The Social Construction of Reality By Anne Cortez | Adamson University

UNDERSTANDING THE SOCIETY

Discussion Outline

• Basic sociological concepts

• Society as a human construction

• The social construction of reality

art

terror prof

Reality is socially constructed. (Berger & Luckmann, 1996)

Principles of Early Economic Systems • Reciprocity • Redistribution • Householding

SOCIAL CONSTRUCTION

SHARED MEANING

The communal creation of the social world in

which we live.

People’s common interpretation or mutual understanding of what

a verbal or nonverbal message signifies.

We live as if we are following scripts - learned frameworks that provide direction for people by helping us to interpret and respond to what is happening around us

“People and groups interacting in a social system create, over time, concepts or mental representations of each others actions. These concepts eventually become habituated into reciprocal roles played by the actors in relation to each other – institutionalized.”

Importance of “social construction of reality” in understanding life • Much of what we accept as objective or “natural facts of life” are

really socially constructed (rather “moral facts of life”) • Once acted upon, socially-constructed facts of life become true

for ourselves and others

Truth is nothing. What you believe to be true is everything.

BASIC SOCIOLOGICAL CONCEPTS Status Social stratification Role Social norms

STATUS - a category or position a person occupies that is a significant determinant of how she or he will be defined and treated • Achievement - through our own efforts • Ascription - being born into a status or attaining it

involuntarily at some other point in the life cycle

STATUS SET- a number of statuses we occupy simultaneously, such as mother, daughter, attorney, patient, employee, and passenger

ROLE - the expected behavior associated with a status

A son talking to his

mom to ask for

allowance

A trike driver

negotiating with his

passenger about

the fare

You talking to

your crush

SOCIAL STRATIFICATION- The system created by the society which categorizes its members by status and then rank these statuses in some fashion

SOCIAL NORMS - shared rules that guide people’s behavior in specific situations. Social norms determine the privileges and responsibilities a status possesses.

What are statuses, roles and social norms for? They allow us to organize our lives in consistent, predictable ways.

What are statuses, roles and social norms for? They allow us to organize our lives in consistent, predictable ways.

Problem of anomie (normlessness) - when traditional social norms have changed but new ones have yet to be developed

Stereotypes- oversimplified conceptions that people who occupy the same status group share certain traits in common

Where do we derive social order and stability? Through the social construction of reality, which follows three steps: institutionalization, legitimation, and internalization.

All societies are constructions in the face of chaos.

Human existence takes place in the context of order, direction, stability.

INSTITUTIONALIZATION- process of reciprocal habitualization of actions or roles by members of the society over time, not instantaneously

From “there he goes again” to “here we go again”

LEGITIMATION- process of explaining and justifying the existing institutions and habitual practices

The challenge of legitimation inevitably arises when the objectivations of the present institutional order are to be transmitted to a new generation.

#seemsLEGIT

From “what to do” to “why do it”

INTERNALIZATION- the process by which an individual interprets the objective reality as subjectively meaningful to himself through socialization

From “the reality” to “my reality”

We create our individual realities through the two stages of socialization – primary socialization and secondary socialization.

• Primary socialization is the first socialization an individual undergoes in childhood, through which he becomes a member of society.

• Secondary socialization is any subsequent process that inducts an already socialized individual into new sectors of the objective world of his society.

Primary socialization facilitates the construction of our “first world”. It is inevitable and imposed.

Secondary socialization allows us to discover and explore “other worlds” or “subworlds” apart from that which was built in our childhood.

Reality is constructed by the society. Society is a human construction.

REFERENCES Berger, P. and T. Luckmann (1996). The social construction of reality. USA:

Penguin Books.

Lindsey, L. (2005). The sociology of gender: Theoretical perspectives and feminist frameworks. New Jersey: Prentice Hall.

Wharton, A. (2012. The sociology of gender: An introduction to theory and research. West Sussex, UK: John Wiley and Sons Ltd.

Questions?