What is a social construct? Definition and examples

Social constructs are a product of the culture generated by each society. We use them to refer to and give meaning to phenomena that we construct based on our beliefs to be able to interact with each other and better manage reality and the world in which we live.

In this article we explain what is a social construct, what is its theoretical framework and why we need to create them. In addition, we give you several examples so that you better understand what they consist of.

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Social construct: definition and theoretical framework

Social constructs or social constructions define meanings, notions or connotations that people assign to certain objects or events. They are artifacts that do not exist in nature and we invented them to facilitate interpersonal relationships and interaction between people and the environment.

Sometimes, a social construct constitutes an idea or a notion that seems to be natural and obvious to the individuals who accept it, even though it does not faithfully represent reality; however, this is still

an invention or a socially constructed artifice and with which we interact based on established rules.

The first work that addressed the question of social constructions was perhaps The social construction of realityby Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, published in the sixties. The central idea defended by these authors was the fact that people interact in a social system and form, over time, mental representations of the actions of others, turning these into reciprocal roles and rules that end up being typified and embodied in social institutions.

In this sense, from the theoretical framework of social constructivism it is postulated that knowledge is always generated within the framework of a series of cultural and social practices that permeate everything, hence it is necessary to talk about reality being constructed socially; that is to say, the real would be established as a consequence of a dialectical process between social relations, typified habits and social structures.

However, today there is controversy around issues such as; what is and what is not a social construct, what types of experience are more or less influenced by variables cultural or if it is possible that something can be socially constructed and, at the same time, biologically certain.

Why are social constructs created?

Human beings need to make sense of our reality and this is precisely what the theory of social constructivism postulates: we create social constructs to make sense of the objective world.

One of the most common ways to make sense is by building categories and applying labels. For example, we divide people based on the different physical characteristics they possess and create the social construct called "race." Or we classify a living being based on whether it has branches with leaves. building the concept of "tree".

These two examples, although very different from each other, have something in common: that they are both constructions based on ideas and beliefs that can vary over time and space (the context or the culture).

social constructs include values ​​and beliefs that, as we say, can be modified as societies and individuals interact; in this way, new meanings emerge or change those already available. The term “feminism” is not the same today as it was several decades ago. And the same happens with other social constructions, such as humor or the concept of gender.

Examples of social constructs

Human beings have generated a multitude of social constructions to order and better understand reality and the situation in which we have had to live. Next, we will see some examples of social constructs.

1. Social classes

Social class is a type of socioeconomic classification that we use to establish different human groups based on criteria shared, such as: wealth, monetary income, job occupation, political and purchasing power, habits of consumption etc

Although most social scientists share the fact that social class seems to represent a universal phenomenon, its meaning is often placed contextually, since what determines class varies from society to society and even within the same culture there may be different people who have different notions of what determines whether or not they belong to a social class.

2. The language

The language that one learns depends on the culture in which one is born, so we can say that language is socially determined and is a social construction. However, there is a long list of studies in psychology and neuroscience that show that our brains are equipped with with the neurophysiological mechanisms necessary for us to understand how language works and what we can or cannot learn in it sense.

Although our brains are designed to process language according to certain set rules, beings Humans have tried to create artificial languages, using linguistic norms that seem appropriate and logical to us when we are children; However, what finally happens is that this first “language” mutates and acquires all the peculiarities that natural languages ​​have. This means that language would be biologically determined and would be, at the same time, a social artifact.

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3. The gender

The way we currently experience the concept of gender, in which we see the “boundaries” between the different categories, is influenced by learning and culture. But physiological and biological aspects also play a role on a fundamental level.

When talking about the fact that gender is culturally constructed, it must be taken into account that said concept encompasses a set of traits, behaviors and characteristics, both sexual and non-sexual: some very limited by biology; others only marginally restricted by it; and others that are purely social.

For example, men tend to have more body hair than women; however, some men are hairier than other men, and the same is true of women. In some extreme cases, some women may have more hair than men, but this is rare. This is a phenomenon controlled by hormone production, which in turn is controlled by genes. Therefore, this fact would be very limited by biology.

On the other hand, there is scientific evidence that aggression and the nurturing instinct are influenced by different hormonal levels in men and women.

However, complex behaviors such as “aggression” and “nurturing” are also highly influenced by learning and culture: so much so that there is an overlap between men and women on these dimensions, and some cultures may push men and women to one extreme or the other of them. In short, these traits would be partially defined by cultural variables.

In summary, many of the social constructs, as with gender, are a combination of biological determinants and social aspects. cultural, so it is necessary to know how to identify well how much of each of the parts is in order to better understand and use these buildings.