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Description

The social construction of reality is a theory that suggests that humans create their own understanding of reality, through their interactions and communications with others. This includes the way we see and interpret the world around us, as well as how we interact with others.
Sociologists aim to understand the realities of life by just the means of sociology to simplify things, but that is not always possible as the realities of man are shaped by their own actions and thoughts; hence it becomes a necessity to study various factors as to understand how the choices we make are influenced by our cultures and subcultures.
Social constructionism holds that the meaning of acts, behaviours, and events is not an objective quality of those phenomena but is assigned to them through social interactions. In this view, meaning is socially defined and organized and thus subject to social change.
Some examples of social constructs are countries and money.
Countries would not exist were it not for human interaction. Humans have to agree that there is such a thing as a country and agree on what a country is. Without that agreement, there could be no countries.
Money also would not exist without human interaction. If we think about objective reality, we might think that the money does exist. After all, we can touch the paper or the coins. However, unless humans agree on what the paper or the coins represent and can be used for, paper money is just paper and the coins are just metal disks.
Mental representations as social constructs
The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (1966), by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, proposes that social groups and individual persons who interact with each other, within in a system of social classes, over time create concepts (mental representations) of the actions of each other, and that people become habituated to those concepts, and thus assume reciprocal social roles.
In the book, they used the term ‘habitualization’ to describe how people construct society through their social interactions.
More precisely, habitualization means the repeated performance of certain actions that people treat as acceptable. Simply put, people perform certain actions, and once they see others’ positive reactions to them, they continue to perform them, and others start to copy them to get the same reactions. This way, certain actions became habits and patterns.
Another way of looking at this concept is through W.I. Thomas’s notable Thomas theorem which states, “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas and Thomas 1928). That is, people’s behaviour can be determined by their subjective construction of reality rather than by objective reality. For example, a teenager who is repeatedly given a label of underachiever, this might impede his ability to be successful in their life.
A similar concept was defined by sociologist Robert K. Merton as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Merton explains that with a self-fulfilling prophecy, even a false idea can become true if it is acted upon. One example he gives is of a “bank run.” Say for some reason, a number of people falsely fear that their bank is soon to be bankrupt. Because of this false notion, people run to their bank and demand all of their cash at once. As banks rarely, if ever, have that much money on hand, the bank does indeed run out of money, fulfilling the customers’ prophecy/assumptions. Here, reality is constructed by an idea.
Implications of the social construct of the reality
The social construction of reality is the system of society. Society shapes people by inculcating a cultural values, norms, and laws. Society shapes you before being able to discern what is worth accepting or rejecting. By that time when you grow up the culture is so ingrained in you that you cannot make any decision outside your cultural norms.
You will believe that reality is what your culture told you to be real, and you will reject any aspect of the reality that the culture told you it cannot be real. If you have been told that there is no God you might believe that there is none. If you have been told that only your religion is true, you will be not open to point of views promoted by other religions.
The more you believe an idea, the more you take it for granted and the less you are open to challenge the concept which in your mind makes the idea being perceived as real and true.
Not challenging the reality that you created when shaped by your culture makes you prone to be manipulated by authoritative figures of your culture.
For instance, you might believe that depression is a chemical unbalance that does not have to do anything with your lifestyle or with the way you process information. In this scenario you might think that all you need is medication and that you do not need to change anything in your life. But things are not simple. Psychotropic medication can take the edge of your symptoms, but you can really improve if you are able to implement some changes in the way you perceive yourself and the world. If you start seeing yourself in a more positive way, you have already made a change in the way you construe your reality and this can majorly contribute to improve your mental state regardless if your taking or not an antidepressant.
Healthy scepticism can contribute to build a more accurate perspective on reality
When you develop a healthy scepticism, you train your mind to doubt other people’s claims by using logic and intuition. This not only makes you a better thinker, but it also helps you learn to rely on logic as well as intuition at the same time instead of employing one over the other. This way you can bank on evidence and instinct to arrive at a logical conclusion.
People constantly make claims that affect our daily lives. From politicians running for office to brands marketing their products, we are barraged with decisions that require us to act. In such situations, it is important to distinguish true claims from false claims. And this can be achieved only when one learns the art of detecting deception through positive scepticism.
Once you have developed a healthy scepticism, you’ll be able to determine whether sources of information and analysis are impartial or biased. When you ask yourself often what the other side of the story is, you’ll be able to decipher if someone is trying to persuade you through emotional appeal. This will help you differentiate between content that aims to influence you and content that simply wishes to inform you.
In conclusion
Social constructionism holds that the meaning of acts, behaviours, and events is not an objective quality of those phenomena but is assigned to them through social interactions. In this view, it is the culture that shapes you.
The more you allow culture to shape the more the culture will manipulate you, for instance through social media.
Some examples of social constructs are countries and money. The would not exist without human interaction.
If you define situations as real, they are real in their consequences, such in self-fulfilled prophecies.
Healthy scepticism would help you challenge your cultural reality.
A healthy scepticism can lead to problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. It also helps you to develop the ability to think critically about the world around all of us.

Description

The social construction of reality is a theory that suggests that humans create their own understanding of reality, through their interactions and communications with others. This includes the way we see and interpret the world around us, as well as how we interact with others.
Sociologists aim to understand the realities of life by just the means of sociology to simplify things, but that is not always possible as the realities of man are shaped by their own actions and thoughts; hence it becomes a necessity to study various factors as to understand how the choices we make are influenced by our cultures and subcultures.
Social constructionism holds that the meaning of acts, behaviours, and events is not an objective quality of those phenomena but is assigned to them through social interactions. In this view, meaning is socially defined and organized and thus subject to social change.
Some examples of social constructs are countries and money.
Countries would not exist were it not for human interaction. Humans have to agree that there is such a thing as a country and agree on what a country is. Without that agreement, there could be no countries.
Money also would not exist without human interaction. If we think about objective reality, we might think that the money does exist. After all, we can touch the paper or the coins. However, unless humans agree on what the paper or the coins represent and can be used for, paper money is just paper and the coins are just metal disks.
Mental representations as social constructs
The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge (1966), by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, proposes that social groups and individual persons who interact with each other, within in a system of social classes, over time create concepts (mental representations) of the actions of each other, and that people become habituated to those concepts, and thus assume reciprocal social roles.
In the book, they used the term ‘habitualization’ to describe how people construct society through their social interactions.
More precisely, habitualization means the repeated performance of certain actions that people treat as acceptable. Simply put, people perform certain actions, and once they see others’ positive reactions to them, they continue to perform them, and others start to copy them to get the same reactions. This way, certain actions became habits and patterns.
Another way of looking at this concept is through W.I. Thomas’s notable Thomas theorem which states, “If men define situations as real, they are real in their consequences” (Thomas and Thomas 1928). That is, people’s behaviour can be determined by their subjective construction of reality rather than by objective reality. For example, a teenager who is repeatedly given a label of underachiever, this might impede his ability to be successful in their life.
A similar concept was defined by sociologist Robert K. Merton as a self-fulfilling prophecy. Merton explains that with a self-fulfilling prophecy, even a false idea can become true if it is acted upon. One example he gives is of a “bank run.” Say for some reason, a number of people falsely fear that their bank is soon to be bankrupt. Because of this false notion, people run to their bank and demand all of their cash at once. As banks rarely, if ever, have that much money on hand, the bank does indeed run out of money, fulfilling the customers’ prophecy/assumptions. Here, reality is constructed by an idea.
Implications of the social construct of the reality
The social construction of reality is the system of society. Society shapes people by inculcating a cultural values, norms, and laws. Society shapes you before being able to discern what is worth accepting or rejecting. By that time when you grow up the culture is so ingrained in you that you cannot make any decision outside your cultural norms.
You will believe that reality is what your culture told you to be real, and you will reject any aspect of the reality that the culture told you it cannot be real. If you have been told that there is no God you might believe that there is none. If you have been told that only your religion is true, you will be not open to point of views promoted by other religions.
The more you believe an idea, the more you take it for granted and the less you are open to challenge the concept which in your mind makes the idea being perceived as real and true.
Not challenging the reality that you created when shaped by your culture makes you prone to be manipulated by authoritative figures of your culture.
For instance, you might believe that depression is a chemical unbalance that does not have to do anything with your lifestyle or with the way you process information. In this scenario you might think that all you need is medication and that you do not need to change anything in your life. But things are not simple. Psychotropic medication can take the edge of your symptoms, but you can really improve if you are able to implement some changes in the way you perceive yourself and the world. If you start seeing yourself in a more positive way, you have already made a change in the way you construe your reality and this can majorly contribute to improve your mental state regardless if your taking or not an antidepressant.
Healthy scepticism can contribute to build a more accurate perspective on reality
When you develop a healthy scepticism, you train your mind to doubt other people’s claims by using logic and intuition. This not only makes you a better thinker, but it also helps you learn to rely on logic as well as intuition at the same time instead of employing one over the other. This way you can bank on evidence and instinct to arrive at a logical conclusion.
People constantly make claims that affect our daily lives. From politicians running for office to brands marketing their products, we are barraged with decisions that require us to act. In such situations, it is important to distinguish true claims from false claims. And this can be achieved only when one learns the art of detecting deception through positive scepticism.
Once you have developed a healthy scepticism, you’ll be able to determine whether sources of information and analysis are impartial or biased. When you ask yourself often what the other side of the story is, you’ll be able to decipher if someone is trying to persuade you through emotional appeal. This will help you differentiate between content that aims to influence you and content that simply wishes to inform you.
In conclusion
Social constructionism holds that the meaning of acts, behaviours, and events is not an objective quality of those phenomena but is assigned to them through social interactions. In this view, it is the culture that shapes you.
The more you allow culture to shape the more the culture will manipulate you, for instance through social media.
Some examples of social constructs are countries and money. The would not exist without human interaction.
If you define situations as real, they are real in their consequences, such in self-fulfilled prophecies.
Healthy scepticism would help you challenge your cultural reality.
A healthy scepticism can lead to problem-solving, creativity, and innovation. It also helps you to develop the ability to think critically about the world around all of us.