The Sociology of Personal Life

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The Sociology of Personal Life

The sociology of personal life takes a more interactionist approach to families and households, rather than a structural approach as seen in functionalism, Marxism and feminism.

Interactionist approaches

Instead of looking at social structures (such as the family) interactionist approaches focus on the meaning people give to the intimate experiences and relationships which form their personal lives, such as sex, emotional intimacy, memories, friendships and disputes.

Accounting for diversity

People are seen as having much more choice in how they decide to live their lives.
Modern families and households are now very diverse and differ greatly from the traditional nuclear family, as described by functionalists and Marxists.

The individualisation thesis

The individualisation thesis, attributed to late modern and postmodern theorists such as Giddens and Beck, suggests that traditional rules that govern personal relationships have weakened and become more fluid, unclear and uncertain, therefore, losing the influences over the lives of individuals.

Consequences of individualisation

Growing individualisation means that relationships become more influenced by self-interest, love and friendship, rather than practical necessity.
Individualisation also means that long-term relationships are no longer enforced by external standards and values or pressure of parents and wider kin.

Modern relationships

People no longer stay together regardless of how well the relationship is going and has been replaced by confluent love based on intimate, pure relationship underpinned by personal trust, friendships, emotional intimacy and understanding.

Individualisation, Confluent Love & the Pure Relationship

Have relationships really been replaced by confluent love based on intimate, pure relationships underpinned by personal trust, friendships, emotional intimacy and understanding?

Criticisms

Smart argues that the individualisation thesis exaggerates the extent of family decline.
People don’t have as much choice in their personal lives as the individualisation thesis suggests and are still influenced by factors such as social class, gender, ethnicity and by cultural values.

Growing diversity

The family is certainly more diverse, but is not declining; family now includes all kinds of personal relationships that are given family-like meanings by individuals.

Identity

All personal relationships contribute to the formation of identity; people remain committed to long-term relationships based on emotional bonds, shared possessions, etc. that have meaning for them.

Fluidity

The personal life approach suggests that relationships are based on the meaning people give to them; ‘family’ becomes what people choose to define it as, rather than being imposed by conventional definitions like those used by functionalists and Marxists.

Blood kin

A problem with defining family in terms of the personal life approach, is that the lasting significance of kinship links based on blood and marriage are neglected.