Abstract
Within the field of sociology there has been a long-standing tension between individual agency and social motivation. This historical disciplinary tension is evident in the scholarship on motives and motivations within sociological social psychology. In this chapter a review of scholarship on motivation and motives is made with consideration of key conceptual and methodological advances and approaches in these literatures. Mills’ (Am Sociol Rev 5(6):904–913, 1940) concept of vocabulary of motives is described extensively and the empirical applications of Mills’ vocabularies of motive framework reviewed. In this chapter, empirical applications of vocabularies of motive are explored and examined for relevance to situations of deviance, within relationships, and in social movements and social institutions. This chapter concludes with discussion of directions for future theoretical and empirical work on these topics. These topics include expanding methodological approaches, specific attention to the role of motive talk in creating a cohesive sense of self, attention to motive and motivation in prosocial behavior and wellness, attention to context, and finally, attention to how individuals interpret the motives of others.
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- 1.
- 2.
Freudians might call the motive talk studied by those working with the vocabulary of motives tradition rationalizations (see Lindesmith & Strauss, 1975 for discussion).
- 3.
- 4.
Murray is an example of a scholar who explicitly used the term motives to refer to what may now be considered motivations or motivators, as described in this chapter (broader, deeper, more general factors that serve to motivate).
- 5.
However, it should be noted that some individuals regulate their behavior according to their current dominant group and others to their aspirational group. Individuals who regulate to aspirational vocabularies may be ostracized within their current group.
- 6.
Festinger’s cognitive dissonance theory (1957) addresses the feelings individuals have when their behaviors do not align with their values or beliefs. In Festinger’s framework values are self-imposed. Mills’ vocabularies of motive concerns the influence of the Meadian concept of the generalized other (Mead, 1934, see Murphy, 2004 for discussion of Meads influence on Mills). Cognitive dissonance may also result when one cannot generate an acceptable motive for a desired behavior.
- 7.
Within the literature of the time, there was an emphasis on understanding motives and motivation pertaining exclusively to negative or deviant behaviors.
- 8.
Terms are not offered for conditions in which full responsibility is taken and the act is deemed wrong, as well as times when no responsibility is taken and the act is not deemed wrong.
- 9.
The extent to which the term disclaimers has been incorporated into popular jargon should be noted. In American culture individuals will commonly use the term disclaimer as they prepare to state information.
- 10.
Burke’s (1935) Permanence and Change.
- 11.
This framework of character addresses not only the individual’s actual self, but their aspirational or ideal self. Two frameworks in psychological social psychology also acknowledge the extent to which an alternate and specifically a desired, aspirational, ideal self can shape behavior. The first is Hazel and Markus’ theory of possible selves (Markus & Nurius, 1986, see also Markus & Nurius, 1987) which addresses positive and negative possible selves. The second, and perhaps more relevant, is self-discrepancy theory (Higgins, 1987) acknowledges the distinct existence of aspects of self: the ideal (who one would like to be), the actual (who one is), and the ought (who one should be).
- 12.
It is not being suggested that non-breastfeeding is deviant. However, the study is being included under the subheading of deviance because it concerns a behavior that (at least by the study participants) is considered less preferable.
- 13.
See also Weinstein (1976) for addition analysis related to vocabulary of motives and substance use.
- 14.
See also Oldman’s (1978) research on vocabularies of motive and gambling.
- 15.
- 16.
Allen and Tompkins (1996) apply the vocabularies of motive framework to examine the dissolution of relationship between a formal organization and employee and argue that marital dissolution vocabularies of motive are akin to those that are used within organizational settings as well under certain circumstances.
- 17.
Of note, this research employs the vocabularies of motive framework of Mills- including in its title- but at no point references Mills by name. A later publication by Bramham (1982) does not name Mills or the vocabulary of motives framework but explores how staff make interpretations of child behavior in an educational setting.
- 18.
In another study, Backman (2011b) describes the actual vocabularies of motive used by employers who check criminal records in the employee screening process.
- 19.
See Brody (1980) for a review of psychological perspectives on social motivation.
- 20.
See Benford and Snow (2000) for more extensive analysis of framing and vocabularies of motive.
- 21.
In completing this manuscript, the author elected to include this passage. This author later noted that entire passage was also quoted in Zurcher (1979). This is taken to reflect the value of this statement.
- 22.
See Jenkins (1966) for review of Peters’ conceptualization of motives.
- 23.
A prosocial examination of vocabularies of motive includes Crossley’s, 2006 analysis of motives for initiation and continuation of using a gym to workout.
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Franzese, A.T. (2013). Motivation, Motives, and Individual Agency. In: DeLamater, J., Ward, A. (eds) Handbook of Social Psychology. Handbooks of Sociology and Social Research. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-6772-0_10
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