Reexamining Mills on Motive: A Character Vocabulary Approach

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Abstract
The present neglect of the concept of motive within sociology is traced to the substitution of a concern with motive talk for the original Weberian emphasis upon subjective systems of meaning. C. Wright Mills's work on the vocabulary of motives is identified as that which links both approaches, being commonly presented as the prime justification for the present interactive and linguistic program. But Mills's position, although containing contrasting strands, primarily involved focusing on vocabularies, rather than talk, and set out a program of research that has yet to be implemented. Unfortunately, Mills's commitment to symbolic interactionism meant that he associated vocabularies of motive too closely with social positions, failing to recognize their additional functional connection with the person via the concept of character. Consequently, it is suggested that Mills's original program of research should be resuscitated but with the term “vocabularies of motives” recognized as encompassing concepts that relate to both roles and persons.

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