Anthropology and Affect: a Consideration of the Idiosyncratic Dimension of Human Behaviour

Abstract

IN this paper a theoretical perspective is presented in which affect occupies a central position and behaviour is viewed in terms of different degrees of affective expression. Such behaviour is conceptualized in terms of three models : a structural model, a rational model and a psychological model. While the first two models are frequently encountered in the literature, the psychological model has not received explict formulation, although, as shown here, it is crucial in understanding certain forms of idiosyncratic behaviour that have political and social relevance.