| Introduction to the Transaction Edition | vii |
| Preface | xxi |
| Part 1 | The General Theory of Action | |
| 1 | Some Fundamental Categories of the Theory of Action: A General Statement | 3 |
| (1) | Introduction | |
| (2) | The frame of reference of the theory of action | |
| (3) | Some fundamentals of behaviour psychology | |
| (4) | Interaction and the development of personality | |
| (5) | Cultural aspects of action systems | |
| (6) | The social system. A note on the place of economic theory and political theory in the general theory of action | |
| 2 | Some Observations on Theory in the Social Sciences | 30 |
| Part 2 | Values, Motives, and Systems of Action | |
| Introduction | 47 |
| 1 | Categories of the Orientation and Organization of Action | 53 |
| Action and its orientation | |
| Components of the frame of reference of the theory of action | |
| Commentary on the frame of reference | |
| Classification of objects | |
| Orientation to the situation | |
| Dilemmas of orientation and the pattern variables | |
| The definition of pattern variables | |
| The interrelations of the pattern variables | |
| Classification of need-dispositions and role-expectations | |
| Classification of components of the object situation | |
| The basic structure of the interactive relationship | |
| The concept of system and the classification of types of systems | |
| 2 | Personality as a System of Action | 110 |
| Motivational concepts | |
| Need-dispositions | |
| Functional prerequisites of the personality system | |
| Learning processes and performance processes | |
| The mechanisms | |
| Subintegrations in the personality system | |
| The articulation of personality and social systems | |
| Need-dispositions and role-expectations | |
| Individuality | |
| Deviance | |
| 3 | Systems of Value-Orientation | 159 |
| The place of value-orientation patterns in the organization of culture | |
| The classification of the elements of culture | |
| Cognitive symbols | |
| Expensive symbols | |
| Evaluative symbols | |
| Pattern consistency and sources of strain | |
| The integration of systems of value-orientations into the social system | |
| Systems of personal values | |
| The problem of classification of value systems | |
| 4 | The Social System | 190 |
| Major features and prerequisites | |
| The foci of organization | |
| The allocation of rewards | |
| The integration of the social system | |
| Classification of social systems and their components: structural types | |
| The content of roles | |
| Integration: consensus and power | |
| The analysis of social structure | |
| Motivation and the dynamics of social process | |
| The problem of social change | |
| 5 | Conclusion | 234 |
| Figures 1-15 | 247 |
| Index | 277 |
