affect
affect, affective, affectivity An affect is an emotion. In sociology the use of the term generally implies that an action is being or has been carried out for emotional gratification. For example, in their discussion of Class Awareness in the United States (1983), Mary R. Jackman and Robert W. Jackman discuss ‘affective class bonds’; namely, ‘the issue of whether subjective social class encompasses a feeling of emotional attachment’, rather than being merely a matter of nominal identification. ‘Affectivity versus affective neutrality’ is one of Talcott Parsons's so-called pattern variables, according to which different societies can be classified and analysed. See also AFFECTIVE INDIVIDUALISM.
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affect
