Social Construction Of Reality

The process by which people continuously create, through their actions and interactions, a shared reality that is experienced as objectively factual and subjectively meaningful.

The main sociological question in this is 'How does something come to be accepted as real?'. This process has 3 parts...

Externalization

First step to create a social reality - we project our ideas and meanings onto the world. Eg. People coming together to create a law.

• Nature("given" to humans)
• Culture(made by humans)
  • Material Culture - hardware we make
  • Non-material Culture - Ideas, norms, values

All the 'facts' about the world fall into these categories...

• Nature
  • Natural facts(mountains, lions)
• Culture
  • Technological facts(eg. Hammers, Computers)
  • Institutional Facts(eg. money, marriage)
  • Normative facts(eg. Freedom, fulfillment)

Objectivation

Process by which given meanings becomes seen as objective reality. This can happen in these ways...

• Institutionalization: When meaningful behaviors become habitual/routine
• Historicity: More time we have with a meaning, the more it 'hardens'.
• Legitimization: Given a cognitive and moral basis that will explain/justify it. Eg. Religion
• Language: Meaning becomes embedded in language

Internalization

This is the process where an individual absorbs the social reality in themselves.