Emotional Energy Charging Stations: An Application and Extension of Randall Collins' Interaction Ritual Theory

Abstract

This study employs and extends Randall Collins' (2004) "Interaction Ritual Theory" (IRT) to analyze and explain the unique, intensely emotional, and profoundly meaningful social processes at a summer camp for incoming college students. Through semi-structured interviews with camp facilitators and analysis of camp training material and advertisements, this project explores the role of "emotional energy" (EE) throughout camp (a unique setting to which IRT has not been applied, and in which group members began the interaction ritual process as strangers). This study identifies five characteristics of specific interaction ritual chains, which I collectively term, an "emotional energy charging station" through which social actors "charge" themselves with emotional energy. The emotional energy charging station fosters increased confidence and initiative in general social interaction for a short period at the end of, and immediately following camp. This study contributes to our understanding of how emotional energy influences individual behavior in more nuanced ways than previously thought