The collective control of perceptions: constructing order from conflict

This article offers a new perspective on sociological theory, based on psychological insights from Perceptual Control Theory. After describing this cybernetic model of goal-directed behavior and reviewing its empirical support, I present results from computer simulations applying the model to the social interactions of elementary control agents. My key finding is that agents controlling their own perceptions of a single environmental variable can stabilize it even when their intentions conflict. The concluding section discusses implications of this model of collective control processes for the sources of order, conflict, continuity, and change in social life. r 2003 Published by Elsevier Ltd.