Emile Durkheim emphasized that behavior is influenced by what?

Emile Durkheim, a founding figure in the field of sociology, emphasized that behavior is significantly influenced by social environments. He believed that individual actions cannot be fully understood without considering the social contexts in which individuals operate. Durkheim introduced the concept of social facts—norms, values, and structures that exist independently of individuals and exert a coercive influence on them. His studies on phenomena such as suicide revealed that rates of suicide correlate strongly with social integration and regulation, illustrating how external social factors shape individual behavior. This focus on social environments underlines Durkheim's argument that society plays a crucial role in determining how people act, think, and feel, highlighting the interconnectedness of individual and societal dimensions.

While individual biological traits, cultural narratives, and historical context may all play roles in shaping behavior, Durkheim's primary contribution was to foreground the social dimensions of human actions, making the influence of social environments central to his sociological perspective.