What is a social construct? Definition and examples

The concept of a social construct is complex and often leads to misunderstandings. Let's see what it is.

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 in order to interact with each other and better manage reality and the world in which we live.

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

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 that we invented to facilitate interpersonal relationships and interaction between people and the environment.

Sometimes, a social construct is 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, it is still an invention or a socially constructed artifice with which we interact on a social basis. an invention or a socially constructed artifice with which we interact on the basis of established rules..

The first work that addressed the question of social constructions was perhaps the following The Social Construction of Realityby Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, published in the 1960s. 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.These become roles and reciprocal 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 speak of reality as being socially constructed; that is, reality would be established as a result of a dialectical process between social relations, typified habits and social structures, 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 about questions such as: what is and what is not a social construct, what types of experience are more or less influenced by cultural variables, or whether it is possible for something to be socially constructed and, at the same time, biologically determined.

Why social constructs are 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 of making sense is by constructing categories and applying labels. For example, we divide people according to the different physical characteristics they possess and create the social construct called "race". Or we classify a living being according to whether it has branches with leaves, constructing the concept of "tree".

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

Social constructs include values and beliefs, which, as we have said, can be modified as societies and individuals interact; thus, new meanings emerge or the available ones change. The term "feminism" is not the same today as it was several decades ago. And the same is true of other social constructs, such as humor or the concept of gender.

Examples of social constructs

Human beings have generated a multitude of social constructs to better order and understand reality and the situation in which we live. Here are some examples of social constructs.

1. Social classes

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

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

2. Language

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

Although our brains are designed to process language according to certain established rules, we humans have tried to create artificial languages, using linguistic rules that seem appropriate and logical to us as children; however, what eventually 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..

3. Gender

The way in which we currently experience the concept of genderThe way we currently experience the concept of gender, in which we see the "boundaries" between different categories, is influenced by learning and culture. But it is also influenced by physiological and Biological aspects at a fundamental level.

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

For example, men tend to have more body hair than women; however, some men are hairier than other men, and with women the same is true. 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 nurturing instinct are influenced by different hormone levels in males and females.

However, complex behaviors such as "aggression" and "nurturing" are also heavily 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.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 on these dimensions. In short, these traits would be partially defined by cultural variables.

In short, many of the social constructs, such as gender, are a combination of biological determinants and cultural aspects, so it is necessary to be able to identify how much of each part there is in order to better understand and use these constructs.