Questions and Answers
What is the Social Construction of Reality?
What are Basic Principles of the social world?
The social world is created by people, can be altered, and is not natural or predetermined.
What do Agents create in the context of social structures?
Social reality that becomes a structure.
What is Externalization?
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Define Objectivation.
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What is Institutionalization?
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What does Historicity refer to in the context of social objectivation?
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What does Legitimization in social contexts mean?
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How is Language connected to the process of Objectivation?
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What is Internalization?
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Provide an example of the Social Construction of Reality.
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Study Notes
Social Construction of Reality
- Defined by Thomas Luckmann and Peter L. Berger as the ongoing process where individuals create a shared reality through interactions.
- This shared reality is perceived as objectively factual or subjectively meaningful by the individuals involved.
Basic Principles
- The social world is constructed by people rather than being a natural or predetermined entity.
- Human actions and interactions transmit social realities.
- The social world is subject to change; it can be deconstructed and reconstructed.
- Reality is not fixed or inevitable; it can be reshaped.
Agents & Structures
- Agents, representing individuals at the micro level, shape social reality.
- This social reality eventually evolves into structures at the macro level, influencing the lives of those who created it.
Externalization
- Refers to individuals creating their social reality through their activities.
- It is the act of bringing internal thoughts and concepts into the external world.
Objectivation
- The process by which individuals perceive and experience everyday life as an organized, independent reality.
- This reality is seen as prearranged and imposing upon human beings.
Institutionalization (Ways of Objectivation)
- Involves the routinization and habitualization of meaningful behaviors within society.
Historicity (Ways of Objectivation)
- Highlights that as generations pass, the institutional world becomes more complex and layered (thickens).
Legitimization (Ways of Objectivation)
- Provides a cognitive and moral basis for the meanings assigned to actions and institutions, justifying their existence and authority.
Language (Ways of Objectivation)
- Meaning and social constructs become embedded within language, facilitating communication and understanding.
Internalization
- The process where individuals absorb and learn the values and legitimization of the institutional order within society.
Example
- Society acts as a product of human actions (externalization); it is experienced as an objective reality (objectivation); and individuals are molded by social constructs (internalization).
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Description
Explore key concepts and definitions related to the social construction of reality as explained by Thomas Luckmann and Peter L. Berger. This set of flashcards covers fundamental principles that illustrate how our shared realities are created through social interactions.