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Article
Publication date: 17 September 2008

M. Yolles, B.R. Frieden and G. Kemp

This paper aims to initiate a new, formal theory of sociocultural physics.

1760

Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to initiate a new, formal theory of sociocultural physics.

Design/methodology/approach

Its intended scope is limited to predicting either long‐term, large‐scale or short‐term, small‐scale sociocultural events. The theory that the authors develop, called sociohistory, links three independent but relatable approaches: part of Sorokin's epistemological theory of sociocultural dynamics, Frieden's epistemological theory of extreme physical information (EPI), and Yolles's social viable systems (SVS) theory.

Findings

Although not all of Sorokin's ideas are universally accepted, a subset of them is found to be extremely useful for describing the conceptual context of complex systems. This includes how sociocultural processes link closely into political processes.

Research limitations/implications

The theory that develops helps explain how opposing, cultural enantiomers or yin‐yang forces (represented, for instance, by the polar mindsets represented in Islamic fundamentalism and global enterprise) can result in violent conflict, or in either viable or non‐viable social communities. The informations I and J of EPI theory are regarded, respectively, as sensate and ideational enantiomers.

Originality/value

While the resulting sociocultural physics is in its infancy, an illustrative application to the developmental dynamics of post‐colonial Iran demonstrates its potential utility.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 37 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 17 April 2007

M.I. Yolles

This study seeks to postulate a theory of psychohistory as a “think‐piece”. It develops from some earlier theoretical work on sociohistory that can model cultures that are…

924

Abstract

Purpose

This study seeks to postulate a theory of psychohistory as a “think‐piece”. It develops from some earlier theoretical work on sociohistory that can model cultures that are large‐scale (e.g. societies) over the long term or small scale (e.g. corporations) over the short term. Sociohistory, as developed by Yolles and Frieden, provides a new theory to explore the possibilities of tracking and explaining social and cultural change. It offers entry to the development of a theory of psychohistory that explores the psychological basis for decision making and social action and interaction, and connects with both Jung's propositions on psychological profiling and with the popular Myers‐Briggs instruments of personality testing.

Design/methodology/approach

Sociohistory was developed by coupling three theoretical frameworks: the knowledge cybernetics of Maurice Yolles, the mathematical approach in extreme physical information (EPI) of Roy Frieden, and the sociocultural dynamics of Pitrin Sorokin. Knowledge cybernetics creates the vehicle for the exploration of the sociocultural dynamics that reflects the theoretical structures of Sorokin, and uses EPI as a way of fine tuning one's understanding of the qualitative and quantitative dynamics uncovered. The basic fractal nature of knowledge cybernetics is be used to extend the theory of sociohistory from sociocultural dynamics to psychosocial dynamics. Elaborating on the fractal nature of the approach, an indicative theory of psychohistory is formulated.

Findings

The theoretical basis for sociohistory is outlined and extended from sociocultural to psychosocial dynamics, and it is shown how the methodological approach can then be extended to the development of psychohistory. An agenda for further sociohistorical and psychohistorical research is also developed in this process.

Originality/value

Sociocultural dynamics is extended to the promise of being able to deal with social dynamics within a cultural setting. The postulated theory of psychohistory both explores social dynamics in psychological terms and is linked to the potential for developing a new personality inventory.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 36 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 10 August 2015

Gerhard Fink and Maurice Yolles

While emotions and feelings arise in the singular personality, they may also develop a normative dimensionality in a plural agency. The authors identify the cybernetic systemic…

1881

Abstract

Purpose

While emotions and feelings arise in the singular personality, they may also develop a normative dimensionality in a plural agency. The authors identify the cybernetic systemic principles of how emotions might be normatively regulated and affect plural agency performance. The purpose of this paper is to develop a generic cultural socio-cognitive trait theory of plural affective agency (the emotional organization), involving interactive cognitive and affective traits, and these play a role within the contexts of Mergers and Acquisitions (M & A).

Design/methodology/approach

The authors integrate James Gross’ model of emotion regulation with the earlier work on normative personality in the context of Mindset Agency Theory. The agency is a socio-cognitive entity with attitude, and operates through traits that control thinking and decision making. These traits are epistemically independent and operate on a bipolar scale; with the alternate poles having an auxiliary function to each other – where the traits may take intermediary “balanced” states between the poles.

Findings

Processes of affect regulation are supposed to go through three stages: first, identification (affective situation awareness); second, elaboration of affect is constituted through schemas of emotional feeling, which include emotion ideologies generating emotional responses to distinct contextual situations; third, execution: in the operative system primary emotions are assessed through operative intelligence for any adaptive information and the capacity to organize action; and turned into action, i.e. responses, through cultural feeling rules and socio-cultural display rules, conforming to emotion ideologies.

Research limitations/implications

This new theory provides guidance for framing multilevel interaction where smaller collectives (as social systems) are embedded into larger social systems with a culture, an emotional climate and institutions. Thus, it is providing a generic theoretical frame for M & A analyses, where a smaller social unit (the acquired) is to be integrated into a larger social unit (the acquirer).

Practical implications

Understanding interdependencies between cognition and emotion regulation is a prerequisite of managerial intelligence, which is at demand during M & A processes. While managerial intelligence may be grossly defined as the capacity of management to find an appropriate and fruitful balance between action and learning orientation of an organization, its affective equivalent is the capacity of management to find a fruitful balance between established emotion expression and learning alternate forms of emotion expression.

Social implications

Understanding interdependencies between cognition and emotion is a prerequisite of social, cultural and emotional intelligence. The provided theory can be easily linked with empirical work on the emergence of a cultural climate of fear within societies. Thus, “Affective Agency Theory” also has a bearing for political systems’ analysis, what, however, is beyond the scope of this paper.

Originality/value

The paper builds on the recently developed Mindset Agency Theory, elaborating it through the introduction of the dimension of affect, where cognitive and affective traits interact and become responsible for patterns of behaviour. The model is providing a framework which links emotion expression and emotion regulation with cognitive analysis.

Details

Journal of Organizational Change Management, vol. 28 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0953-4814

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Article
Publication date: 15 December 2017

Gerhard Fink and Maurice Yolles

The purpose of this study is to develop a generic cultural socio-cognitive trait theory of a “plural affect agency” (the emotional organisation). Interaction between the cognitive…

210

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this study is to develop a generic cultural socio-cognitive trait theory of a “plural affect agency” (the emotional organisation). Interaction between the cognitive and the affective personality is modelled.

Design/methodology/approach

James Gross’ (1988) model of Emotion Regulation is integrated with Normative Personality Theory in the context of Mindset Agency Theory: The agency has a “cognitive system” and an emotion regulating “affective system” which interact (Fink and Yolles, 2015).

Findings

Processes of emotion regulation pass through three stages: “Identification”, “Elaboration” and “Execution”. In a social environment, emotions are expressed through actions. The results of actions (feedback, goal achievement) are assessed through affective operative intelligence in the light of pursued goals.

Research limitations/implications

The theory will provide guidance for analysis of cultural differentiation within social systems (e.g. societies or organisations), with reference to identification, elaboration and execution of “emotion knowledge”.

Practical implications

Understanding interdependencies between cognition and emotion regulation is a prerequisite of managerial intelligence and strategic cultural intelligence, in demand for interaction and integration processes across social systems.

Originality/Value

The model provides a framework which links emotion expression and emotion regulation with cognition analysis. In part 2 of this paper, based on this theory a typology can be developed which for given contexts allows ex ante expectations of typical patterns of behaviour to be identified.

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Article
Publication date: 3 August 2012

Maurice Yolles, Gerhard Fink and B. Roy Frieden

In part 1 of this paper the organisation was modelled as a socio‐cognitive agency with a normative personality, where patterns of behaviour occur through underlying trait control…

489

Abstract

Purpose

In part 1 of this paper the organisation was modelled as a socio‐cognitive agency with a normative personality, where patterns of behaviour occur through underlying trait control processes, and from which specific behaviours can be predicted. However, prediction is dependent on a stable agency orientation which occurs in normal conditions of homeostatic equilibrium. In post‐normal conditions the immanent dynamics of the agency have the potential to change its orientation leading to a lesser likelihood of predicting behaviour. Using information theory, this paper aims to further develop the model to show how it is possible to predict behaviour in post‐normal conditions. It also aims to consider the nature of agency pathologies.

Design/methodology/approach

The information theory approach of Frieden is harnessed to explain the immanent dynamics of the agency, and explore the likelihood of predicting its behaviour.

Findings

The outcomes of the research formulate the cognitive processes of normative personality such that its potential behaviour in given situations can be predicted, even potentially where the agency has pathologies.

Originality/value

There are no comparative approaches to explore organisational behaviour and their potential pathologies.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 41 no. 7/8
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 1 June 2005

Maurice Yolles

The viable systems theory of autonomous social communities is a cybernetic theory in which politics is seen as a facilitator for social coherence. A recent paper by Yolles

1306

Abstract

Purpose

The viable systems theory of autonomous social communities is a cybernetic theory in which politics is seen as a facilitator for social coherence. A recent paper by Yolles explored this dimension, considering, how power and its process affects structure, manipulates information, and influences the way that people behave. A core conceptualization of that paper about political temperament is corrected and further developed.

Design/methodology/approach

Interest in this paper lies in the social cybernetics of autonomous social communities that have a culture, normative behaviour, and where the behaviour is ultimately determined from that culture. Autonomous social communities that have a culture have a history and dynamic that can be argued to have a potential for behavioural coherence through policy formation and processes of action research. It is through this proposition that politics is engaged in the theory.

Findings

This paper offers a correction and development of Yolle's conceptual representation of the notion of political temperament as discussed by Duverger. Political temperament is a part of political culture, and is ultimately connected to the way that power is created, assigned and used. Yolles was concerned with the relationship between political temperament, political management, and processes of power distribution. However, this model was misconceived, and we shall redefine it by expressing political temperament as the relationship between political mindedness, political management, and political centripetality (or process of power distribution).

Originality/value

In this paper it is argued that political temperament comes from a set of attitudes that underpin the political nature of a governing body that becomes responsible for the political management of a social community. It is seen to contribute to the formation of the political culture of autonomous social communities.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 34 no. 5
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 6 February 2017

Maurice Yolles and Davide Di Fatta

Cultural agency theory (CAT) generates higher simplex through principles of recursion, and, in this way, it is able to create a potential for the generation of families of new…

278

Abstract

Purpose

Cultural agency theory (CAT) generates higher simplex through principles of recursion, and, in this way, it is able to create a potential for the generation of families of new paradigms in different fields. Characterised by its interdisciplinary nature, CAT’s origins have a heterogeneous nature related to different disciplines and research fields. With this in mind, the present manuscript aims to shed light on the antecedents of CAT, especially emphasising the role of Schwarz’s studies as a feel rouge in the evolution of this theory.

Design/methodology/approach

Through a systematic review of the previous literature, this paper highlights the multidisciplinary nature of CAT, mapping the multifaceted framework of its antecedents.

Findings

The results are summarised in a conceptual map that does not constitute a point of arrival, but rather a starting point: consolidating the current state, this paper also provides new insights for further studies.

Research limitations/implications

This manuscript still remains a theoretical point of view. Further studies are required to apply this study’s reasoning.

Originality/value

From a theoretical point of view, this paper achieves a new and original cornerstone about the previous studies on CAT; from a practical viewpoint, this paper gets an input for further implications. While these theories were originally setup for cognitive processes, this paper suggests extensions to model a complex adaptive system framework for management and marketing studies.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 46 no. 2
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 1 November 2018

Maurice Yolles

Complex systems adapt to survive, but little comparative literature exists on various approaches. Adaptive complex systems are generic, this referring to propositions concerning…

217

Abstract

Purpose

Complex systems adapt to survive, but little comparative literature exists on various approaches. Adaptive complex systems are generic, this referring to propositions concerning their bounded instability, adaptability and viability. Two classes of adaptive complex system theories exist: hard and soft. Hard complexity theories include Complex Adaptive Systems (CAS) and Viability Theory, and softer theories, which we refer to as Viable Systems Theories (VSTs), that includes Management Cybernetics at one extreme and Humanism at the other. This paper has a dual purpose distributed across two parts. In part 1 the purpose was to identify the conditions for the complementarity of the two classes of theory. In part 2 the two the purpose is to explore (in part using Agency Theory) the two classes of theory and their proposed complexity continuum.

Design/methodology/approach

Explanation is provided for the anticipation of behaviour cross-disciplinary fields of theory dealing with adaptive complex systems. A comparative exploration of the theories is undertaken to elicit concepts relevant to a complexity continuum. These explain how agency behaviour can be anticipated under uncertainty. Also included is a philosophical exploration of the complexity continuum, expressing it in terms of a graduated set of philosophical positions that are differentiated in terms of objects and subjects. These are then related to hard and softer theories in the continuum. Agency theory is then introduced as a framework able to comparatively connect the theories on this continuum, from theories of complexity to viable system theories, and how harmony theories can develop.

Findings

Anticipation is explained in terms of an agency’s meso-space occupied by a regulatory framework, and it is shown that hard and softer theory are equivalent in this. From a philosophical perspective, the hard-soft continuum is definable in terms of objectivity and subjectivity, but there are equivalences to the external and internal worlds of an agency. A fifth philosophical position of critical realism is shown to be representative of harmony theory in which internal and external worlds can be related. Agency theory is also shown to be able to operate as a harmony paradigm, as it can explore external behaviour of an agent using a hard theory perspective together with an agent’s internal cultural and cognitive-affect causes.

Originality/value

There are very few comparative explorations of the relationship between hard and soft approaches in the field of complexity and even fewer that draw in the notion of harmony. There is also little pragmatic illustration of a harmony paradigm in action within the context of complexity.

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Article
Publication date: 1 March 2004

Maurice Yolles

Stafford Beer developed managerial cybernetics, but there were many facets of his work. Most of his work concerned epistemology, and little concerned ontology. Not all of the…

1295

Abstract

Stafford Beer developed managerial cybernetics, but there were many facets of his work. Most of his work concerned epistemology, and little concerned ontology. Not all of the aspects or implications of his work has been fully recognised, and an attempt shall be made to explore one of these. In particular, this paper explores his paradigm by considering some of the epistemologically and ontological angles. Some of the implications for Beer's work will also be shown to have led to the creation of a virtual paradigm capable of exploring his achievements “externally”, after Gödel.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 33 no. 3/4
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

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Article
Publication date: 7 August 2017

Davide Di Fatta and Maurice Yolles

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the personal identity of Donald Trump in the US presidential election using the mindset agency theory framework and content analysis.

168

Abstract

Purpose

The purpose of this paper is to evaluate the personal identity of Donald Trump in the US presidential election using the mindset agency theory framework and content analysis.

Design/methodology/approach

The qualitative evaluation of identity type is determined by the personality mindset agency theory (PMAT). This measures qualitatively by assigning a type to the personal identity. The methods being adopted are content analysis, and a coding frame is constructed that arises from the key words defined in PMAT.

Findings

Using PMAT, the authors determine that Trump’s personal identity is of the type hierarchical popularism (HP), from which behavioural patterns are derived, supposing that this is consistent with his public identity type measured using agency MAT (AMAT), which will be assessed in part 3 of this paper.

Originality/value

Appropriate image management can be used in an attempt to hide problematic purely self-interest aspects of a personality. This paper shows that it is possible to evaluate personality mindsets using content analysis. In a later paper, exploration of agency mindsets will occur that is indicative of the potential for behaviour.

Details

Kybernetes, vol. 46 no. 7
Type: Research Article
ISSN: 0368-492X

Keywords

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