Talcott Parsons

Talcott Parsons (born December 13, 1902 in Colorado Springs, Colorado; † May 8, 1979 in Munich, Germany) was a U.S. sociologist. He is considered the most influential sociological theorist from the end of World War II through the 1960s.

Talcott Parsons emerged with a theory of action, developed it into structural functionalism, and eventually expanded it into a sociological systems theory. His sociology responded to the prevailing empiricism in Anglo-Saxon sociology in the first half of the 20th century. Parsons developed a general sociological theory and established connections with other social sciences, especially economics, political science, psychology, and anthropology.

Theory of Personality
When considering models and drives for action, it is inevitable to ask what role the identity of an actor plays. Identity is understood as " (...) generally the conformity of a person (...) with what he or she actually is, i.e. with oneself". This identity is also essential for coping with social roles. These include, for example, occupational roles, family, as well as roles that a person holds during leisure time. Furthermore, the relationship to other persons as well as certain personality traits, such as shyness and loyalty, are also relevant for identity. In describing identities, in summary, "three modes of enunciation can be used: evaluative and normative self-claims, and cognitive self-evaluations." These are the modes of enunciation used in describing identities. Evaluative self-claims are intrinsic to the individual and indicate how and what he or she is. Conscience is formed by normative self-claims, which can draw on social norms. In this sense, they serve a regulation of the evaluative self-claims. Finally, the individual's possibilities and aptitudes are drawn on the basis of the cognitive self-representation. In general, according to Talcott Parsons, identity serves as a self-control mechanism of the actor/actress. Numerous authors have already dealt with the topic of identity. In the concrete context and for further considerations, the sociologists George Herbert Mead, Heinz Abels and Lothar Krappmann, the psychologist Hans D. Mummendey as well as the social psychologist Henri Tajfel are to be mentioned.

Interpretative Paradigm
The term interpretive paradigm refers to a number of 20th century sociological theories that have in common that they explain interactions between human actors primarily as active and creative interpretive processes. The interpretative paradigm is best paraphrased in terms of the Thomas theorem: persons act not according to how a situation really is, but how it is defined (interpreted) by the agents. Social facts (e. g., social structures) affect people not as they actually are, but as people believe they would be. The following theories, among others, are assigned to the Interpretative Paradigm

Symbolic Interactionism

Labeling Approach

Grounded Theory

Ethnomethodology

Sociology of knowledge

Social Phenomenology

The counter term to the Interpretative Paradigm is the Normative Paradigm, which summarizes sociological theories in which human action is understood as a consequence of role and norm specifications; this includes above all the theory of Talcott Parsons. Both terms were coined by Thomas P. Wilson in 1970.