Social constructionists believe that things that are generally viewed as natural or normal in society, such as
understandings of gender, race, class, and disability
, are socially constructed, and consequently aren’t an accurate reflection of reality.
- Government.
- Race. “Race is not biological…
- Gender.
- Femininity/Masculinity.
- Illness.
- Marriage.
- Family.
- Organized Religions.
Examples. Some examples of social constructs are
countries and money
. It is easier to see how countries could be social constructs than it is to see how money is a social construct. Countries would not exist were it not for human interaction.
Social constructionism is a theory of knowledge that holds that characteristics typically thought to be immutable and solely biological—such as
gender, race, class, ability, and sexuality
—are products of human definition and interpretation shaped by cultural and historical contexts (Subramaniam 2010).
John Spacey, August 31, 2019. Social constructs are things that emerge with the shared experiences of a civilization or society. These include
shared knowledge and systems
that are the basis for communication, cooperation, productivity, peaceful coexistence and quality of life.
Social constructionism is the theory that
people develop knowledge of the world in a social context
, and that much of what we perceive as reality depends on shared assumptions.
What are human constructs?
Construct, also called hypothetical construct or psychological construct, in psychology,
a tool used to facilitate understanding of human behaviour
. … Likewise, the behavioral sciences use constructs such as conscientiousness, intelligence, political power, self-esteem, and group culture.
The main criticisms levelled against social constructionism can be summarised by its perceived conceptualisation of realism and relativism. It is accused of
being anti-realist
, in denying that knowledge is a direct perception of reality (Craib 1997).
We
create our emotions from bodily sensations, past experiences
, and from learning emotional concepts from our parents and cultural upbringing. … In short, our emotions are not reactions to the world, but an invention of our brain to explain the cause of our sensations and actions.
Social construction theory is about how we make sense of things. It assumes that we ‘construct’ mental representations, using collective notions as building blocks. In this view,
happiness is regarded as a social construction
, comparable to notions like ‘beauty’ and ‘fairness’.
Social constructionism is
a theory of knowledge in sociology and communication theory that examines the development of jointly constructed understandings of the world that form the basis for shared assumptions about reality
. … There are weak and strong social constructs.
Nucci’s conclusion is that morality is independent of social rules regarding proper behavior. … Nucci’s research indicates that concepts of human welfare, fairness, and rights are inherent, not socially conditioned or constructed. In both domains, some behaviors are
deemed “right”
and others “wrong.”
Time is one of the most basic examples of something that is socially constructed.
We collectively create the meaning of time
—it has no predetermined meaning until we give it meaning. … Cultures often mark time based on important events relative to their belief system or major political events.
The social construction of disability comes from a paradigm of ideas that suggest that
society’s beliefs about a particular community, group or population are grounded in the power structures inherent in a society at any given time
. …
The genetic diversity that exists across the entire human race is very, very small, and race isn’t even a good proxy for what diversity does exist. That’s why we say race is a social construct:
it’s a human-invented classification system.
It is only when one compares them that it becomes evident that they are different and this difference is a cultural one. The
concepts that embody the definition of self within a society
constitute a social construct. Those that characterize the definition of self relating to outsiders constitute a cultural construct.
