How a Social Construct Works

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsExamplesWhy They ExistChanges Over TimeHistory

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Examples

Why They Exist

Changes Over Time

History

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A social construct is a concept that exists not in objective reality but as a result of human interaction. Put another way, it exists because humans agree that it exists.

Psychologists andsocial scientistsstudy socially constructed reality to better understand how groups of people create social phenomena. They seek to understand how people participate in the construction and institutionalization of their perceived reality. Continue reading to learn how social constructs work, why they are created, and the impact they can have.

Examples of Social Construct

Some examples of social constructs are countries and money. Countries would not exist were it not forhuman 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 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 discs.

The concept of virginity is also a social construct. It is a concept that society has decided exists and used to mark a before and after for the onset of sexual intercourse. However, it is not something that physically exists in the real world.

And in many cases, this social construct is used as atool to judge and shame people, particularly women and girls, who are often socially devalued for being “impure” or “unchaste” if they are sexually active. The emphasis on virginity also varies depending on the community and culture.

Examples of Social Construction of Reality

Why Humans Create Social Constructs

For example, they see people with different skin colors and other physical features and create the social construct of race. Or they see tall plants with very thick stalks that branch out at the top and have leaves growing on them and “create” the construct of a tree.

Those two examples help illustrate how humans use social constructs, and how different some social constructs are from other social constructs.

Do trees exist outside of the social construct? If we didn’t agree on the construct of a tree, would we see those plants any differently? What about race? Does race exist outside of the social construct? Would we treat people of different colors differently if we did not have the social construct of race?

Social Constructs Can Change

A social construct can include the values and beliefs humans have about the construct. Additionally, humans canalter the constructas they continue to interact with the world.

For example, attitudes toward people with different skin colors have changed over time, and they continue to change.The construct of race still exists, but what the construct means has changed.

Gender As a Social Construct

The social construct of gender illustrates thenature vs. nurture debateabout human behavior. If gender is only a social construct, it means that men and women act differently only because society has dictated their roles to them. They have learned how they should behave and what they should sound or look like.

This debate remains contentious when it comes to sex and gender differences. But most researchers believe that, whatever role inherent biological factors play, environmental factors are a major influence that can affect a person’s genetic expression.

History of Social Constructionism

Building on this, sociologists Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann coined the term “social construction” in their 1966 book “The Social Construction of Reality: A Treatise in the Sociology of Knowledge.“Their work brought the idea of social constructionism to the forefront of mainstream sociology.

Since that time, social constructionism has become a widely accepted and studied theory, although it has taken on varying shades of meaning. In 2012, preeminent psychologist Dave Elder-Vass published “The Reality of Social Construction,” which posited that social constructionism is compatible with—not opposed to—realist social theory, and that both viewpoints have a place in sociology.

Key Takeaways

Social constructs exist because people agree that they exist. They play an essential role in helping people understand and interact with the world in which they live. While we often accept these constructs as inherent truths, it is important to remember that many of these “truths” are human-made and can change over time.

This includes our ideas about topics such as gender, race, and sexuality. By recognizing that our reality is socially constructed, we can work oncreating a more inclusive worldthat better embraces the full range and diversity of human experiences.

6 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Almazan VA, Bain SF.College students' perceptions of slut-shaming discourse on campus.Res High Educ J. 2015;28:1-9.Jablonski NG.Skin color and race.Am J Phys Anthropol. 2020;175(2):437-447. doi:10.1002/ajpa.24200Kong A, Thorleifsson G, Frigge ML, et al.The nature of nurture: Effects of parental genotypes.Science. 2018;359(6374):424-428. doi:10.1126/science.aan6877Walker CA.Social constructionism and qualitative research.J Theory Construct Test. 2015;19(2):37-38.Miller G, Nowacek D.Social construction of reality.Blackwell Encycloped Sociol. 2018:1-8. doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeos1232Elder-Vass D.The Reality of Social Construction.

6 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Almazan VA, Bain SF.College students' perceptions of slut-shaming discourse on campus.Res High Educ J. 2015;28:1-9.Jablonski NG.Skin color and race.Am J Phys Anthropol. 2020;175(2):437-447. doi:10.1002/ajpa.24200Kong A, Thorleifsson G, Frigge ML, et al.The nature of nurture: Effects of parental genotypes.Science. 2018;359(6374):424-428. doi:10.1126/science.aan6877Walker CA.Social constructionism and qualitative research.J Theory Construct Test. 2015;19(2):37-38.Miller G, Nowacek D.Social construction of reality.Blackwell Encycloped Sociol. 2018:1-8. doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeos1232Elder-Vass D.The Reality of Social Construction.

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Almazan VA, Bain SF.College students' perceptions of slut-shaming discourse on campus.Res High Educ J. 2015;28:1-9.Jablonski NG.Skin color and race.Am J Phys Anthropol. 2020;175(2):437-447. doi:10.1002/ajpa.24200Kong A, Thorleifsson G, Frigge ML, et al.The nature of nurture: Effects of parental genotypes.Science. 2018;359(6374):424-428. doi:10.1126/science.aan6877Walker CA.Social constructionism and qualitative research.J Theory Construct Test. 2015;19(2):37-38.Miller G, Nowacek D.Social construction of reality.Blackwell Encycloped Sociol. 2018:1-8. doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeos1232Elder-Vass D.The Reality of Social Construction.

Almazan VA, Bain SF.College students' perceptions of slut-shaming discourse on campus.Res High Educ J. 2015;28:1-9.

Jablonski NG.Skin color and race.Am J Phys Anthropol. 2020;175(2):437-447. doi:10.1002/ajpa.24200

Kong A, Thorleifsson G, Frigge ML, et al.The nature of nurture: Effects of parental genotypes.Science. 2018;359(6374):424-428. doi:10.1126/science.aan6877

Walker CA.Social constructionism and qualitative research.J Theory Construct Test. 2015;19(2):37-38.

Miller G, Nowacek D.Social construction of reality.Blackwell Encycloped Sociol. 2018:1-8. doi:10.1002/9781405165518.wbeos1232

Elder-Vass D.The Reality of Social Construction.

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