Blackwell Reference Online

Extract

Ambivalence denotes contrasting commitments and orientations; it refers to simultaneous conflicting feelings toward a person or an object; and it is commonly used to describe and explain the hesitance and uncertainty caused by the juxtaposition between contradictory values, preferences, and expectations. Lay-person use follows intuitive psychological explanations which refer to ambivalence interchangeably with personal hesitation, confusion, indeterminacy, and agitation. In contrast, sociological use suggests that although ambivalence is a bi-polar, subjective experience, its causes are social and hence understandable and predictable. True, most sociological uses of the term maintain its conflictual denotations, but this volatile experience is treated as the result of contrasting social pressures exerted on actors. The concept of sociological ambivalence has been strategically used to show that structural-functional theory is not blind to conflicts and contradictions in social structure. Specifically, Merton (1957) proposed the concept as part of his role-set and role-relations theory. He suggested that while societies have a functional need to enable most people most of the time to go about their business of social life, without encountering extreme conflict in their role-sets, normative contradictions and contrasting expectations are nonetheless inherent in social structure. ... log in or subscribe to read full text