Sociology Of Emotions Research Articles

Transnational logic of gratitude: Marriage migrants’ narratives on marital satisfaction in South Korea

Scholarship on marriage migrants has examined the impact of class and gender ideology of receiving countries on their marital satisfaction. However, little is known about the role of transnational background in explaining women’s feelings of gratitude for husbands. Drawing on qualitative in-depth interviews with marriage migrant women residing in the eastern side of Seoul, Korea, this article explores the micro-level cognitive processes in understanding women’s gratitude for their husbands. Categorizing marriage migrants into two groups, ‘gratified’ and ‘ungratified’ wives, the author demonstrates how the gratified wives’ feelings of contentment is mediated by their active comparison of Korean husbands with local men in their homelands, and how these viewpoints conversely affect their aspirations for return. Bringing the sociology of emotion into an explanation of marriage migrants’ marital satisfaction, this study aims to develop a transnational frame of reference as an underlying dynamic for comprehending marriage migrants’ (in)gratitude.

From self-censorship to contention: Shame triggered participation in the 2013 Gezi Protests

Focusing on journalists’ professional behaviors during the 2013 Gezi Protests in Turkey, this article offers a theoretical framework for understanding the transformation of inertia into contentious action. Accordingly, the emotion of shame triggers contention when it is experienced with a contingent event that generates hope for change. In Turkey, journalists working in the mainstream media extensively practiced self-censorship before the 2013 Gezi Protests and felt ashamed of themselves. This feeling became a trigger for joining public protests, resigning and/or producing non-compliant news stories when Gezi offered them an opportunity for social change. This argument builds on the sociology of emotions and events, and is inductively derived from 20 in-depth interviews conducted with journalists. The article presents the social context in which shame arises and the place of this emotion in generating contention. Through this research, the Gezi Protests assert their continuing relevance for understanding the relationship between repression and contention, especially in countries hit by the current wave of authoritarianism.

The Sociology of Emotions in Latin America

This article discusses how the sociology of emotions in Latin America, a recently established field of knowledge still in the process of institutionalization, first developed between 2000 and 2019. Research in this period focused on six wide-ranging and heterogeneous thematic areas: ( a) social change, sociability and emotions; ( b) social movements and feelings; ( c) gender, generations, affectivity and care; ( d) migration and emotions; ( e) work, affectivity and emotions; and ( f) theoretical reflections and analytical propositions. Critical evaluation of the field has uncovered three areas of analytical tension that impede its consolidation: disciplinary boundary-setting (sociology, sociology and anthropology of the emotions, philosophy), analytical perspectives (sociological, sociocultural, philosophical), and the object of research (emotions, emotions and the body, the body and emotions), all of which have implications for social research.

Divide and Conquer: Social Assistance Clients’ Competing Frames of Social Justice

Like many other countries, the Netherlands have witnessed increasing conditionality regarding the right to social assistance. To date, research paid little attention to how recipients themselves experience (in)justice in an increasingly conditional policy landscape. Based on 53 interviews with recipients, we distinguish three different ways of framing social assistance: as a right, a transaction, or a gift. Each frame gives way to particular ideas about social justice, legitimates different feelings and leads to othering of fellow social assistance recipients. Bringing together insights from the sociology of emotions and social justice literature, the article empirically shows the diversity of ideas and feelings regarding social justice, illuminates the role of framing and feeling rules in the process, and argues that increased conditionality produces steep divisions that undermine in-group solidarity.

The Social Roots of Suicide: Theorizing How the External Social World Matters to Suicide and Suicide Prevention.

The past 20 years have seen dramatic rises in suicide rates in the United States and other countries around the world. These trends have been identified as a public health crisis in urgent need of new solutions and have spurred significant research efforts to improve our understanding of suicide and strategies to prevent it. Unfortunately, despite making significant contributions to the founding of suicidology – through Emile Durkheim’s classic Suicide (1897/1951) – sociology’s role has been less prominent in contemporary efforts to address these tragic trends, though as we will show, sociological theories offer great promise for advancing our understanding of suicide and improving the efficacy of suicide prevention. Here, we review sociological theory and empirical research on suicide. We begin where all sociologists must: with Durkheim. However, we offer a more comprehensive understanding of Durkheim’s insights into suicide than the prior reviews provided by those in other disciplines. In so doing, we reveal the nuance and richness of Durkheim’s insights that have been largely lost in modern suicidology, despite being foundational to all sociological theories of suicide – even those that have moved beyond his model. We proceed to discuss broadly acknowledged limitations to Durkheim’s theory of suicide and review how more recent theoretical efforts have not only addressed those concerns, but have done so by bringing a larger swatch of sociology’s theoretical and empirical toolkit to bare on suicide. Specifically, we review how recent sociological theories of suicide have incorporated insights from social network theories, cultural sociology, sociology of emotions, and sociological social psychology to better theorize how the external social world matters to individual psychological pain and suffering. We conclude by making explicit bridges between sociological and psychological theories of suicide; by noting important limitations in knowledge about suicide – particularly regarding the roles of organizations, inequality, and intersectionality in suicide – that sociology is well situated to help address.

Intimacy, home, and emotions in the era of the pandemic.

While much of the sociological scholarship on intimacy has been understood in the normative sense of foregrounding and supporting human closeness, this article points to the role intimacy has as a sociological concept to better understand regulatory ties between the subject and the institution. While subject and institution are treated by modernity as distinct entities, separated by the boundary between private and the public, the article elucidates their mutual engagements by reviewing the work on intimacy in the sociology of emotions. Discussing the scholarship on intimacy from this perspective enables us to understand private suffering as a social problem linked to the collective recognition of subjective feelings. To illustrate the point, the article briefly reflects the public discourse on home upended by world‐wide stay‐at‐home orders to contain the spread of coronavirus disease 2019. While this article neither analyzes these orders, nor judges their legitimacy, it takes the particular situation as a chance to review the sociological discussion on the emotional boundaries of home, foregrounding the concept of intimacy. Intimacy is presented as a key sociological category for understanding collective recognition of people's emotions, which impacts the way emotions are seen as relevant and legitimate in public discussions of social problems.

Measuring happiness in the social sciences: An overview

Social needs are universal and their fulfilment is considered to be a prerequisite for happiness and well-being. Currently, the assertion that income or revenue alone are insufficient to explain inequality of well-being and happiness in the evaluation of social policies is becoming ever more widespread in the social sciences. Therefore, numerous quantitative metrics mostly based on univariable scales have been created over the last sixty years to measure well-being, quality of life, or happiness. Based on a systematic review, this article compiles several measurement instruments of happiness and human well-being, and reflects that all of them measure and concentrate more on hedonic than eudaimonic happiness. Finally, it contemplates the need to develop a multidimensional model based on the sociology of emotions that includes social relationships and the complexity of human happiness, focusing more on eudaimonic rather than hedonic happiness.

Capricious credibility – legal assessments of voluntariness in Swedish negligent rape judgements

ABSTRACT A new rape legislation, premised on the requirement of voluntariness, entered into force in Sweden during 2018. This article examines the application and interpretation of voluntariness in Swedish negligent rape judgements with a unique combination of the theoretical perspectives’ sociology of emotion and feminist-legal studies. The material consists of 12 court judgements, from the period 2018–2020, analysed by means of thematic content analysis. The findings show that the judgements in negligent rape cases are based on an evaluation of credibility, supported by evidence that consists of witness statements. These evaluations entail emotions and stereotypes about gender and sexuality, pertaining to rape myths – leading to inconsistent outcomes. Yet, some fundamental assumptions about gender and sexuality are challenged, indicating that the new law may invite discursive shifts and enhanced reflexivity in legal reasoning. The findings are valuable in the work to minimize legal discrimination and secure equality before the law.

Simmel, the Emotions and the Tragic Nature of the Love Bond

The aim of this essay is to analyze the sociological study of emotions produced by Georg Simmel, with specific attention to the concept of love. The article is structured as follows: in the first part, what could be defined as ‘Simmel's sociology of emotions’ is presented through a descriptive and interpretative analysis of the constructed social theory; in the second part, the focus shifts to love as emotion, emphasizing its tragic character within the construction and destruction of the social bond. Finally, in the third part, a comparison with the sociological analysis of love produced by two contemporary researchers such as Eva Illouz – love as a result of the dynamics conveyed by ‘emotional capitalism’ – and Danilo Martuccelli – love as an ‘emotional imperative’ of contemporary daily life - will be produced. The common thread of the entire essay is exactly the tragic character of the emotion of love, which allows both the construction and the destruction of the social bond, through an ambivalent interactional game that seems to have no end.

Fear and retrotopia – Critical reflections on the rise of defensive emotions in liquid modernity

This article critically addresses the contemporary study of what is called 'defensive emotions' such as fear and nostalgia among a number of social theorists. While it may be true that the collective emotions of fear and nostalgia (here framed by the phrase of 'retrotopia') may indeed be on the rise in Western liberal democracies, it is also important to be wary of taking the literature on the matter as a sign that fear and nostalgia actually permeate all levels of culture and everyday life. The article starts out with some reflections on the sociology of emotions and shows how the early interest in emotions (theoretical and empirical) among a small group of sociologists is today supplemented with the rise of a critical social theory using collective emotions as a lens for conducting a critical analysis of the times. Then the article in turn deals with the contemporary interest within varuious quarters of the social sciences with describing, analysing and diagnosing the rise of what is here called 'defensive emotions' – emotions that express and symbolize a society under attack and emotions that are mostly interpreted as negative signs of the times. This is followed by some reflections on the collective emotions of fear and nostalgia/retrotopia respectively. The article is concluded with a discussion of how we may understand and assess this relatively new interest in defensive emotions.

Eros and Modernity: Georg Simmel on Love

The text below was originally published under the name “Eros and Modernity: Simmel on Love” in: The Sociology of Emotions: Original Essays and Research Paper. Franks, D.D. and E. Doyle McCarthy (ed.). Greenwich, CT: JAI press, 1989, pp. 229-247. In the words of its author, the text was written at a time when he was intensely engaged with Simmel, working on his philosophy of history and his hermeneutics. Today, Guy Oakes revisits this text and allows Simmel Studies Journal to republish it for this special issue on love. The text explores in its first part the defining characteristics of erotic love according to Simmel: individuality, reciprocity, immediacy and radicalism. In the second part he concentrates on modernity and how it has had an impact on love relationships.

Emotion as creative practice: Linking creativity and wellbeing through the history and sociology of emotion

This article draws on recent developments in the history of emotion and the sociology of creativity to argue that emotions themselves may be viewed as creative practices. After an initial, broad overview of key historical and epistemological complexities in emotions research, it describes a framework for understanding emotion (and the history of emotion) proposed by Monique Scheer (2012), which is grounded in the practice theory of French sociologist Pierre Bourdieu. In Scheer’s view, emotions should not be viewed as fundamentally internal physiological or psychological states, but as the practices to which those states are inextricably linked, and by which they are mobilized, named, communicated and regulated. The article then describes a sociological framework for understanding creativity proposed by Janet Chan (2016), which is also underpinned by Bourdieu’s practice theory, and which posits that creativity is an inherent feature of all social action and may generate social change via institutionalized cultural practice or cultural revolt, the latter of which may itself take at least three forms. It then links Scheer’s and Chan’s frameworks together, explaining how, from this sociological perspective, emotions can be understood as creative practices, as embodied acts of thinking performed in habituated ways and which themselves generate change by doing different types of creative work. It proposes a new four-part framework for categorizing emotions as creative practices, based on Chan’s framework for creativity: 1) emotion as institutionalized cultural practice; 2) emotion as cultural edgework; 3) emotion as cultural transcendence; and 4) emotion as cultural transformation. It concludes by suggesting that this framework provides an original and useful way of explaining the role of emotion in generating social and historical change, and of explaining the link between creativity and wellbeing from a sociological perspective.

Families, Relational Scenarios and Emotions in the Time of the COVID-19 Pandemic

This paper will focus on the impact that the COVID-19 emergency and the policies and decisions taken to deal with it (mostly lockdown and social distancing) have had on interpersonal relationships. In particular, it will explore the changes and relational scenarios which have emerged within the patterns of daily family life in the context of a temporary social deprivation caused by the pandemic. To explore this topic, the following contribution will draw on the most recent scientific literature on the COVID-19 pandemic and its effects moving within the theoretical framework of the sociology of emotions. The paper will also discuss how the exploration of emotional life, given its relational nature, can offer interesting sociological reflections on the consequences of COVID-19 on individuals’ perceptions of others and, in doing so, can also suggest new research paths to follow.

Humiliation, Resistance and State Violence: Using the Sociology of Emotions to Understand Institutional Violence Against Women and Girls and Their Acts of Resistance

This article examines the relationship between state violence in the form of practices aimed to humiliate and acts of resistance to these practices. Focusing on the experiences of women and girls in the Parramatta Female Factory (1804–1848), Parramatta Girls’ Training School and Hay Institution for Girls (1950–1974), we suggest that the practices used to govern women and girls can be read as attempts at humiliation—to degrade and denounce an individual’s entire subjectivity as being unworthy. We argue that while shame can be the basis for reintegration, humiliation leads to other responses, including at an individual level, reclaiming one’s status as being of worth, and at the level of social action through movements that reclaim group status and invert the direction of who has morally transgressed.

Embracing the emotional turn: responding to researchers’ emotions

This article examines the role of researchers’ emotions when researching sensitive topics. Drawing on two different ethnographic research projects, experiences of imprisonment and hate crime victimisation, respectively, we reflect on the important role that our emotions occupied within the research context. Within the framework of sociology of emotions, we discuss our subjective experiences of qualitative research with prisoners and victims of hate crime. We actively celebrate the work by Bondi (2005) and offer an extended discussion on the value of using emotions as important methodological tools that should be used as part of the methodological and analytical process. We employ the concept of the ‘emotional turn’ to emphasise the importance of researcher emotions in ethnographic work, and the value of those emotions in guiding methodological and ethical decision making. Specifically, we use envy, guilt and shame – three key emotions that we both experienced and utilised throughout our independently conducted research projects – to illustrate how and why emotions are important for guiding decision making in research. The particular emotions centred here (envy, guilt, and shame) are not tied to hard-to-reach groups or sensitive topics; rather, emotionally engaged research is important as all researchers need to understand how their emotions could/should shape their methodological choices. The article concludes by assessing the value and challenges of embracing the emotional turn, and offers some methodological guidance for future researchers. Within this we raise important questions about the universality of emotions experienced during research. We tentatively conclude that research work does trigger shared emotive responses.

Emotion management of disaster volunteers: the delicate balance between control and recognition

Authorities always need help in disaster situations, and in line with the current trend of community resilience, they see support from active citizens as a promising solution. However, the uncontrolled inflow of spontaneous volunteers and other resources into a disaster area poses serious dilemmas for professional responders. The uniqueness of this study lies in its approach to authorities’ management of spontaneous volunteers from the perspective of the sociology of emotions. Drawing on an interactionist perspective of emotions, the objective is to deepen our understanding of how and why professional responders use interpersonal emotion management in interactions with spontaneous volunteers during disasters. We discuss this issue in relation to a specific disaster operation. Building on findings from interviews with personnel from the fire and rescue services, key officials and volunteers involved in the management of a large-scale forest fire in Sweden, we show that professionals’ emotion management in interactions with volunteers requires a balance between the control and recognition of volunteer activities. Specific emotion management techniques and an overarching rule about expressing gratitude to spontaneous volunteers are identified and discussed in relation to the professionals’ rationale for their emotion management. We argue that emotion management is a crucial aspect of the interaction between professionals and volunteers, with important implications for disaster management and the legitimacy of the authorities in the eyes of citizens.

The sociology of emotions of the protest action of Iranians on 28 December 2017

ABSTRACT Emotions are an undeniable reality of human life. Many of the behaviours of individuals, as well as social movements and collective actions are driven by emotional stimuli. This article studies the emotional aspects of ‘The Protest of Iranians on 28 December 2017’ and focuses on the question ‘Why did the Iranians emotional protest turn into violence?’ Using the theoretical approach of ‘sociology of emotions’ and the ‘descriptive-analytical’ method, the hypothesis is that ‘the embedded backgrounds and interpretations, which led to generating disturbances and emotional reconsidering of citizens, nurtured anti-system emotions and, finally unfettered such angry emotions, the results of which brought about so many consequences’. Data were collected in three methods of documentary, observation and speech research. The findings show that the economic, social, political and cultural conditions in Iran have caused emotional transformation in part of the society so that the long-term emotional frameworks entailing the survival of the system such as loyalty, affection, and temperance were replaced by a new emotional system consisting of anger, hatred, aversion and alienation. Consequently, some people expressed their anger blatantly and were not worried about liberation being banned and anti-regime emotions because they had nothing to lose except breaking the chain of poverty and social exclusion.

Emociónese en Grindr: tecnologías, afectos y subjetividades en Sudor, de Alberto Fuguet

Este trabajo propone un análisis de la novela Sudor (2016), del chileno Alberto Fuguet, atendiendo al diálogo que se establece entre sus estrategias narrativas, que incluyen la inserción de capturas textovisuales, y los nuevos modelos afectivos que determinan las relaciones en la era del capitalismo avanzado. La sociología de las emociones y las humanidades digitales sirven de sustento teórico para explorar la reinvención de las claves retóricas propias de la poética de Fuguet de acuerdo con la configuración de nuevas subjetividades en el siglo xxi. Se aplican, en esta dirección, las últimas teorías del afecto en el seno de la cultura digital y del “amor líquido” (Bauman) con el fin de demostrar que los ritmos del presente se manifiestan tanto en la propia construcción del discurso narrativo como en las nuevas velocidades afectivas que definen las relaciones entre los personajes. Así pues, se concluye que el empleo de la tecnología, en tanto recurso temático y formal, opera en Sudor como herramienta crítica para cuestionar los cambios que el paradigma digital ha generado en el desarrollo de las subjetividades.

Sowing in tears, reaping with joy: The power of joy in missional thinking

This chapter offers an invitation to embrace a missiology of joy that reflects the contexts and cultures of emerging missional leaders in the global south. As a way to deconstruct western cultural values of colonial missions, an emerging missiological enterprise from the Latin American context must be liberated from western values of productivity at the expense of relationships and embodied liturgy. A brief introduction to the “sociology of emotions” and participant observation will demonstrate the social nature of joy and how significant it becomes when detached from individualistic connotations, and imposed biases. Thus, a missiology of joy that is embodied in the communal engagement of women and indigenous leaders will open new pathways of missiological thinking and practice ready to challenge the positivism of western missions and, in solidarity, embrace the suffering of the land and its people with the joy of the gospel.

Positive Sociology: Supporting Systemic Social Strengths and Solidarity

Sociology has historically focused on negative social interactions and social problems, leaving all but silent positive social interactions, until very recently. This paper discusses concepts about “positive sociology” originally introduced by Robert Stebbins. Positive sociology is a relatively new field within academia that is lending itself to a deeper understanding of positive social interaction while maintaining focus on social strengths. Positive sociology readjusts the focus of the discipline and integrates ideas about positive emotions, volunteerism, charity, altruism, humanitarian action, and positive psychology. Social interactions may be prioritized by sensations of positivity; motivations for positive social action are additionally reviewed. Sociology of emotion is considered for its involvement in the formation of well-being; Sociology of leisure is discussed for its influence in uncoerced volunteer activities. Qualitative and quantitative studies are considered for evidential reference and methodological suggestions. Because this academic field is still young, it was found that additional analysis is required to determine how we can study social strengths. The inspiration for social action in positive interpersonal relations is currently weighed by indistinct variables that demand further research in existing data; a multi-disciplinary method of research is proposed for this cause. If we were to understand how we positively interact with each other, especially when we work together for a greater good, and how these interactions encourage us to feel good in and about the world we live in, it could increase the desire to act selflessly, promote positive social change, as well as support and inform additional theories and research within sociology and other social science disciplines.