Hello fellow classmates.
Sorry it took so long. The last couple of weeks have been crazy. I am just about ready to begin the semester. Hmmmm... was that the sound of the bus already having left the station!!??
I have been working on linking an individual level of human behavior [(perception control theory by William Powers (1973 - Behavior: the control of perception] with sociological theories for quite some time. Perhaps I will have a chance in this class. I want to do this because I think explicit connections will make social theory stronger and better able to explain what is happening with people. Some social theories are often based on weak models of human behavior that assume logical thought as the basis for action. I am not too sure about this. Observations of my own chocolcate chip cookie eating behavior in the face of knowledge of what sweets can do to you serves as a pretty good counterfactual.
So perception control provides a mechanistic explanation of human behavior that suits me pretty well. I use this theory as a lense when I enter new research contexts. I think it works pretty well for that purpose. Last winter I developed some individual level theory of resilience based on this theory and I was able to figure out a link into social theory. I have not followed this on to the organizational level theorizing, but I suspect that the connections are there because self organizaing systems thinking (of which perception control is one example) is pretty common in organizational research. Maybe that is the next frontier for my idle time theorizing (and work in this course).
If I can figure out how to do it, I will post a power point that I used in my conference presentation.
3 comments:
As I understand it, perception control theory says that our behavior is a means of regulating our perception which we do to reach our self-determined goals. (A gross over simplification and please correct me if I’m off base!) I’m curious about the connections with sociology. Do you see perception theory applying at the societal level? Really interesting concept, just not sure how it would work...
Ken - I am unfamiliar with this theory - do you have a concise reference that would offer a summary?
Linda W.
I will write up a theoretical statement such as Dr Rhodes was describing today before I left (my RA duties in Fort Stockton have me there through Friday) sorry I missed class.
anyway, I will provide a theoretical analysis and will use the Hinkle family as an example. I am working toward a theory of human ecology which should fit nicely into a community development perspective. I was talking through it with a work colleague today and I think that I have a grip on the whole system of thought, minus some of the details which make theory development tricky. Anyway, I will bring this to class next week.
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