Some Reasons for and Effects of the Use of Attitude-Variables in Sociological Theory

Abstract

This contribution to theoretical analysis is grounded in the weak postition of sociological theory, the cause of which is said to lie in the use of attitude-variables. The use of such variables is necessitated by the great demand for precision in the results of sociological analysis. Furthermore, a study of the contemporary hterature, particularly textbooks, reveals that attitude-variables are used to the extent that they may be said to be a central characteristic of current sociology. On the basis of a study of attitude-variables — Homans exchange theories, specific social-psychological results and the range of random variations — it will be argued that attitudes either constitute a part of all sociological results or modify them to the extent that a true, non-trivial sociological theory is, in principle, impossible.