Theories of Social & Cultural Reality

The Social Construction of Reality

My meanings and understanding come from my communication with others.

Primary thinkers: The Social Construction of Reality– Peter Berger– Thomas Luckmann

Basic Idea of SC

IllustrationIllustration of a classroom exercise in which students arrange a group of objects in different categories (size, use, color, etc.).

Language gives me labels labels to distinguish the objects in my world.

Common Assumptions of SC

Communicative action is voluntary. Knowledge is a social product Knowledge is contextual Theories create worlds Scholarship is value laden.

Communication Perspective SC enables communication to be viewed as a perspective,

rather than a subject matter. Barnett Pearce

– Communication and the Human Condition– PerspectivePerspective: A way of looking at or thinking about something.– How should we look at something?

• Whenever I look at something in terms of how it is constructed in interaction among people, I am taking a communication perspective.

• Pearce’s Model (The Resource-Practice Loop)Pearce’s Model (The Resource-Practice Loop)– ResourcesResources: all the building blocks I work with in life (ideas, values,

stories, symbols, meanings, institutions, etc. used to build my reality).– PracticesPractices: what I do or perform (behaviors, forms of expression,

actions).– Resources & practices are closely connected through my interaction with

others.

The SC of Self Rom Harre: explains how I account for my behavior in

particular situations. Ethogeny

– Developed by Harre & Secord– EthogenyEthogeny: the study of how I understand my actions with a predictable

sequence of acts, called episodesepisodes (an event with a beginning & end that all people would agree on).

– Helps determine what the episode means and how people understand the acts involved in it.

Structured Templates– These are theories about the course of action anticipated in the episode.– Example: 2 people have a theory of what it means to be “in love” and

how that should be acted out.– Episodes are governed by rules.

Concept of Self– Also important to Symbolic Interactionism.– I learn to understand myself by using a theory that

defines myself.– The two sides of Personal Being:

• Person (Public): – a publicly visible being that is characterized by certain attributes

and characteristics established within a culture or social group.– Governed by my cultures theory of personhood.

• Self (Private): – My private notion of my own unity as a person.– Governed by my theory of of my own being.– Learned through my interactions with others.

– The self consists of a set of elements that can be viewed spatially along three dimensions.

• DisplayDisplay: whether an aspect of myself is displayed publicly or remains private.

• RealizationRealization (the source): the degree to which some feature of myself is believed to come from me or the group of people around me.

– Individual realizationIndividual realization: elements coming from me.

– Collective realizationCollective realization: elements coming from others.

• AgencyAgency: the degree of active power I attribute to myself.– Active elementsActive elements: such as speaking or driving

– Passive elementsPassive elements: such a listening or riding.

– Common elements in theories of the self:• Self-consciousnessSelf-consciousness:

– I think of myself as an object.

– Double Singularity PrincipleDouble Singularity Principle (Harre): the consistency with which I define and practice I1 & I2.

– The group’s idea of self must treat each I as a consistent unity.

– I must see me as me, not as Batman, etc.

• AgencyAgency: – I have certain powers to do things.

– Seen when I plan something.

• AutobiographyAutobiography: – A sense that I have a history and a future.

– Seen when I tell you about me.

The SC of Emotion EmotionsEmotions (James Averill)

– Are belief systemsbelief systems that guide my definition of the situation.

– Consists of internalized social norms and rules governing my feelings.

– SyndromesSyndromes: Averill’s label for emotions.• A set of responses that go together.• Socially constructed.

– Each emotion has an objectobject.– How an emotion is labeled plays a role in how the

emotion is experienced.

4 Rules That Govern Emotions Rules of appraisal.Rules of appraisal.

– Tells me what an emotion is, where it is directed, & whether it is positive or negative.

Rules of behavior.Rules of behavior.– Tells me how I should respond to the feeling: to hide it, express it in

private, or vent it publicly. Rules of prognosis.Rules of prognosis.

– Defines the progression and course of emotion.– How long should it last, what are its different stages, how does it

begin, how does it end? Rules of attribution.Rules of attribution.

– Dictates how an emotion should be explained or justified.– What do I tell other about it? How do I express it publicly?– Example: “She was acting like a jerk and that made me mad.”

Accounts in Social Construction

AccountsAccounts: how I justify or explain my behavior.

John ShotterJohn Shotter: – Communication-Experience LoopCommunication-Experience Loop

• Communication determines how reality is experienced.

• The experience of reality affects communication.

– I am inseparableinseparable from society. I am not independent.

Rules & Social Action

Rules: Guidelines for action & meaning.

Rule-Governing Approach

Susan ShimanoffSusan Shimanoff RuleRule: “a following prescription that

indicates what behavior is obligated, preferred, or prohibited in certain contexts.”– Rules must be followable.– Rules are prescriptive– Rules are contextual– Rules specify appropriate behavior.

Rules are best stated in the if-thenif-then format.

How to Find a Rule:

If you can answer yes to all three questionsthree questions, you have found a rule:– Is the behavior controllablecontrollable?– Is the behavior criticizablecriticizable?– Is the behavior contextualcontextual?

Finding rules is not always easy.– Overt sanctionsOvert sanctions are the easiest to find.– RepairsRepairs, such as apologizing, often show that a

rule has been violated.

How People Use Rules

Rule-fulfilling & rule-ignorant behaviorsRule-fulfilling & rule-ignorant behaviors– Acting without knowing the rule.

Conforming & error behaviorsConforming & error behaviors– Governed by rules, although I am not thinking at the

time about whether or not I am following the rule.

Rule-following & rule violation behaviorRule-following & rule violation behavior– I consciously follow or violate a rule.

Positive reflection or negative reflectionPositive reflection or negative reflection– Following or violating

Coordinated Management of Meaning Barnett PearcePearce, Vernon CronenCronen, & colleagues. This is the most comprehensive comprehensive rule theory of

communication. CMM integratesintegrates work from:

– System theorySystem theory

– Symbolic interactionismSymbolic interactionism

– EthogenyEthogeny

– Speech actsSpeech acts

– Relational communicationRelational communication

I act & interpret on the basis of rules. Two types of rules:Two types of rules:

– Constitutive rulesConstitutive rules• Rules of meaningmeaning• To interpret or understand an event or message

– Regulative rulesRegulative rules• Rules of actionaction• To determine how I should respond.

These rules are always chosen in a contextcontext.– ContextContext: a frame of reference for interpreting an action.– Four typical contextsFour typical contexts:

• Relationship contextRelationship context: the mutual expectations of all involved.• Episode contextEpisode context: the event itself.• Self-concept contextSelf-concept context: my sense of personal definition.• Archetype contextArchetype context: an image of general truth.

Text-Context Loop Patterns

TextText: an event or action being interpreted. LoopLoop: each is used from time to time to

interpret the other (Reflexivity). Charmed LoopCharmed Loop: each context confirms the

other. Strange LoopStrange Loop: each context disconfirms the

other.

Logical Force Logical forceLogical force: rules tell us what interpretations and

actions are logical in a given situation. Four types of logical forceFour types of logical force:

– Causal ForceCausal Force (Prefigurative)• I feel I am being pressured to spend the weekend with my in-laws.

– Practical ForcePractical Force• I act to achieve a goal (study to get an A, pass the course, etc.).

– Contextual ForceContextual Force• Pressure from the context. I may go to grad school because I feel

this is just who I am (self-concept context).

– Implicative ForceImplicative Force• Pressure to change the context in some way, such as the context of

family expectations.

The Coordination Process

CoordinationCoordination: involves the meshing of my actions with those of another to the point of feeling that the sequence of actions if logical or appropriate.

It is possible with CMM for me to have a perfectly satisfactory coordination with you without understanding you.

Language & Culture

Sociolinguistics: any study of language that makes use of social data, or, conversely, any study of social life that makes use of linguistic data.

Linguistic Relativity

Sapir Whorf HypothesisSapir Whorf Hypothesis– The way I see the world is shaped by the

grammatical structure of language.– Study of the Hopi IndiansHopi Indians.

Reality is already imbeddedimbedded in the language and therefore comes preformed (in contrast to the social constructivist approach).

Elaborated & Restricted Codes Basis BernsteinBasis Bernstein Shows how the structure of language used in everyday

talk reflects and shapes the assumptions of a social group.

Basic AssumptionBasic Assumption: – the relationships established in a social group affect the type of

speech used by the group.– Further, the structure of speech used by the group makes

different things relevant or significant.– I learn my place in the world by virtue of the language codes I

use. CodesCodes: sets of organized principles behind the language

employed by members of a social group.

Elaborated CodesElaborated Codes– Provide a wide range of ways to say something.– More complex.– I can make my ideas and intentions explicit.– Require more planning.– Appropriate for groups who don’t share my assumptions.

Restricted CodesRestricted Codes– Have a narrower range of options.– Easier to predict what form it will take.– Do not allow for me to expand on what I mean.– Appropriate for groups in which my assumptions are

shared.

Open and Closed Role Systems

Open-role systemOpen-role system– Expands the number of alternative for individuals in the

group.

– Use of elaborate codeselaborate codes.

– Person-centered familiesPerson-centered families.

Closed-role systemClosed-role system– Reduces the number of alternative for the participants.

– Use of restricted codesrestricted codes.

– Position familiesPosition families.

Commentary & Critique

SC fills in the gaps left by symbolic interactionism.

SC is popular because of its intuitive appeal.

What is the role of interaction?– SI assumes that language is an outcome of

interaction (thought-language).– Sapir & Wharf: language precedes interaction

(language-thought).

Opposition to SC

Because SC conflicts with the concept that reality is objective and independent.

Many believe that the rock exist before we even begin talking about it.

Structuralists contend that human experience is largely universal, owing to a common biological inheritance and common cognitive structure.– Chomsky: language structures are universal.

– Osgood: the dimensions of meaning are universal.

Ellis’s Challenges to SC Communication cannot proceed without assuming that we

live in a world of a prioria priori realism realism.– We must assume that we are all talking about the same thing.– Based on two principlestwo principles:

• Semantic RealismSemantic Realism– Words have standard meanings.– When I say “football” to Craig, I assume that he knows what I am talking

about.– These meanings are fairly stable.– Meaning itself is real.

• CoherentismCoherentism– Meanings must be verifiable in experience.– A table is a table because I can see it and touch it.– This does not mean that the table exist objectively, but that we can all

assume it does based on our common experience of “tableness.”

Facticity of Objects Social constructivists do

not deny that the locomotive exits.

The issue is not whether the locomotive exists apart from human construction, but how it it seen, what it is, and how it relates to other objects in my experience.

The locomotive can never be viewed as meaningful apart from human experience.

A Serious Question If reality is socially constructed, then how can we

produce generalizable knowledge? If communication is context bound, then how is

theory possible? Cappella: “In short, when competing knowledge

claims are generated, how will they be adjudicated?”– Good communication theory should not attempt to

achieve a standard set of criteria.– It should be judged in terms of its utility and its

potential for enriching human experience.

The Basic Issue of SC

Is communication a tool for

communicating accurately about

the world, or is it the means by

which the world itself if

determined?