Social constructionism is a sociological framework holding that many features of social reality, concepts, beliefs, norms and values, are formed through continuous interactions and negotiations among society's members rather than through empirical observation of physical reality, and are collectively formulated, sustained and reshaped by the social contexts in which they exist. The field traces its roots to symbolic interactionism and phenomenology, and was established in its modern American form by Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann's 1966 book The Social Construction of Reality, which held that people interact on the shared understanding that their perceptions of everyday life are held in common, a common knowledge of reality that is in turn reinforced by the very interactions built on it.
Facts
Core ClaimSourced to the subject's own accountCategories and meanings that appear natural or given, gender roles, race and mental illness among them, are instead produced and sustained through ongoing social interaction and are therefore historically and culturally variable rather than fixed features of the physical world. 1 Origin YearSourced to the subject's own account Cross-Tradition Connections
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Social constructionism traces its roots to symbolic interactionism and phenomenology.
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