Interaction Ritual Chains Research Articles

ONLINE NETWORKS AND EMOTIONAL ENERGY

There has been a great deal of social theory written about how groups form and affect members in the offline world, but less research about how online groups can affect the behaviors and identity of the individuals who choose to participate in them. Pro-anorexia, or pro-ana, websites have been shown to have an effect on those individuals who participate in and/or view them by previous research, but previous research is inconsistent or lacking concerning the reason(s) for that effect. This study analyzes qualitative data gathered from 22 pro-ana websites over 18 months, and suggests how Collins' theory of interaction ritual chains can be extended to understand how those who participate in those websites generate emotional energy to aid them in identifying with being pro-anorexic and continue with this identity. This theory states that four initiating conditions (the ability to assemble, common linguistic and behavioral norms, and a shared focus of attention) create a boundary to outsiders, which then allows for the formation of a social group through an interaction ritual chain. This creation of an ‘in-group’ allows for the generation of emotional energy and group solidarity, which cements identity as a ‘pro-ana’ individual in an established pro-ana network. Overall, this paper argues that the extension of this theory to online social situations and the consequent understanding of the presence of this network may have implications for the understanding of how online homophilous social networks affect embedded individuals and how existing theory about social interactions can be adapted to apply to online interactions.

Emotion, Ritual, and the Individual: The Production of Community in Evangelicalism*

This paper asks about the production of religious community in modern society: How can the success of a strict Evangelical community in a secularized environment be explained? To find an answer to this question, an approach to emotion based on Randall Collins’ interaction ritual chain theory is applied to data from participant observation in an Evangelical church in Switzerland. The weekly service as a highly orchestrated event characterized by a mutual focus and rhythmic entrainment imbues the communal symbols with emotions and plausibility. Through ritual interaction, three potentially disruptive communal tensions are transformed into solidarity: (1) highly transcendent theological concepts are translated into a simplified form which can be ritualized and gain immanence in the ritual actions of the participants; (2) the Evangelical emphasis on the individual and its religious decision on the semantic side are structurally transformed into the confirmation and reproduction of the community; (3) through the collectively shared emotions the potentially disruptive individual tendency towards immediate emotional gratification becomes aligned with the norms of the community.

Interaction Ritual Chains and Religious Participation1

This article explores congregational‐level influences on religious participation by adding a distinctively sociological approach to the debate through the application of Collins’s interaction ritual chain theory—a reinterpretation and integration of Durkheim and Goffman—at a congregational level of analysis. Arguing that the congregational worship service can be understood as an interaction ritual, this article offers an initial exploration of the role of effective ritual in increasing religious participation rates. Using the National Congregation Study (1998) data set, the findings from the multiple regression analysis offer support for both interaction ritual chains and religious economies predictors on a congregational attendance ratio.

Mutual halo effects in cultural production: the case of modernist architecture

Previous research has suggested that in cultural production fields the concatenation of eminence explains success, defined as influence and innovation. We propose that individuals in fields as diverse as philosophy, literature, mathematics, painting, or architecture gain visibility by cumulating the eminence of others connected to them across and within generations. We draw on interaction ritual chain and social movement theories, and use evidence from the field of modernist architecture, to formulate a model of how networks of very strong ties generate motivations and emotional enthusiasm, change reputations, and form collective movements that over time transform the structure of cultural fields. Because major aesthetic innovations break sharply with older styles, they need very strong group solidarity over a long period of time to propagate a new standard of practice. We propose mutual halo effects, i.e., the reciprocal reinforcement of upstream and downstream prestige on a given individual node, as the key factor accounting for success in a cultural production field. We discuss the relevance of these results for building a model of influence and innovation in cultural production fields in which networks—reshaped by shifting technological, political, and economic conditions—trigger new styles.

Building a Sustainable Model of Human Energy in Organizations: Exploring the Critical Role of Resources

This article makes the critical role that the construct of energy plays in motivation research and reviews six literatures related to human energy in a work context: (1) conservation of resources, (2) attention restoration theory, (3) ego-depletion theory, (4) energetic activation, (5) interaction ritual chain, and (6) self-determination theory. We clarify definitions of human energy, show how they are related to constructs like flow, motivation, and resources, and show how ideas related to energy can be integrated across these literatures. We use the literatures to build and integrative model of human energy in organizations. The model captures the dynamics of human energy, demonstrates how energy can be both a scarce and an abundant resource, integrates resources and resourcing into the model, and how motivation needs to account for the creation of resources as well as the use of resources. We also use the model to provide insights into important future research in this area.

The Form and Function of “Bullying” Behaviors in a Strong Occupational Culture

The study examines the persistence of bullying in a high-teamwork environment using self-categorization theory (SCT) and interaction ritual chain theory (IRCT). Findings from a qualitative study suggest that “isolation” is the key behavior police officers label as bullying and that other behaviors thought of as bullying may be tolerated, providing there is no exclusion. IRCT clarified the dynamics, whereas SCT explained the motivation for engaging in rituals containing behaviors that included bullying. The study posits a new framework for bullying in high-pressured teams and accounts for the tolerance to “bullying” behaviors in such work environments. Implications for addressing workplace bullying in these contexts are discussed.

The ‘friendship dynamics of religion,’ or the ‘religious dynamics of friendship’? A social network analysis of adolescents who attend small schools

Longitudinal social network data on adolescents in seven schools are analyzed to reach a new understanding about how the personal and interpersonal social dimensions of adolescent religion intertwine together in small school settings. We primarily address two issues relevant to the sociology of religion and sociology in general: (1) social selection as a source of religious homophily and (2) friend socialization of religion. Analysis results are consistent with Collins’ interaction ritual chain theory, which stresses the social dimensions of religion, since network–religion autocorrelations are relatively substantial in magnitude and both selection and socialization mechanisms play key roles in generating them. Results suggest that socialization plays a stronger role than social selection in four of six religious outcomes, and that more religious youth are more cliquish. Implications for our understanding of the social context of religion, religious homophily, and the ways we model religious influence, as well as limitations and considerations for future research, are discussed.

Ritualized Interaction for the Advancement of Children's National Identification in Hong Kong

Both ongoing practice and the theory of interaction ritual chains imply the significance of the contribution that ritual makes to group solidarity, such as national identification. This contribution is in need of empirical examination as in this study, which surveyed 1,788 schoolchildren in Hong Kong, a special administrative region of China. The results show that, controlling for earlier national identification behavior (within the previous year) and other predictors, ritualized interaction in an activity for national cause (within the previous 6 months) manifested both linear and quadratic positive effects on current national identification sentiment. The effect was stronger for children who previously displayed lower national identification behavior. These results favor the use of ritual to promote national identification.

Emotions and Interaction Ritual: A Micro Analysis of Restorative Justice

Restorative justice has long been touted as an effective and popular alternative to mainstream justice. While most research on the subject measures outcomes and satisfaction after the event, this study uses a video recording of a restorative justice conference to analyse at the micro level the emotional and interactional dynamics at work in transforming an initial situation of anger and anxiety into one marked by displays of solidarity between victim and offender. It develops Collins’ theory of interaction ritual chains to code the gradual emergence of a successful interaction by analysis of facial expressions, verbal cues, gestures and interactional dynamics.

Interaction Ritual Chains and the Mobilization of Conscientious Consumers

Markets for “socially responsible” products are comprised of activists who lead protests, organize boycotts, and promote the consumption of these goods. However, the ultimate success of these movements is dependent upon the support of a large number of consumers whose self-professed values often contradict with their own purchasing patterns. Consumer support of socially responsible products cannot be explained by consumer culture theories, which privilege identity, attitudes, and behavior, or mass consumption theories, which emphasize location and advertising’s influence on consumption patterns. These perspectives are informative but unable to explain why some consumers will only buy socially responsible products while others with similar value systems possess much more contradictory consumption patterns. I extend Collin’s theory of “Interaction Ritual chains” to show that rituals and emotions—more than identity or coercive advertising—explain how ethical consumers are mobilized. I show how face-to-face interactions between consumers and producers produce solidarity and motivate support for the Fair Trade movement. This paper employs a micro-sociological approach to contribute to studies of ethical consumption in three notable ways: 1) it emphasizes the importance of “contexts” and is able to explain contradictions in consumer behavior; 2), it contributes to our understanding of “brand communities” by describing the micro-sociological processes that both help to build these communities and create value within the products that organize these groups; and 3) it offers the potential to develop a predictive model for the purchasing patterns of consumers.

The Window of Ritual: Seeing the Intentions and Emotions of ‘Doing’ Gender

My goal in this paper is to revisit interaction ritual theory as a theoretical underpinning of West and Zimmerman’s ‘doing’ gender paradigm in order to develop a more nuanced understanding of what is taking place inside the interactions of men and women as they ‘do’ gender. Recent work in ritual theory, specifically the work of Bell (Ritual theory, ritual practice, 1992) and Collins (Interaction ritual chains, 2004) expands the role of the individual in the ritual process by conceptualizing ritual as a form of ‘practice’ that can be mobilized in the pursuit of emotional energy. Through the narratives of 24 married couples, I explore how domestic labor functions as an interaction ritual that is driven by ‘emotional energy’. This emotional energy shapes the localized intentions of men and women as they ‘do’ gender thus transforming gender into something that we ‘use’ as well as ‘do’. These emotions and intentions can be seen most clearly through a new ‘window’ of ritual.

Pentecostal Networks and the Spirit of Globalization: On the Social Productivity of Ritual Forms

Pentecostal Christianity has in the last several decades demonstrated an ability to globalize with great speed and to flourish in social contexts of poverty and disorganization in which other social institutions have been unable to sustain themselves. This article asks why Pentecostalism should be so successful at institution building in harsh environments. I argue that this question is more fundamental than those scholars more often ask about the kinds of compensations that Pentecostalism provides for its adherents. I then draw on Collins's theory of interaction ritual chains to suggest that it is Pentecostalism's promotion of ritual to the center of social life that grounds its unusual institution-building capacity.

Feminist Scholarship in International Relations and the Politics of Disciplinary Emotion

The article engages with the relationship between feminist scholarship and the discipline of International Relations. Taking a step back from the recurrent concerns with marginality and those with the absent feminist revolution in IR, we recast the problem of the complicated ménage between feminism and the field of IR as a case of a failure to love. Drawing on the sociology of thinking of Randall Collins and his theory of interaction ritual chains, we read the logic of practice in intellectual fields as one rooted in emotion. In this framework, we theorize citation practices as bearing the trace of intellectuals' emotion-loaded coalitions of the mind. The article maps out the intellectual coalitions in IR with respect to the feminist question by reconstructing the citation networks emerging from the special issue of Millennium, published in 1988 on 'Women in IR'. The maps we put together are read as snapshots of the emotional economy of IR, allowing further reflection about the status of feminist scholarship in IR, about intellectual creativity and about change and stasis in our discipline. We conclude that it is IR which is in trouble, not feminists, with regard to creative potential. Feminists are not marginal in or to IR; instead they are part of a ring of creativity connecting the emotional energies of different disciplinary fields.

Old Paths and New Directions: Studying Emotions in the Workplace

AbstractThe study of emotions in the workplace is a vibrant area of research that has grown considerably over the last 25 years. This research has traveled far, but it has not run its course. This article maps the different paths that have been explored, beginning with Hochschild's classic work on emotional labor in the form of surface and deep acting, and charts new directions for future research. We start by reviewing the literature on emotional labor and emotion management in the workplace. Next, we discuss new theoretical developments in the sociology of emotions – interaction ritual chain theory, theories of identity and affect control, and theories about power, status, and exchange – and their potential utility for understanding emotions at work. Finally, we discuss new methodological directions that can be pursued in future research on emotions in work and organizational settings.

Reconsidering Schumpeterian opportunities: the contribution of interaction ritual chain theory

PurposeThe purpose of this article is to develop a conceptual framework that recognises the significance of emotional and interactional factors in shaping the development and enactment of entrepreneurial opportunities.Design/methodology/approachProvides a theory development illustrated through a case study based on secondary sources.FindingsDemonstrates how emotion and interaction ritual chains can extend the scope of entrepreneurial theorising.Research limitations/implicationsSuggests how novel concepts could be deployed to add explanatory power to accounts of entrepreneurial behaviour.Practical implicationsSuggests new approaches to spotting potential entrepreneurial opportunities.Originality/valueEmotion has received little attention from entrepreneurship researchers. This paper offers one way of filling this gap by developing a strand of microsociological theory that has not previously been applied to the explanation of entrepreneurial behaviour.

Freud and Interaction Ritual: A Response to Manning

This is a nice review, but the editor has given me some pages to expand on a topic that Philip Manning only briefly mentions—the place of Freud in contemporary microsociology. Parsons and other sociologists used Freud chiefly as a theory of the superego, that is, to explain socialization and morality. On the other side, Dennis Wrong and others argued against the oversocialized conception by stressing the id. Some post-structuralist theorists (including many feminists) have used Freud for a theory of the self, especially gendered selves. I submit that interaction ritual (IR) chain theory covers the ground that Freud covers but does it in a more adequate fashion. We no longer need Freud’s model of superego for a theory of socialization or a theory of the self. In part, the Meadian tradition provides a mechanism of socialization—the generalized other (and its ancillary particularized others). The advantage of Freud was that he pointed to the emotional aspects of interaction, where Mead is more strictly cognitive. IR theory combines the two, showing that the generalized other emerges from microprocesses of mutual attention focus and emotional entrainment in infancy and early childhood. Moreover, the interactionist model has the advantage of showing how socialization or internalization is lifelong. Conversation experiences—whether religious, political, career, even friendship and erotic—happen whenever there is a highintensity interactual ritual. This is the kind of thing that Freud, as an early pioneer, pointed to long ago (in his model of trauma), but we now have a more generalized and flexible mechanism. Moreover, the neo-Durkheimian microtheory of rituals provides a theory of morality that is more open to historical and personal variations than Freud’s punitive superego. Another of Freud’s historical legacies was to emphasize unconscious mental processes. We have advanced on this front as well. Sociologists like Norbert Wiley and Margaret Archer have shown that we can study the inner self empirically, by studying interior dialogue. This is at least halfway to Freud’s unconscious, and it gives us some explicit criteria for describing the degree to which something is conscious: how articulate it is an interior dialogue. I have tried to show (in chapter 4 of Interaction Ritual Chains ) in reanalyzing some of Wiley’s data, and some of my REVIEW ESSAY

Book Review: Interaction Ritual Chains

Book Review: Interaction Ritual Chains

Micro Social Orders

Micro Social Orders

Getting comfortable with the numbers: Auditing and the micro-production of macro-order

Field observations of two audit engagements are used to interpret auditing as a ritual which transforms the financial statements of corporate management from an inherently untrustworthy state into a form that the auditors and the public can be comfortable with. The analysis draws on Collins' theory of interaction ritual chains ( American Journal of Sociology, 1981, pp. 984–1014) to create an interpretative theory of auditing which offers insights into both the micro-level interactions within the audit team and the macro-level role of auditing in the economic order.

Ethnomethodology and the Micro-Macro Order

Within the micro-macro debate, ethnomethodology is generally cast as microsociology. This is misleading given that ethnomethodology is indifferent to structure at any level. Instead, ethnomethodology transcends the terms of the debate with a focus on empirical social practices whereby both microstructure and macrostructure are produced by and for the membership. This is also true of conversation analysis. Modifying Collins's interaction ritual chains to include this indifference to structure expands ethnomethodological understanding as well as Collins's theory.