BackStage

I don’t have a great post planned, but since Columbus introduced me to paint.net, I’ve been wanting to share this:

Coleman explains The Protestant Ethic and Spirit of Capitalism via macro-micro interaction.* While we can debate about there being double arrows or not, it’s an interesting explanation about how individual level beliefs and behaviors affect the social structure (and vice versa).

Quick explanation of chart: In order for the macro level to undergo the change (that the newly dominate Protestant religion resulted in the change of the structure to a capitalist economy) could only occur because of changes that concurrently occurred at the individual level. In this way, beliefs and attitudes created by the new culture caused a change in economic behaviors (behaviors that suggested that accumulating wealth indicated that an individual has a state of grace) led to the change to the capitalist economy at the macro level.

I was introduced to the Coleman boat my first semester in graduate school. I have since used this to explain the micro-macro connection to others, to myself, and in my prelim question (What’s social about social psychology? In your answer trace the history of the field… or something to that affect). It’s a clear case of keeping notes from your very first class.