Basic principles the sociology of emotions

Abstract

The paper outlines the basic principles of the sociology of emotions as a discipline based on the latest ideas and results in this field of knowledge. These principles emphasize the specifics of the sociology of emotions and include key theoretical lines of sociological research of emotions. The author originally developed some of the principles. The list of principles doesn’t cover all of the possible foundations of the field, and the author intended rather to indicate the initial limits and possibilities of this discipline than to accomplish a synthesis of existing theoretical perspectives and concepts. Theoretical conceptualization is on going process in the sociology of emotions, as well as seeking for new methods of empirical research of emotions. Sociologists study emotions in every possible social context, aiming not only to study the emotions themselves, but also consider the emotions as means of access to nature and the typical features of various social phenomena. Therefore, the general idea of the article may be summarized as follows: the sociology of emotions can provide the growth of knowledge about social phenomena through the consideration of socio-structural and cultural conditions of emotions, including situational factors, and by eliciting the social functions of emotions on the micro- and macrolevels of social structure. Refs 49.