'
In Goffmanand Durkheim, rhe ordinary-life,long lastingfeeringsare
somewharmore apparenr,These theoriesstresssolidarity,feelingsof membership,and in Coffman'scase,feelingsabour one'sself. Theseare, if everything goeswell, smoorhlypersistentsenrimenrs,rhough they may have
an "up" feelingtone, or a "down," depressed
tclnein someimportantcases,
as I will demonstrate.Once we think about rhem, we readilyacceprrhese
as part of the largerrealm of emorion.Solidariryfeelings,moral senriment,
the enthusiasmof pirching oneselfinto a sir,arion, or being carriedalong
by it; and at the other end, depression,
alienation,embarrassment-these
are recognizably
longer lastingkinds of emorions.Carfrnkelianmundanity
is merelya genericemorionalquality at rhe middleof the plus-minusscale.
My poinr is nor to enrer inro terminologicalcontroversy.It would
be uselessfor us to define emotionsin such a way that we can only talk
about the dramaric,disruptiveemotions;whateverwe call them, we must
also be able to talk abour the long-rermemorional tones, even rhe ones
that are so calm and srnoothas not to be noticed.In theoreticalterms.it is
rhe long lastingones (which I discr-rss
below as emotionalenergy)rhar are
of greatesrimportance.But I will also arremprto show that the dramaric,
short-ternremorionsare explainableagainsrthe backdrop.f rhe long-rerm
emotions.
INTERACTIONRITL/AL(IR) AND EMOT]ONALENERGY(EE)
The basic model of riruaI interaction (iR) rhar I derive from
Durkheim has rhe followingelemenrs:
1. A groupof minimum sizerwo assembled
face-to-face.
The sheerphysical
p r e s e n c oe i h u m a n a n i m a l si n r h e s a m ep l a c ei s a p r e c o n d i r i o nf o r r h e
emotionaland cognitive processes
that foll,,rw.
2. Focusof artention upon rhe sameobject or activity, and mutull awarenessof each other'sattention. Collective formalities,such as a church
serviceor polirical proJocol,are imporranr only becauserhey are one
easyway to focuscommon attention. But any circumstances
in everyday
Iif'ethar focusatrenrionin this way (Coffman, i967, citesordinary conversationsas an example)have the effectof producinga ritual situation.
The crucial featureis that individua[sbecomecaught up in a groupactivity, in which they are nrutuallyawareof what each orher is tJoing.
This makesthe group itself rhe focusof arrenrion,as a rransindividual
reality, influencing membersfronr oursidewlrile permearingrheir cons c i o u s n e sf rso m w i r h i n .

Emotionsand SocialMacroProcesses
Membersshareacommonmood.ltisinessentialwhatemotionis
enthusi;, the outset.The feelingsmav be anger'friendliness'
;;;;;;
conemotional
posits
an
model
asm, fear,sorrow,or many others' This
on
attention
focussing
are
tagion among the personspresent' for they
caught
become
they
focus;
ii? ,r*" thing ancl ,r" u*ui. of each other's
mood becomes
i" .u.tt other'semotions' As a result,the emotional
"p
out by the
driven
are
and more don-rinant;competingfeelings
;;;;
happenby
to
seelns
*.'""r.oro feeling.On the ultra-microlevel' this
(Chapple'
1981;
;i; p;.".'t of rhfthmic entrainment phvsiologicallv
their
h
a
v
e
r
n
d
e
m
o
t
i
o
n
s
M c i l e l l a . t d , 1 9 8 5 ) .T h a t i s t o s a y 'a c t i v i t i e s
of
focus
the
As
place'
own micro'rhythm, a pace in which they take
anticparticipants
rhe
more attuned'
interactionbecomesprogressively
"in the swingof
,pr,.-.*n other's,hvitt*t, and thus becomecaughtup
\Tarner et al''
19?9;
t'hings"(Wohlstein and McPhail, lg?9; Warner'
of a successcourse
in
the
Gregory,i9B3). Participantsfeel sadder
1983";
audienceat a comedy
ful f,rneral, more humorou, u, pu" of a respcinsive
in
more engrossed
party'
a
show,more convivial during the build-upof
a conversationas its rhythms becomeestablished'
builcl-upof emotionaIcoordinationwirhin
ourcomeof a successful
The
4.
The emotions
an interactionritual is to producefeelingsof solidarity'
transient;the
are
(in
3
above)
no.
rhat are ingredientsof the rirual
to
attachment
of
rhe
feelings
outcomehoweveris a long'term emotion,
ritual
funerirl
the
in
Thus'
time'
at that
the group that was
"rr"*l"d
but the main "ritual work" of the
the short-termemotion was sadness,
solidarity'The emotional in'
group
funeralwas producing(or restoring)
the long-ternrresultis
or
humor;
gredientsof a party *uy b. friendliness
the feelingof statusgroup menrbership'
(EE) (ColI referro theselong-termoutcomesas "emotionalenergy"
various
includes
that
term'
undifferentiated
tins, 1981). This is a ,"the,
energyvery
is
I
suggest'
component'
components.The most important
enthusiasm,
like. It is a conrinuu*, ."ngi.,g from a high end of confidence,
and to a
states'
lesser
of
range
middle
good self-feelings;down through a
Emoself-feelings'
negative
and
io* ..rd of depression,lack of initiative,
(e'g'
Hull's
in
"drive"
of
concept
tional energy is like the psychological
energy
system),but it ho, a specilicallysocialorientation' High emotional
is the
lt
interaction.
social
for
is a feeling of conficienceand enthusiasm
a
wirh
solidarity
ritual
personal,id. of having a greatdeal of Durkheimian
in
participaring
from
g.oup. One gets pumpedup with emorionalstrength
the group'sinteraction.This makesone not only an enthusiasticsupporter
wirh the
of ,ho gio,-,p,but also a leadingfigure within it' One feelsgood

Transient Emorions

lj

group, and is able to be an energy-leader,

a personwho stirs up contagious
feelingswhen the group is rogerher.
Ar the low end of the emotionalenergyconrinuum, the opposrteis
the case.Low emotionalenergyis a lack of Durkheimiansolidarity.one is
not attractedto the group;one is drainedor depressed
by it; one wanrsto
avoid it. one does not have a good self in rhe group. And one rs not
attachedto the group'spurposesand symbols,but alienatedfrom rhern.
There are more differenriatedvarianrsof emorionalenergyas well,
besidesrhis up/down,higvlow in solidariryand enthusiasm.\ue will see
below rhere are two major dimensionsof stratification(powerand sratus)
that producespecificqualitiesof emotionaIenergy.Bur while we are consideringthe main, genericlevel of emotionaIenergy,I will mention one
more Durkheimian feature.Emorional energy is not jusr somerhingthat
pumpsup some individualsand depresses
orhers.Ir also has a controlling
quality from the group side. Emorional energy is whar Durkheim (1912/
1954) called "moral senrimenr":ir includesfeelingsof what is right and
wrong, moral and immoral. Individuals,who are full of emotionale.ergy,
feel like good persons;rhey feel righreousabour what rhey are doing. personswith low emotional energyfeel bad. Though rhey do nor necessarily
interpretthis feelingas guilt or evil (that would dependon the religiousor
o t h e r c u l t u r a lc o g n i t i o n sa v a i l a b l ef o r l a b e l l i n gr h e i r f e e l i n g s )a, t a . m i n i mum, they lack rhe feeling of being morally good persons,which comes
from enthusiasticparticipationin group rituals.
These feelingsof moral solidaritycan generarespecificacts of alrruism and love; but rhere is also a negativeside. As Durkheim pointecrout,
group solidaritymakesindividualsfeel a desireto defendand honor rhe
group.This solidariryfeelingis rypicallyfocussed
on symbols,sacredob;ecrs
(like a tribal roremicemblem, a Bible or Koran or orher holy scriprure,a
flag, or a weddingring). One showsrespecrfor rhe group by parriciparing
in ritua[s veneraringthese symbolicobjecrs;conversely,failure to respecr
them is a quick tesr of nonmembershipin the group. Ir appearsrhat individualswho are alreadymembersof rhe rirual group are unclerespecially
strongpressure
to continue ro respectirs sacredsymbols.If they do not, the
loyal group membersfeel"shock and ourrage,that is their righreousness
turns automaticallyinro righteousanger.In this way,rirual violarionslead
to persecutionof hererics,scapegoats,
and other outcasts.
5. Ritualsshapecognirions.The main objecrsor ideasthar wererhe focus
of artention during a successful
rirual becomeloadedwith emotional
overtones.Those ideasor things becontesymbols;whareverelse rhe
ideas may refer to on the mundane level, there is also a deeper,

34

and SocialMacroProcesses
Emotions
TransienrEmocions

Durkheimianlevel on which symbolsinvoke membershipin the group

that chargedrhem up with ritual significance.
It is in this way that societygets inside the individual'smind. Our
lives consisrof a seriesof interactions,someof which generatemore ritual
solidarity than others. (This is what I refer ro as "interaction ritual
chains.") The high-solidarityrituals give individualsa store of cognitions
thar thev carry around with rhem, and use to think and communicare
rvith. Wheneversomeonethinks in termso[conceptsthat werethe focusof
interactionritual, they are subjectivelyreinvokingthe feelings
a successfirl
of membershipin that group. We are, to speakin the idiom of Symbolic
lnteraction, imagining society in our minds; it would be more accurate,
however,to saythat we f-eelthe emotionsof socialsolidarityin the various
ideaswirh which we rhink. This helps explain why personswho derive
emotionalenergyfrom group interactionscontinue to have emotional energyeven when they are alone.They are pumpedup with emotionalenergy
interaction;this energygetsattachedto ideas,and
becauseof a successful
thinking rhose ideas allows these individualsto feel a renewedsurge of
enthuasism.
socially-based
I have couched this on the positive side, in terms of personswirh
high emotionalenergy.The samewould apply on the negativesideas well.
Personswith low emotional energylack the chargeof ideaswith solidarity;
and their ideasmay even be chargedwith anripathyto particular groups.
(\fe shall see how this firs situarionsof group stratification.)This carries
over into their subjective lives; they are depressed
even when they are
alone, and their thoughtsmove awayfrom the symbolsof groupsthat make
Thus, emotionally-charged
them depressed.
symbolsmotivate individuals
when they are awayfrom rirual encounters.

f:r,ui,;:laot::"Jil:j:il:,l.n

J5

u,,,,,ions
in these
conditions
read
usto

power Rit,ars'
whar
am calling the dimension
of power is arl rhose
.r
facrorsrhar bring togerher
inai'iJr?t^*ho are unequal
in rheir resources

::,,iill:.rll.

orders
and
",i.., ,,r" "d;,;;,.,, ,.,.,*,",u.,,on

be
coming.*n..
of"'lii
i;:,tx:t :n:::I;l,I^:"1::J:*?1

cus, which buildsup as the rirual

.r...rrti,f proceeds.(As
always,it is also
possibrethar the ritual wiil
ror o..."J rr.cersfr1y, rhar
it
wi'.
.uri,n.,,
breakdown
inro avoidanceor con'ict;
however,ter us deal *ith
thrt
,.ou_
rarery')The focusof a prwer
rituar is ,i" o.o."r, of giving
and raking orders' As many organizationar
srucries
rto* (.p".iary the classic
studiesof
infbrmalwork grorrps,many of
wrrichare usecras an empiricar
baseby Goffm a n , 1 9 5 9 ) ,r h e o r d e r - t a k e r s
do nor n"."rlnritv.u.r, o*.rl,J.;;r,orders;
fur tl'rat nrarrer' the bossesd;
expect rhem ro do so, ,r
"";-;i;;; 'gut
even
know very crearrywhat they *u.r,
aon..
trrecrucial irem of artention
sh.wing respe* tb1,^tfe.orde.,r,rrU"
is
'."*ess irself. Order_giversare rn
chargeof a Coffmanianfrontsrag.
p"ko.*un.e; rhey take the
initiarive in

, ,p;;tJ ,i" o.gonr,u,ionar

chainorcom;,H, ;:j[l,,::ccessrul,
'lh"'|";,.'Tf,:"J,|:oclasses
,,rront.
uu.
,
c;tr";;;;;
person,,,,r,,,
lla*e.
t!::..rJ?::rXT,.,:.in,
or.t

t "i* i"n;;;;, orde

r-g
ivers
r", ",.,.,,.1.,

power-rituals;
and their .irrul ,ra.,." ^rt",
of the organizarion'Their
cognir,";r;;
summarizedin Collins, Ig75;
62_57)

ll

,t,"*r"I""; l";;i ,ri.,rv*Uot,

rhe ,,officiar,,
sort (seeevidence

;,,[:T,iil;iffi :
:: id.J::#if:ffI;:ffi :T,::
tary force (as in che

STRATII'1ED /NTERACT1ONRITUALS:
POWERRITUALSAND STATUSRITUAA
The model of interactionritualsgivesus the generalprocessof interaction. IR's themselvesare variable, insofaras rituals can be successful
or
unsuccessful:
that is, how much fricusand emotional contagion acrually
takesplace, irnd therefore,how stronglythe participantsbecomeattached
to membershipsymbols.This will dependon a number of conditions:(rr)
eccllogicalfcrors,which allow or force groupsro come togerher,and in
what sizeand frequency;(b) motivationalfactors,which affecthow attractive particular kinds of inreracrionsare for parricularindividuals;and (c)
material resourceswhich individualsuse ro put on the sragingof rituals,
that is, rhe materialpropsfor focussing
attenrionand for generatingcertain

ies
),,or u,'ri.
; i,i,f ilJ;.'
fi ;T;...r;..".1il
sJii,;:^:
?;:::::
privileges,or chances
of p.o*otn-_,.fj'U,
bosses,

reachers,and orher
personsin authority.The
situationof raking orders,
of beingcoerced,is in
itself alienating. Buc persons
sublect to aut-horityusuary
cannot evade ir

j;;;HT,J;:::'.,::,..

rrpually
occurs
in no.,-,truol
.ituurto.,.s,
*h-".,th.y

nianbackstag;;h;;"h.r,iil::i:1,:iiT"*';.J;,.'i[*::*l^*-;i.
mal work rourine in which
,1,"v pr,-*';;;".,.r,
performance.In this
sense,rhe order-raking
clar.eshaue , :;Ur.trrr*. personality.,,
Order-rakersnevertheless
,r. ;o;J'ro
b.. pr.r.nt ar order-grving
,ld, ol" requiredto
sive
llill':
I hey and rheir boss
";1";;J;;;;u1i.,i.,, assenrar thar momenr.
rutunily recognize
.n.i-nrtr.r', posirion,anrr who
the initiative in the
has
rituar .n".r*Jni.-rilr,';;*".
rituarsare an asymmer-

36

Emotionsand SocialMacrerPrt>cesses
Transrent
Emotions

rical variant on Durkheimianinteracrionrituals.There is a focusof attenrion, on rhe order-givingprocess.But the emotionsthac are invoked are
constrained;there is a tone of respect,of going along with whar the ordergiver is demanding.The more coerciveand extremethe powerdifferential,
rhe more emotionalcontagionthere is. The medievalpeasant,or rhe child
who is being beaten,are forced to put rhemselvesinto a state of complifigurewants. It
ance, of going along with what the master/parent/authority
is a coercedfocusof attention; the order-rakerhas ro try hard to anticipate
what the order-giverwanrs.Conversely,rhe order-giverusescoercionprecisely in order to feel this masteryover rhe subordinate's
mind, to "break
their will." (Cf. my analysisof torture, in Collins, 19Bla.) Lesscoercive
fornrsof order-givinghave correspondingly
lesspowerfulritual effects.
According to this theory, a successful
order-givingritual coercesa
strong mutual focus of attention, and producesstrongly sharedemorion.
Bur it is a heavily mixed emotion. Insofaras there is successful
role-taking
on both sides(and that is at the core of any successful
ritual), the ordergiver feels both hisiher own senriment of masrery,and rhe order.takers'
feelingsof weakness.
On the other side, rhe order-takerhas a mixrureborh
of his/her own negative emorions-weakness/depression,
fear-and rhe
mood of the dominator,which is srrongemotionalenergy,dominance,and
anger. I proposerhat this is why persons,who are severelycoerced(con.
centrationcamp inmates,marine corps recruits,beatenchildren), tend on
one level to identify with the aggressor,
and will enacr rhe aggressor's
role
when possiblein the future. They have an emorionalcomplexof fear and
anger,althoughsituationallythe f'earside is dominanrwhen rhey are raking
orders.Conversely,I proposethat order-givers,who use extremecoercion,
acquiresado-masochistic
personaliries,
becauseof the role-rakingthar goes
on, thus blendinganger/dominanrfeelingswith a senseof rhe fear and passivity that they invoke in their subordinates.
Powerrituals thus producecomplexemorions.Order-givers
and ordertakerssharethe dominance/anger/fear/passivity
complex,bur in very different proportions.They also sharean orientation towarddominant symbols,
but again with a differentblend of emorions.Order-giversidentify themselveswith the sacredobjectsof their organization;they respectthesesynrbols as ideals,and are foremostin requiringorher people ro kowrow ro
them too. This is the conservarismof dominanr classes,their selfappoinredmotivation as uphcllders
of tradirion, as resrorers
of law and order, and righteousuprootersoi hereticsand deviants.
Order-takers,
on rhe other hand, have an ambivalenrarritudetoward
rhe dominant symbols.They are alienatedfrom these symbols,and privately speakand think of rhem cynically,if rhey can ger awaywith it (see
evidencesummarized
in Gans, 1962:229-262).Thus, the modernworking
|

:_ _-_ ^_^u.. ^t:^_^,^J

f.,__ rho hr,sinecs irlpels of their bosses. and

army troopsridicule rl.rerheroricof

t7

their

come,
sorospea
k,.,nega
rivesacred
J|iL,'JJ ir.i.rT."u;..,r1",Xi[l'..TJ
ble, a suc-ldenly
liberated

nr,l"r-t.king .irr, *r.rf." ;.;.:

on rhe
symborsthar ir fornierryhad. to bow
jK,o, wirhour
careerchancesin rhe
academicsysrem,who are forced !,,.
order-irk.., in schoors,thus
rend ro acts
of vandalismand orher forms of "d;;;r*.,"
dire.etr preciseryar rhe ,,sacred objects" in whose name rhey
are subordinarecr:
cohen, 1g55.) It is
also possibrethat order-rakers
hori rh" iu*r.rr.t symbolsin
a kind of supersririousrespecr'thar is, if rhey
are so rightry.....J
,i",
,n1."
,, r,r,t"
opporrunirvfrrr distancingrhenrserves,
no backsrag",i;,;;i;;
they
can
rerreatfrom their nrasters,surveiilance,
,h"y or" ritually forcedro show
res p e c rf o r t h e s a c r e ds y m b o l su r r ,
r i * " s . T h u s a r i r " sl r r " ; r " r . i r e r a r n e r , ,
menra[iry'found among long-rime
r.ru.n,, and peasanrs
(and in a differenr
conre'xt'amongchirdrenwho are
strongrycoercedby their
orr.nr, but arso
srronglycontrolled, and given.nn
oppi.,.rur_,ities
ro rebel). The difference
berweenrheserwo kinds of ora.r-rof"rri
li*ritua., dependsprimariry upon
ecologicalstructures:whether
coercive .n.,,.,rt is continuous,
or allows
breaksinto backsrage
pnvacy.
I have schemaricalryoutrined
two porar.rypes of parricipation
in
power riruars:order-givinganti
order-tokrng(fbrmally ,tat"d in
collins,
1 9 7 5 : 7 3 - 5 ' )B u r p o w e r - r i t u a l s
a r e a c o n t i n u u m .T h e r ea r e s e v e r a r
k i n c i so f
positionsin the middle between
,h"
personswho are ordertransmrtters,who rake orders from
"*,r.r"r:
some trbove tl_,". n.,cl
,,u""o".,ta., n,
othersbelow;I suggesrrhar these
i^d;;;J;r; ten.r ro brentirhe order-givers
and order-takers
culture rnto a narrow and rigicl,,bureaucraric
pers.nality.,,
There is anorherkind of mi,Jpolni
i.,*.." exrremes:rhe personwhcr
neithergivesnor takesorders,
bur'who t;;;;;il:n":":^t^".:::

.,,.hong!,
tc.',i.,,'rqzs,z+i
_^,rr",:;':,::'i;',li: ;: :t:,,r._Xl

dimensionon which rhere is effectivery

no'p.*.r, rherefore,the effects
of
order-givingand order-raking
are u.rr-' ."rlrr. In orrier
k> explain whar

;lll.li:f"

ar rhisneurral.'t"u"t
.,tpn*l wemustrurnro rhesrarus

sratus Ritrars' I arn using the

term "status" in an senserhat
is slighrly
differenrfrom-orclinary.Srrtr,
,."r;;;*;r-;"rr"d
,,, a generalterm for hie.rarchical
differencesof all kinds. Br, ;;;;
;

thingclose
rowharWeber
,.,.on,by*;^;r',ff;:rli

r::tj:i::.:,:. :ff;
group'" The ftrncramentar
Garurehere is b"rungiugor not
beronging.This
too rs a confinuunr; in
everyclaylife, it appears as
populariry vs.
unpopulariry.i
T h i s d i m e n s i o no f
. m e m b e r s h ivps . n o n m e n r b e r s i riisp a n a l y r i c a l i, n
the sensethat any individual
(nn.l n,'ryl.,.rr.u""t can
be classifiecl
borh as
ro where ir standsin terms
of starusmembership,and

l8

Emotionsand SocialMacroProcesses

is proinequality.That meansthat every individual,and every interaction,

ef'
power
The
power
effects.
and
du.i.,g borh status rnembershipeffects,
order-taking
and
is
no
order-giving
lrr, io*.u.r, mighr be zero, if there
orderi n r h a r s i t u a t l o n ;o n r h e q r h e r h a n d , e v e n e x t r e m es i t u a r i o n so f
and
assembled
group
is
the
giving also have a statusdimension,insofaras
somemembershipfeelingsare being generated'
In whar ways can individuals differ in their status participationl
here. First considerhow the ritual situaThere are severalsubdimensions
tign irself is structured.How much doesthe individual participate/Is he/
she alwaysthere, alwaystaking part in the interaction rituals, alwaysa
member of the groupl or is he/she isolated,never or rarely a member?
Along that conrinuum, we can see peoplewho are on the fringesof the
g.oup, 1ur, barely members,barely participating;others are nearer to the
.or", *hile ar the center is the sqciometricstar, the personwho is always
most inrense[y involved in rhe ritual interaction. This person is the
Durkheimianparricipanrof the highestdegree,and should be sublect to
the strongesteffectsof ritual membershipthat we examinedabove:emo'
tional energy,moral solidarity,and attachmentto group symbols.At the
other end, there is the Durkheimian nonmember,who receivesno ernotional energy,no moral solidarity,and no symbolicattachments'
Every individual may be calibratedsomewherealong this dimension'
from central participant to outsider.\7e could measurehow often and how
centrallythey participatein membershiprituals, and give them a scoreon
their overall Durkheimiansolidarityor their "socialdensityof interaction."
My hypothesisis that this correlateswith emotional energy and m,lral
sentiments.
There is anorhersubdimensionof statusgroup participation.In what
kinds of groupsdoesone participarellt may be alwaysthe samegroup; in
rhis casewe ger local solidarity.According to Durkheimian theory, this
strong attachment to reified symbols,literal-mindedness,
should pro<Juce
u.,d o ,i.o.rg barrier berweeninsidersand outsiders.There is high conforrnity within the group, along with strong distrust of outsidersand alien
symbols.
At the other end of this subdimension,there is participation in a
loosenetwork consisringof many differentkinds of groupsand situations.
This is a cosmopolitannetworkstructure.The Durkheimianrheory predicts
the result will be more individualism,more relativistic attitudestowards
svmbols.and rnoreabstractrather than concreterhinking. Statedin terms
of emotions,this impliesthat personsin cosmopolitannetworkshave relatively weak feelingsof conformityto group symbols,emotionalcoolnessof
tone, and generalrrusr in a wide rangeof interactions.When synrbolsare
violated or ritual proceduresgb badly, rhe membersof right, localized

TransientEmotions

j9

groupsrespondwith anger and fear (especiallyif rituals are backedup

by
coercionon rhe powerdimension).Can there be ritual violationsin loose
cosmopolitangroups,where rhere is lessintensityand conformityl yes, becausethere can be violarionsof the appropriately
casualand sociablerone
of interaction. Goffman (1959, 1967) concenrraredmosr of his analysis
upon situationso[ cosmopolitaninteractions,and depictedjust such violations and their sanctions.FollowingGoffman, I would suggestthat persons
in thesesituationsrespondby amusementro minor rirual violario.,,ty others, and with embarrassment,
contempt, and a desireto excludeperpetrators of more seriousviolarions of rhe sociableorder. The personswho
commit theseGoffmaniansacrileges
feeI anxiety and embarrassment.
This, then, is my set of hyporheses
about how the variousdimensions
of interactionritual affectemotions.By way of summary,let us recapitulate
the model, firsr in terms of the effectson long-termemorions(emotional
energy),and then in their effectson short-term,rranslrorvemotlons.
EFFECTSON LONC-TERMEMOTIONS:
EMOTIONAL ENERGY(EE)
The IR chain model, as previouslysrated,proposesthat inclividuals
acquireor lose emotional energy in both power and srarusinteractions.
order-giversgain EE, order-rakerslose it; successful
enactmentof group
membershipraisesEE, experiencingmarginaliryor exclusionlowersit. Further, the arnounrof EE gained by statusgroup membershipis weightedby
the rankingof the groupone has participatedin (asc.nveyedby the membershipconnorationsof the symbolsthat were used in rhar encounter).
This is to say,srarusgroupscan be addirionallyrankedby the powerof their
membersin the larger society;there are communiriesmade up of upperclassorder-givers,of working-classorder-takers,and so forth; here the
membershipcommunity can also carry an indirect reflectionof the power
relations,even when they are "off duty." Successfully
usinghigh-sratus
symbols in an encounterboth generareslocal solidarity,and a feelingof hieh
rank; whereassuccesslully
generaringsolidariryin a low-rankinggroupgenerateslessEE. Interaction;ritualsare connecredin chainsover time, with
the resultsof the lasr inreracrion(in emotionsand symbols)becomingrnputs for the next inreracrion.Thus, EE tendsto cumulare(eirherposirively
o r n e g a t i v e l yo) v e r t i m e .
"Emotionalenergy",however,is rather generalmetaphorthat needs
to be unpacked.I believethat there is a generalcomponenr,an overall
level of being "up" or "down." Bur rhis is an overflow of more soecific
e m o t i o n a el n e r g i e sE. m o t i r n a le n e r g yi s s p e c i f i cr o p a r r i c u l a kr i n d s, . r fs l r u ations;it is a readiness
for action, which manitesrsirselfin taking rhe ini-

40

Emotions and Social Macro Processes

Transienr
Emorions 4l

with particular persons'z

tiarive in particular sorts of social relationships or
to dominate, or
Thus, theie is EE specific to power situations-expecting
to
situations-expecting
be dominated; as well as an EE specific to status
Furall.
at
accepted
be
be a central member, or a marginal clne, or not t()
particular netthermore, these emotional energies tend to be specific to
feel full of
persons
works and groups, or particular kinds of them: some
not
confidence and initiative in a party clf professionalacquaintances, but
but
negotiation,
in a sexual situation; some feel confidence in a business
not a political one'
i.opt" n)Lrve rhrough rhe chain of encounrers that make up their
daily lives on an up-and-down flow of EE: They are more attracted towards
certain situations than orhers, and sometimes f'eel disinterest or repulsion.
In each situation as ir unfolds, their own emotional and cultural resources,
meshing or failing to mesh with rhose of the people they meet, determine
to what extent the lR will be successfuland unsuccessful.These outcomes,
in rurn, raise or lower EE. The end result is motivirtion to repeating those
sorts of encounrers with particular persons and to avoid them with others.
Emotional energy manifesrs irself both physically irnd psychologically,
but its underlying basis-rhe form in which it is "stored," so to speak-is
probably not as energy per se. EE has some cognitive conrponent; it is an
expecrarion of being able 16 dominate particular kinds of situations, or to
in parricular groups. The cognitive side of this is that
*"*bership
"no.t
(parricularized
memories as well as generalized ideas or emblems)
symbols
to them, in the sense that the symbols call
attached
have emotiqnal energy
f o r t h a h i g h o r l c , wd e g r e eo f i n i t i a r i v e i n e n a c t i n g s o c i a l r e l a t i o n s h i p su s i n g
rhose symbols. But rhis is not a process of conscious calculation, of the
a6or rhinking "l will get a good feeling of power or status if I interact with
so-and-so."l Instead, certain symbols come to mind, or appear in the external environment, and spark off propensities (positive or negative) for
social action. The "expecrarion" may work on a subconsciouslevel. lt is an
anticipation of being able to coordinate with someone else's responses'of
smoorhly raking rheir role in the ongoing flow of the interaction, and thus
anticiparing the build-up of emotional force that goes on within a successful IR. The processof "rhythmic entrainment" of the ultra-micro aspectsof
interacrion is the mechanism by which emotional contagion occurs within
a successful interaction. Thus, there is a very fine-grained, microanriciparion rhat happens within the interaction itse[f (on a level down to
fractions of a second), as well as a more fttng-term expectation of being
able ro enter inro such micrtt-coordination wirh parricular kinds of peopre'
"Emotion:rl energy" exists as a c()mplex of these kinds of expectations, a
priming for successfulritual interaction in particular settings.
The low end of EE is depression,manifested in withdrawal, both from
ewnrecci'pnpc.

rnri

rcri.,itrr

l)enrecsion

mav

he

m()re

c,-rmnlex

or()cess

rhan high EE.aI hypothesize

that experiencear rhe low end of the power
dimensionbringsdepression:
low energy,and lossof motivation. But this
may happenonly when order-takers
experiencea strong degreeof uncontrollability;when their lack of control is only moderate,th"y ."y rypicaily
respondby anger,rhat is, by a remporaryincreasein the output of EE, as
vigorousreacranceagainstthe situarion rhat is controlling them (Frijda,
l986: 290).
Negativeexperienceon the statusdimensi.n, however,mav have a
differenteffecr.I suggesrthar [ailureof membershrpin a groupritual brings
a degreeof depression
commensurare
with the socialfailure.Kemper(1978)
howeverarguesrhat low statusmay bring anger as weil as shame.scheff
(1987a' l987b) argues rhar exclusion from membershipbrings
shame,
which may producea spiral with rage(i.e. anger). Iwoulj r.su.Jrhorrr. u,
a form of low EE, with rhe specificcognirivecomponenrdirectedtowarcls
one's social image (i.e. s'cial membership)in a particulargroup. Anger
occurswhen there is an abrupr negativechangein expectecl,o.i^l *"mbershipfeelings,rhat is, it is a short-termemoriondue to rhe disruotionof
expectations;the long-term effect of membershiploss is nevertheless
depression'Hence, there is no long-term increasein vigor of the sort that
angry reactilncebrings for moderatelevelsof put down on the power dimension,
_rharis, when rhere are a strucruralopportunitiesfor mobilizins
reDeuron.The main long-termemotionalenergiesresultingfrom stratifiedinteraction, rhen, are: (a) high levelsof enrhusiasm,
confidence,and inirrarrve,
resultingfrom either poweror statussiruarions;(b) low levelsof the same
(i.e' depression,shame), resulringagain from eirher power
or status;(c)
anger,which resultsfrom moderarelevelsof negariveexperience(l believe,
largelyon the powerdimension,althoughpossiblyon the srarusdimenslon
a s w e l l ) , p a r r i c u l a r l yi n s i r u a r i o n w
s h e r et h e r ea r e s u f f i c i e npr o s s i b i l i t i eosf
fighting back' There is one orher long-term emorional disposition;the
amount of rrustor disrrustof other people.Ar rhe trust end of the contin.
uum, this simply manifestsitself as high EE, willingnessro rake inirrarrve
towardscertain socialsituations.At the distrustend, it comesout as fearof
particular situati<rns.I suggesrthat disrrust/fearis attached to particular
structuralconfigurations,namely,distrustof thosewho are oursidersro the
local group; ir is the resultof rhe srructuralsubclimension
of sratusgroup
i n t e r a c r i o ni,n w h i c h r h e r ei s r i g h t l o c a Ic l o s u r eo f g r o u pb o u n d a r i e s .
SHORITERM OR DRAMAT/C EMOT/ONS
Most researchon em.tion has focussed'n rhe short-term,dramatrc
e.motions:the "phasic" rather than the "tonic," the outburstsrhat disrupr
the ongoing flow of acrivitv (Friida. 1986: 2. 4. g0)

Mrr erorrmp-r i. th-r

42

Emotions and Social Macro Processes

rhe short-termemotionsare derivedtiom the baselineof emotionalenergy;

rhat ir is againstthe backdropo[ an ongoingflow of emotionalenergythat
p a r t i c u l a rd i s r u p r i v ee x p r e s s i o nasr e s h a p e d .S u r p r i s e f, o r e x a m p l e ,i s a n
abrupt reactionto somethingthat rapidlyand severelyinterruptsthe flow
of current activity and artention. This is also the generalpattern of more
important short-termemotions.
The positiveemotionsbecomeintenselargelybecauseof a contagious
build-upduring an interactionritual. This is the casewith enthusiasm,joy,
and humor: all o[ thesebuild up in socialsituationsas the resultof a sucanalysistendsto take theseemotionsfrom the
cessfulritual. Psychological
individualviewpoint. For example,joy is explainedas the resultof the momentary expectationof successin someactivity (Frijda, 1986:i9). This is
sometimestrue; bur I am suggestingthat joy and enthusiasmare particugroup is collectivelyexperiencingthis exlarly strong when an assembled
pectationor achievementof success(e.g., fans at a game). Further, the
group itself by successful
emotionalcontagioncan generareits own enthusiasm(which is what a party does).
These kinds of positive emorionaloutburstsare relativelyshort and
temporaryin their effects.They happenagainsta baselineof previousemotional energy;for a group ro establishthis kind of rapport, irs members
need to have previouslychargedup somesymbolswirh positiveatrracrron,
so that rhesesymbolscan be usedas ingredientsin carryingout a successful
ritual. A previouscumulationo[ emotionalenergyis thus one of the ingredients in making possiblethe situationalbuild-upof posiriveemorion. Freguently,the positiveemotions(joy, enthusiasm,humor) are generatedby a
group leader,an individual who takesrhe focus,who is able to propagare
sucha mood from rheir own sroresof emorionalencrgy.Thus, this individual servesas a kind of battery for group emotionalexpressiveness.
Persons
who occupy this posirion in IR chains are whar we think of as "charismatic." In general,personalitytraits are jusr these resultsof experiencing
p a r t i c u l a rk i n d s o f I R c h a i n s . ( T h i s i s r r u e a r t h e n e g a r i v ee n d a s w e l l ,
resultingin depressed,
angry, and arrogantpersons,etc.)
Love and sexualpassion(especiallythe larter) also are situationally
generatedemotions. They are most intenservhen rhere is an emotional
contagionwithin the group (usuallya very small group of two persons),
focusingon preciselythis emotion. Again, rhe previousexperiencein IR
chains(in this case,especial[yinteractionsthat consrirurea sexualmarketplace)determinethe baselineof emotionalenergy,which is availablero be
arousedin this way.
The negariveshort-rermemotionsare even more clearly related to
the baselineof emotionalenergy.

Transient
Emorions 4l
Anger is generaredin severalways. psychologica.lry,
anger is ofren regarded as the capaciryto^mobirir"
..,..gy ro overcome a barrier
to one,s
ongoingefforts(Frijda, 19g6:lg,
77). Thls-*ea.,, thar the ,r;;;,
of anger
should be proporrional to rhe amounr
of ,"d..1;;;;';;;;"il,
is, the
amounrof emotionalenergyone has
for that particularproject. High
emo_
tional energymay arsobe.cailed "aggressiveness,,,
the strong taking of iniriative. This can have the .ocial
""ff".t
rowering
theiremorionar
energy,
r;;-;i
Tri:'lffit rr$l::l**l
This impriesthat rhere is a connecrion
berween.
rhe genericquariryof high
emotional energy-especiallythe EE generated
in power siruarions-and
the expressionof the specificemorion
f ,.,g"..
The disruptiveform of anger'ho*"u.r,
is more compricared.That is
becauseanger in irs inrensefors is
an e*prosiue,";;;;ill,
trur,rrrions' Truly powerfurpersonsdo not
becomeangry in this sense,because
they do nor need to; rhey ger rheir *r, .,uUf,or,
it. For a powerfulpersonro
expressanger is thus to some extent
an expressionof *eakness. Ho*"u",
personswho are powerlurcan afford
to become
.angry; their p.wer-angeris

il;:i:T
Ii#il;T:::::i.,l;:.1:
1.;:,
;j;in;,:,1*r
:?t.*i

orher person-it is an expression

of their confidencethar they wi,
be abre
to mobilizean enforcementcoaririon
to coerce that person'rntocompli.
ance, or to destroytheir resistance.
Thus, previousstoresof EE determrne
when and how someonewill express
;;l.rlr"
anger.6
The most violer

';15,i;
overcomingasrrons; [:l;::. i]:ffiru*::
1l:
'a
[
:T,:,.l,r,i
srrong, rhe feeling is fear, nor

anger. prio, build-up of fear,

which is
eventuallymasteredby
a confrict, thus tencrsto resurtin
.winning
an out.
bursrof anger ar just the *nm"n,
.i r".ii* sure of the victory. Viorent
arrocrriesin warfaretend to happen
in rhis kin, of situation.
1ro.
and analysis,seeCollins, 1989.)
"*o.pt.,
Personswho are weak do not
manifest anger in the same way. I
suggest it is onry when rhey have
enough resourcesto be abre to
mounr
some
resisrance
(or at leasrsonresociarpriun.y,
a separatesocialcircle in which
they can urter symbolic,t[reats)
,", *.^f.-O"rsons,order-rakers,
have anger' This followsfrom the principle
thar the core of angeris the mobilization of energyto overcomean
obstacre.rt is only *hel there
,r.'".,orgt
socialbasesofsupport ro generare
EE that one can reactto a frustration
(in
this case,beingdominarid) Uv
mobilizing,ng.r. p.*ons who are
roo
weak
(i'e' structurallythey lack
resources
or spacern which ro nrobilizeany
<lther
EE)' do not react to being dominated
bv
,r,g..,
t,,r
by
:'.*"lit"d

44

Emotions and Social Macro Processes

Transient Em<>tions

In betweenthesetwo situationsthere are selectiveoutburstsof anger.

This is rhe targetedangerthat individualsfeel againstparticularother persons. I suggestthat this occursbecausetheseindividualsare structuralrivals in the nrarket of social relationships,for example, two women
competingfor the same man, or two intellectualscompetingfor rhe same
audience.Here one does not feel angry againstsomeonewho is stronger
than oneself(rebelliousanger), nor againstsomeoneweaker (dominance
anger);rather,this is a caseof someonefrustratingone'sown projects,The
angerhere is not really "personal";there is no role-raking(as in the domforms of anger) ahhough the rargeris a person,and
inance/subordination
the underlyingstructure is a social one; it is only an accidenr thar the
obstacleto one'sgoalshappensto be a person.
Another especiallyDurkheimianform of shorr-rermemorion is nghteousanger.This is the emocionaloutbursr, sharedby a group (perhapsled
by particular personswho act as its agents)againstpersonswho violare
its sacredsymbols.It is group anger againsra herericor scapegoar.Such
angeronly happenswhen there is a previouslyconsritutedgroup; one can
predict that righteousanger is proportional to the amounr o[ emorional
charge o[ membershipfeelingsaround parricular synrbols.The amount
of such charge,in rurn, is highestwhere rhe group has high socialdensity
and a local (rather than cosmopolitan)focus.!7here the group nerworks
are diffuseand cosmopoliran,on the other hand, I suggestthat the shorrterm emotion felt at disruption is embarrassment
on behalf of the disrupter-that is, resulting in status exclusion, unwillingnessro associare
wirh that person,rather rhan a violent ritual punishmentto restoresyflrbolic order.
Righteousanger is not very well undersrood,despiteirs great importance in political senrimentsas well as dynamicsof local communities
(scandals,wirch-hunrs,polirical hysterias).The theorericaldil{iculry rs understandingjust how this kind of anger relaresro rhe powerand statusdimensionsof groupstructure.ln the Durkheinrianmodel, it seemsto be the
group in general,and all irs adherenrs,who are outragedar rhe violation of
its symbols.Bur I suspecrthar anger,and rherefbreviolence as a punishment (burning a witch or heretic at rhe stake, throwing drug dealersor
gamblersor abortionisrsin jail) is relaredro rhe powerdimension,since the
useof violence is the ulrimatesancrionof power.To explain righteousangerrwe seemro need the powerand statusdimensionsin conjunction.That
is, where the status group srrucrureis dense enough and locally closed
enough so thar there is a strong senseof group memhership,attached to
reified symbols;rhis ritual community has a power hierarchy within ir,
which regularlyexercisescoercive threats to enfbrceobedienceto orders;
u n d e rt h e s ec i r c u m s t a n c ersi ,r u a l v i o l a r i o n s( v i o l a r i o n so f m e m b e r s h i spy m -

iru

rhe srarusdimension)are taken

+5

as a rhrearro the powerhierarchy

Righteousanger is a particularly
inrenseemotion becauserr
rs expressedwith a srrongsenseof securiry,
indiridurl, ei ,r-'"r
have the
communiry'ssupport, and nor merely
in a roosesense.Righteousanger
is
an emotion thar is an evocation
.f the organizednetwork thar has
been
previouslyestabrished
ro use viorence.persons,who
feerrighteousangerare
evoking their feeringof membership
in an enftrrcement
coalirion.

..",r1jr".;;*ill;,

i:i.
ir
1
::i

i:'l

woutdpoinrto rhefact.thu,,h" *o* u_i"n,

pr.,irl,-

med
ievar 0,,.,
*on,l1n
:; l; :"1,"T
il :"::: i:,::il, *;i:::" ll

tribal societies)occur.wherethe poriticar

nr"n,, are both highrycoercivein
rheir ordinary operarions,,nd ,r.
acriue il enforcinggroup cultures(corl i n s , l 9 8 t a ; D o u s l a s ,t - , 9 ! 6 ,t g ' i ) .
H e r e s yr r i a l su n a u t " * , u " r i
o"^,rf,menrshave disappeared
preciseryrn th. i"g.." of rhe
separationof church
and srare; ir is where these spheres
irn"-oo*., hierarchyand the sratus
c o m m u n r r v a) r e l u s e d , t h a t . r i g h t e o u s
a n g e ri s m o s rp r e v a r e n rI.n s o m e
degree, however,the porirical hierarchy
,r-iii ."rnnin, the focusof srarusrrr_
uals, rhat is, claims ro
a .orn*u^i,f as well as an organizarion
.be
for
wielding power' This makes
ir possibrero mobirizedeviance.hunring
as a
form of starusinrrusion into the political
,ph".;: ;r;; ,.'.j"ri"",,
0,u".entiatedmodern socieries.And it
is acruocates
ot a return ro the fusionof
communitywith polity who are
most stronglyinvolved ,, ,,ao.ul
..,rr.0..neurs" in modern deviance-hunring.
(Sucfradvocatesseemto
come
from
the localizedsecrorsof modern
r;*;;-;r;"cialry
the remnanrsof rradirional and rurar communiries;in
adtJition,,h. nrr"r,-,p,of socialist
regimes
ro recrearerhis same kind of coilecrive
soricJarity
herpsexpraintheir concern for ritualsof conformitv.)
Fear is another short-term negative
emotion. The most intenseantl
briefestforms of rear are rh<-,r"
rhur"n'or, Jrrpty crisruptacriviries;
at the
extreme,intensefear experience
is next to r ri"rtl" r"roo,*r..'Crr_*
,,
expression
of fear in a more complexsense;
ir is a social .all fo, t"tp ".
in
distress'Adults do nor cry very
much becauserheir horizon widens
our.
and simply physicalrhreatsor discomforrs,
in,::1
:i:"rarively
rne most
"shorr-rerm
important form
of fear becomerfear of ,o.irt ..,nr"
,."."r, rrrrrever' fear of being coercedor fear
of ,o.iull*.rusi.n,
*lr.'r."*-*.*
experiences'Furrhe'rmore,
"."
since the problem is itserfthe
sociar,i,u?r,on,
crying (which is a communicarion
of helpressness)
is sub.rdinatedby more
complexadjusrments
of EE' one .onnoa ,r*ily so rcadily
call on othersfor
sympathy'if one is being coerced
or excluded.'crying, as a fbrm
of emotional communication' is upstaged
by more Ji.".t
response
rn
the form of fear and avoicjance.
"-orionar

46

and SocialMacroProcesses
Emotions

else's
is basicallya response1s 56rnssne
ln social relationships' fear
Thus'
hurt'
being
of
the expectation
anger.lt is an anticipnto'v "*otion'
energyderiving from sub'
lo.,g-re,m.emorional
to
ir is most directly r"lu,"J
to
dimension' lt occursin similar circumstances
ordination on the power
d e p r e s s i o n , b u t i t h a s ' ^ o ' " c o n f r o n t a t i o n a l s t r u cparticular
t u r e ' W h eacrivities)'
redepressionis
of artenrionfrom
a wirhdrawatof EE (i.e. withdrawal
acexpected
of
betbre the consequences
fear is a kind of '"ti"i tt^gi"g
depres'
or
anger
emotion than either
tions. lt is sociallya more *ltt*
sinkingof EE levelsbecauseof
kind.of
as
U"-t'ati
can
sion. Depression
. r ' " . . u r ' a , " " " i n g e f f e c t s o f n e g a r i u e s o c i a l s i t u a t i o n sEE
; f eto
a r itake
s a n esome
gattveanwhich assumesenough
ticipation of what *ift noppltt'
to situationsthat carry social dangers'
initiative, or at least '"*uit' alert
exclusion),as
of statusloss (membershipHence, one can ",.0.;;;;" fear
is probably
fear
the power dimension'
well as fear of power coercion' On
mobilize
to
able
is
person
caseswhe.rea
mobilizedtogether*i'h "tgt'' in
fiom
results
positive
win
in being able to
anger,but has low t""f-f"?1"
its exPression.
EMOTIONS
TRANSFORMATIONSFROMSHOR?TERM
ENERGY
EMOTIONAL
INTO LONG-TERM
tend ttl flow
experiences
The resultsof variousshort-termemotional
"emorional
called
have
makeup'which l
back into the long-term""t"tt"""f
the draupon
depend
doesnot have to
energy."Emotional.".;;;,;h;";h'
add to
beltlnging
or
domination
matic emotio.tr;,i,u",io' of u'itottt"'ted
o n e ' s s t o r e o f c o n f i c l e n c e a n d s e n s e o f a t t r a c t i o n t o w a r d s phave
a r t i csimularkindsof
and unpopularity
situations;undramaticfeeringsof subordination
emotions also spill .ver'
,irr..."*"i,". effects' The Jramatic short-term
whethertheir very qualiry as dramatic
thoug^ it is an u."*r*i.,.d quesrion
emotions'or bracketsthem as a
makesthem more important for long'term
s o r t o f e x c e p t i o n . i . t ' h t t u " o f p o ' i t i u t s h o r t - t e r n e m o t i o n s ( j o ybuild
'enthushould
that theseexperiences
siasm,sexualparriott), it '"t*' titt"tv
wav (i'e'
EE, although perhapsin a verv situation-specific
,;;;
;,*
particular
with
"?
those siruacions
one become, urru.h"d"io"r.o*,t"* itrst
partners).
l n t h e c a s e o f n e g a t i v e e n ) o t i o n s , t h e r e i s a l o n g - s t a n d ilongngclinical
as the major determinantof
tradirion that sees,rrul'lutit situations
of inrense
Particularexperiences
term socialun.1pry.nJogical functioning'
subsequent
one's whole
anger,fear, or shame a rega"led as controlling
it shouldbe seen
however'
<legree;
a
to
true'
bl
functit>ning.This may w"ll
of emotional energy'A person
againstthJ buckgroundof rhe overall level
whogenerallyhasfavorable,ifundramatic'experiencesollthepowerand

Transienc
Emotions

4Z

statusdimensionsof rheir everydayinreractions,will likely get over an episodeof extremeanger,fear,or shame.I suggestit is only when the individual'soverall "marker position" of inreractionsis on the negativeside
that parricularly inrensedramaric experiencesare stored ,p ,nd carried
over as "rraumas,"especiallyin highly chargedmemoriesof the sort thar
Freudiantherapyis designedro ventilate.
scheff (1987a)proposes
a modelwith a more sociarmicro-mechanism
rhe
Freudian:There is a shame/rage
than
cycle in which an inclividualwho
a shamingsituation feelsrage againstthe perpetrator,which
experiences
can lead to further conflicrs;rheserypicallyhave unsatisfacrory
ourcomes,
resultingin further shameand rage. Ragear oneselfcan also becomepart
of a self-reflecriveloop, intensifyingthis process.Scheffpresenrsevidence
rhat the tracesof previousemotionalarousals,especiallyanger,can remain
at an unconscious,
trace level; that there are unconscious
shamebehaviors
that are manifesredin rhe micro-detailsof inreracrions.I rhink, though,
that scheff has chosena sampleof casesin which rheseshame/rase
cvcles
are well esrablished;
however,he has nor considere<l
the casesin *"hich the
cycledoesnot occur or terminatesquickly.That is to say:Scheffconcenrrareson social relationshipsamong individualswho are relarivelyequally
matched,who are at the middle levelsof dominanceand popularity,such
that rhey can conrinue long cyclesof shamingand raging at each other.
More extremedifferences
in powerwould not allow a conflictualcycle ro go
on; and if personsare not confinedto the samenetwork of statusinreractions (i.e. rheir market possibilitiesare more open) they may cur shorr a
shamecycle by leaving th^t interacrionand findine anorherwhere thc resourcelineupsmay be differenr.

QUESTIONSFORFURTHERRESEARCH
I have formulated the principles of this general model of inreracrron
rituals by considering the dimensions that seem to be involved in
Durkheim and Goffman's discussionsof rirual inreracrion. Above, I have
suggestedhow the micro-mechanisms I have p.sited are congruenr with
experimental evidence, especially on rhythmic coordination berween inreractants' The IR model irself needs to be explicirly resred, especially for its
effect upon emotional solidariry. This could be done eirher experi.".,tolly
or in a natural serting, provided that before-and-afltermeasures(or prefera-

! bly conrinuousmesures)
of emotional intensirywereavailable.The unobtrusivemeasures
describedbelowcould be of use.
i Testing the IR Model.
The mosr imporranr resr is ro show rhat there is a
'circular relationshipbetweenthe amount of focus
of mutual attention, the

48

Emorionsand SocialMacroProcesses

amount of coordrnationof activity (especiallymicro-coordinationon an

unconsciouslevel), and the build-upof a common emotion. As indicated,
it does not matter which emotion is involved at the outset-happiness,
grief, conversationalenthusiasm,and so forth-the model predictsthat if
rhe conditions of focus and murual coordinationexist, the sharedemoA further part .of the model
rional intensitywill build up correspondingly.
ritual (i.e., an interacro be testedinvolvesthe aftereffectsofa successful
tion rhat evokedthis sharedemotion): the participantsshouldcome away
with enhancedEE, and they should have favorableemotionalattachment
to symbolsgeneratedwithin rhat interaction.
The emotionaleffectsof powerand statusritualsare specificapplications of the more general[R theory. The theoriesof powerand statusrituals rhat I have spelled our above are congruent with a good deal of
empirical researchthat was carried out for other purposes,but relatively
little has been done explicitly attemptingto test theseprinciples.In none
of rlris is emotion treatedvery explicitly, but only sometimesin passing,
while the main focushas beenon the cultural and behavioralconsequences
of stratification.The multidimensionaltheory that I presentedin Con/lict
(Collins, 1975)was in part derived to fit the empiricalgeneraliSociology,
zationsfound in stratificationresearchup to that time, and to make them
congruentwith the observationsupon which Dahrendorf(1959) and Coffman (1959) drew in building their theories.Subsequentresearchalso fits
someof my predictionsregardingclasscultures.
A weaknessof the literatureon socialclassis that it has mostly used
crude conceptualizationsof its independenrvariables. Unidimensional
schemes(irs used by Gans, 1962, 1967, in his field research,as well as
and virtually everyoneelse) leaveone not knowing
Bourdieu, 191911984,
which factor (poweror statusrituals) is reallyoperatingon the micro-level.
(education,income,
Worst of all are scalesthat combinedifferentmeasures
occupationalprestige,etc.) as if they were all indicatingsome underlying
dimcnsion called "stratification."This is searchingfor a myth, and it
washesout the actual grid of causalprocesses
that distributepeopleacross
severaldimensionsof the sociallandscape.Occuparionalprestigescalesare
perhapsthe leastdesirableway of measuringstratification,becausethey are
tied to the realm of vague ideologiesrarher than actual work experiences.
(For instance,"professor"ranksquite high, but if the samepersonis identified as "si.rciologist,"
he/she drops about fifteen points (see Treiman,
1977);if they are identifiedas "assistantprofessorin a junior college"they
drop still furrher.) Jencks(1985) showedthat public ideasabout vaguely
specifiedoccupationshide most of the variation even in what peopleactually rhink is a good job. Therefore,a measureof strarificarionought to deal
with what peopleactuallydo in their work experience,nor with what other

TransientEmotions

49

we havesqueezed.
most of the juice out of the standardcensus
demographiccaregories
as independenrvariables,but cling ,o ,t.- i.."use
they
are easyto measure.what is neededis ro measureexplicitlythe
powerand
statusdimensionsof peopre'swork and other sociarexperience,
,, ,, ,.rually happens'only Bernsrein(r97r-75) haspaid much artenrion
ro micromeasuresof siruarionalbehavior, but only for the a"p".d.ni
ua.iabres
(speechcodes),while relyingon crude grobarmeasur.,
o[ th" independenr
variables(socialclass).The work of Kohn'sgroup (Kohn,
1977;Kohn and
schooler, l98l) is perhapsclosestro measuringthe operative'conditions
wirhin work siruations.Their measure-croseness
of supervision-is an indicarorof rhe order-giving/order-raking
dimension,althoughir only exrends
from a neurralpoinr down to rhe order-rakingside; it strh
lacksa 'easure
of degreesof dominanceon rhe order-givingrid.. Clor..,"r,
uir,rp.ruoio.,
may also indicate rhe social densiry fr.roi u dimension
of ,rrtu, g.orp
strucrure.Kohn'sorher principal independentvariable,
complexiryof work,
appearsrelatedro the diversityof communications,i.e.,
the other srructural dimensionof statuscommunities,but mixesrhe social
.omprexityof ,
job with the complexityof a marerialtask.
In general, I would inrerpret Gans (1962, 1967,
197I, Bou*Jieu
(197911984)'
and Bernstein(197r-75) as showingrhe effects
of the social
nerwork dimension;RosabethKanrer's(1977) comparison
of secreraries,
women managers!blocked-mobiritymen managers,
and upwardrymoving
men managersis another versionof rhe powerdimension.
In the realmof independentvariabies,I would
strongryadvocaterhar
nerw.rk posirion be broughr into the srandardsociologic"ai
roolbo*. Brrt
(1982)hasshownthat people'snerworkposition
hasan i,nporr^n,
o.,
the way they behaveand on rheir cognitions;there
is a good deal".,
of *ork
(Laumann, 1966; Laumann and Rnpji,
DZOy rhat describesdiftbrencein
nerworkpositionsof membersof diffeienrsocial
crasses.
Arrhougi ihi, *ort
is mainly interestedin macro processes,
such as community power structure' as dependenrvariables,an equailysignificanr
puyoff,hourd e*ist fo,
explainingmicro-variables,
rhe attitudesan-"d
b"hauio.sof indiviJu^rr-,ncludingtheir emotions.Nerwork positionshould
be a good *.nrrr"'or th.
statussrructure'includingorh the condition
of sociai densityof inreraction, and the cosmopolitan/local
distinction.
Testing Poqaerond status Effects mt Emotimu.
what is needed is a multivariaredesign,measuringindependently
rhe amounr of order-givingand
order-takingthat happensin one's daily
life; rhe amounr of rime in the
presence
of orher people versusarone;the amounr of criversity
of communications/focus
of artention. This coulcl be done by inrerviews,
though a
berterrneasure
wouLl be observarional.possibrya compromise
wourd
be to
ger peoplero keepa diary of these
itemsover a oeriodof rime. Conrinrrorrs

50

Emotionsand SocialMacroProcesses

terms, bur periodic samplingof different

observation is difficult in practical
just as good'
i.d, of work situations might be
t""'-formulatedhas as depenit" generalrheory oi stratificarionI have
of individuals.As
emorions
and
de.,t uarialesthe cognirions,behaviors,
at leastinferenbearing,
research
indicated,there is much more available
upon cognirive
rituals
effectsof everydaylife porverand sratus
u"rir,
""',rr.
culturethanupone,notio.,s'Forspe.ificpurposesofdevelopingthelRtheto measureexplicitly the emotions
ory of emotions,it wold be necessary
intheseritualsituations.Thismeasurementneedstobedoneforboth
disruptive
emotions (emotional energy)' and the short'term'
i;";-;;
emotlons.
for studying the shortMeosuring Emational Energy' Since methodologies
I will concentratehere
term, dramatic emotions"t" tno" widely known'
that EE builds up or de." ,. problem o[ measuringEE' My argument'
depending upo.n the ups and
clines over a serles of i.,te'"action rituals'
is inferential. There js little
downsof one,sexperiencesof power and status,
(1980;seealsoKemper,1990)have
direcr evidencefor it. Muru, and Lamb
effects upon hormone
shown that power experiencehas some continuing
paper studies.ofhypothetical
levels.Heise (1979, 198?), using pencil and
affectual loadingsof vari.us
the
int.tg.
actioni
social
evenrs, shows rhat
(as well as on a
categoriesof personsalong power and statusdimensions
which may be equivalent ro the underly,."*r dimension of ".tiu.-"tio.,,
of real-life interaci.,g dirrre.trionof my EE)' Heise postulatesthat chains
levels'
tiJns are morivated by ongoing shifts in these affect
lnorder,orn"urur.shiftsofEEinreal-lifesituations'itwouldbe
of interacdons' A
clesirableto follow people'sexperiencesacrossa chain
be construredin
long-ter'mdesign *ouli b" .,.t""u'y' Possiblythis could
alaboratorysituationlastingseveraldays;observationinnaturalconditions
emorional effectsof
would also te desirable,especiallyro esrimarehow long
o[ emotional
interactionsmay last. Lurp..t, however,that the time-decay
interactions' may
energy,if it is not reinvestedand reinforcedby subsequent
be lessthan a few daYs'
oi order'
For independent variables, we would measureexperiences
of inter'
giving, o.d"r-tukir,g,and egalitarianinteraction;the socialdensity
variety
the
and
.rioi (amount of fo.u., ,*ou.', of em'tional contagion);
of interactionpatterns.For the dependentvari'
(cosmopoliranism/localism)
Here
measures.
"able-a measureof EE-it would be bestto useunobtrusive
are some possibilities.
(high
Voice.The anount of confidence,initiative, and dominance
the
by
EE) vs. apathy,withdrawal,depression(low EE) may be measurable

Transient
Emotions

5l

stylerather than content of talk. Recordingsof voice samplesin particular

kinds of inreracrionsmay be measuredfor: (a) loudnessof tone; (bi speed
of
talking; (c) fluidity, hesirationpauses,and (d) falsestarts.one of the
best
indicatorsmay be the latencyof speech:the amounr of rime in delay
berweenand end of one speaker's
turn, and the start of another.Ability to
get the floor, vs. incidence of contestedspeechturns, may be another
incicaror.It may also be possibleto find measures
of EE by a micro-analysis
of
the soundwavefrequencies
on subliminallevels.(Seescherer,l9gz, 19g5,
for studiesof the emotionaldimensionsof recordedspeech.)
Eyes' Eye contact, dominating or avoiding mutuar gaze is another
possiblemeasureof EE (see Mazur, er al., 1980;Mazur, 19g6;. Hr*"uer,
this perhapsappliesmore ro the powerdimensionof EE than ro the srarus
dimension.
Facial expression.
Ekman and Friesen's(r975r1984, rgig) manual
showsthe waysthat emotions are expressedin the severalzonesof the face.
Ekman'swork (1984) also indicateswhich zonesare mosr easilycontrolled
by deliberateefforts to mask emorions, whire other zonestend to express
sponraneous
emorions.The limiration of this method is that it hasfocussed
primarily on the dramatic,disruptiveemotions.But facial measures
of EE
could perhapsbe developed,both for high EE (confidence,enrhusiasm)
and
low EE (aparhy,depression).
Bodily Postures and Movernents. Ekman (1984; also o'Sullivan et al.,
i985) has also consideredbodily movementsas emotional expression,
and
i n d i c a r e dt h e e x t e n r r o w h i c h r h e b o d y i s c o n t r o l l a b l ei n m a s k i n n
"*"tions. Again, we need to considerbodily measures
of high and low EE,
as
well as the dramatic shorr-rermemorions.since high EE is social confidenceand dominance,ir shouldbe manifesredin mouementstowardsother
people, especiallymovemenrsthat take the initiative and rhat
lead ro
rhythmic coordinarion.Low EE, conversely,should show movements
and
postures
of withdrawal,and low iniriative. Dependingupon the amount of
compliancevs. rebellion,low EE personsin a socialsituationshouldshow
eithera parternof followingorher'snonverballeads;or a freezins
of movement; or (in the caseof cgnflict at moderaredlevelsof EE) a rapidor jerky
alternationbetweenorienting rowardand awayfrom the oth..r.
A combinationo[ severalof thesemeasures-voice,face, bodilv posture and movemenr-could be srudiedsimulraneously.
The resulrof srch
multi-measure
studieswould likely show us which measures
are redundanr,
and which are mosrhighly correlatedwith long-termpaterns (i.e. with
the
flow of EE acrosssiruations).Afrer a seriesof such stuclies,
we could concentrateon the most efficient measuresof EE.

52

Emotionsand SocialMacroProcesses

Other Hypothesesto Test. I have suggestedtestsof the basicmechanismof

inreraction ritual itself, and of the hypothesizedeffects on emotions of
order-giving,order-taking,and rhe socialdensity and diversityof interacrion nerworks.There are many ramificationshere that need investigation,
includingspecifictopics like the righteousangerproducedby rirual violations of symbolsgeneratedin communitiesof high socialdensityithe carryover betweendramatic and undramaticshort-rermemotionsinto longterm emotional energies;and the reverse,in which long-term emotional
energiesprovide the baselinefor short-term emotions.These elemenrary
processes,
too, could eventuallybe integratedwith the more complexcondirions ser forth in Kemper's(1978) rheory of emotions.
A PAYOFF
FORMACRO-SOCIOI.OGY
Once good measures
of EE, and its varioussubdimensions,
are available, a further step is possible:to carry our unobtrusiveemotion surveys.
The sociologistcould samplea populationof peopleacrosssituarions,much
as we now sampleattitudes(usuallyabsrracced
from situations).This would
give a map-a dynamic map, over time-of the emotionalecologyof society. One might analogizeit to an emorionalweathermap. Such a sampling of emotional patternson the micro-level,when aggregated,
rells us
about the emotional patternsof the macro-srrucrure.
This in turn should
give us a nleasureof the dynamic facrors involved in macro processesof
economic life, politics, cultural movemenrs-indeed, the whole range of
concernsof traditional macro-sociology.
An accurareview of the macrostructure,strippeddown to its skeletonof micro-situationslinked together
in rime and space,would revealwavesof emorion, artachedto cognirions
and motivating physicalbehavior,flowing acrosssocial space.We would
then be in a position to test theoriesof how emotional energiesoperare
both to stably reproducesocial srrucrure,and to energizerhe dynamicsof
conflict and change.

Norrs
l. My usageis similar to Kemper's(1978), excepr Kemperwishesro srress
that groupsare almost alwaysunequal in status,whereasI conceive statusgroupsas
capable of being completely independenrof each other. One group of friends (or
coreligionists,
or ethnic members)can be more or lessobliviousto anorherclique; I
confine "status"to the internal structureof each group, leavingopen rhe question
of whether the various groupshave any ranking in relation ro each other. Kernper
alsogoeson to define"srarus"as rank given to individualsvoluntarily,a willingness

TransienrEmotions

5j

to compry wirhour being forced, so that Kemper,s

power vs. starusis the
difference
betweenenforcedcompliance and volunrary .o*pii"n
.. f
,r'ri'.re rs such
a thing as voluntary compriance,but r would
regardthis"*.."
u. o ,ro"r.n arion of
statusinto power,of usingstatus1g59g1sg5_1h

cred
svmbors
tharcome
f,om
,trrus
,i,rrtr-inllai; ,til.iillLil"',':f1,::;

situarion, rhar is, in rhe realm of power.

Instead, I confe ;r,;r;J;;;;;;ns
to the
"horizontal" dimension of being incruded
or excruded,fr.n'
,..]"fr., .."r;;;;iy
rilitarian accivities.The sociorogicaaymost
important variarion in starusgroup
strucrureis its shapeas a nerwork, especiaty
its densiry
,i. a"*r*'of .or*npoliranismor rocar crosureof the network
""J
around parricular
individuars.As we
shall see' thesedifferences
in "horizonral"srrucrureoig.orp, ^lr,r*
ur*"k.
pr"the emotions that flow from a Durkheimian
model of rhe forms of group
ffi::ilt
z' Frijda (1986: ll, 7r) describesemotion
as a felt bur latent ac.on rendency; a readiness
for conract with the environmentat
the h;gh end, and at rhe
low end disinterestand aparhy.
J' Somerimescerrainpersonsmay have
this kind of serf-conscious
deliberation; but rhat is the resurtof speciarcircumstances,.probabry
much previousexperience in moving through hyper-comprex
"cosmoporitan"networks,'rogerhe.
*ith
many ups and downs in the power/acceprance
(sratus)tlimensions.
4. I am leavingasidecomplexitieson the physiological
level, where several
different componentsof hormonar and
neura. ,rr,.*, are apparenrryinvorvea.
In
physiologygenerally,specificsrates
of.rno,ion"r arousalare due more to
rhe
barancebetweenvarioussysrems
rather than to the activationof some
systemby itserf.
see also Frijda (1986:19) on both simple
and.orno,"* varieries.f depression.
5' Kemper'stheory has rhe additionar
complicationthat he postulares
anger
(as well_as shame)resultingfrom
situarion,in ,uhi.h an acrorfeer.s
he/sheis shortchangedin sratus'vis--vissomeone
erse-Thar is, Kemperdearswith the
more
complicaredsituation of comparisons
be*veen rhe starusone thinks oneserf(and
someoneelse)ought to get, and what
they accuaryger. I preferto begin rhe
expranation from a simplerand, I believe,
more fundamenralprocess:the emotions
that
derivefrom dominatingor beingdominated,
b.i;; , memberor a nonmember.The
Kempertheory adds not onry expectarions
rru* io., experience,but arsoa morar
judgment as to the propriety
of th.. out.orn" .orriprr.d ro some valued
idear. The
two theoriesmay be congruent, in rhe folrowing
respects.r proposethar experrences
in powersituations,and in status-membership
situarions,resultin.increases
.r decreases
in em.tionar energy.EE itserfinvorves
expecrari.nsfor futuresiruations;but
the lR mechanisms,which produceEA
i" tf,. ftrri oln..,
., i" ro*1, nrl,_..,f",
mechanismsof emotionarpro,Juction.
Emotionar..,..gy "r.,
b".o*es an ingredienrin
allowingfururesiruationsto occur, and
in determiningtheir emotionarourcomes.
The expecrarions rhat a1 im.n11ant
in Kemper,s model may be regarded
as
situationally-specircic
arousarsof EE. Kempert t'h.ury seems
to me to explain a
second-order
quality of enrorions,thoserhat arisefrom
viorationor c.nfirmati.n ot

- _*-*-",,!...giT.EI-1

54

Emotions and Social Macro Processes

exDecrations.Both typesof mechanismsmay be operating in the samesituation, for

i.,rt"nce, there can be depressionfrom non-acceptancein a status group (my hypothesis of first-order effects), and anger from one's assessmentof this noneffects).
acceptanceas unjust (Kemperi second-<lrder
Kenrperaddsfurther complexities,includingthe attribution as to the agent
responsiblefor che experience(one's self, orher persons,impers6nalforces). I would
suggestthat thesecognitionsthemselvesare explainable(at least in part), by the
Durkheimiantheory of social density (including Douglas'1966, 1973,"grid" and
"group" model). Blaming oneselfonly occtrrswhen there is a relativelydifferentiated group srrucrureproducingcategoriesof individual agencyand responsibility;
blamingimpersonalforces(e.g. magic)or tabooviolations,are culturalactionsgen'
Thus, an individual'sprior experience
eratedby particularkinds of groupsrrucrures.
in living within particular kinds of network structuresshould affect what agency
they perceiveas operativein their immediatesituations,and will shape specific
emotions along the lines Kemper proposes.
6. Notice that dominant individtralsmay deliberatelyprovokeweakerpersons
to becomeangry, for example, the game of trading insultsfound among youth gangs
(at one tirne called "the dirty dozens").This is a game to humiliateweak persons,
who are goaded into expressinganger, but are unable to back it up by a show of
physicaldominance.This is playingon the underlyingprinciplethat strongpersons
keep their cocrl;when they do rise to anger, they expressit in such a powerful fornr
as to drasticallypenalizeanyonewho is its victim.
7. Thus crying, like anger,tendsto occur in a relatively"realistic"manner;
in sicuationsin which it has a chanceof accomplishing
it is mosr often expressed
its end.

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