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Journal ArticleDOI

Theory and method of social representations

TL;DR: In this paper, the authors give an overview of social representation theory, definitions of the key terms and of the social processes leading to a representation and to social identity, and compare these theories to theories of attitudes, schemata and social cognition.
Abstract: This paper gives an overview of social representation theory, definitions of the key terms and of the social processes leading to a representation and to social identity. Six empirical studies are presented and details of their methods and findings are given to illustrate this social psychological approach. These studies are about the ontogenesis of gender, the public sphere in Brazil, madness on British television, images of androgyny in Switzerland, individualism and democracy in post-communist Europe and metaphorical thinking about conception. The methods are ethnography, interviews, focus-groups, content analysis of media, statistical analysis of word associations, questionnaires and experiments. Finally, social representation theory is compared to theories of attitudes, schemata and social cognition.

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Book
30 Aug 2011
TL;DR: The Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology as mentioned in this paper is an essential resource for researchers and students of social psychology and related disciplines, and can be used for a wide range of purposes.
Abstract: The Handbook of Theories of Social Psychology is an essential resource for researchers and students of social psychology and related disciplines.

1,270 citations


Cites background from "Theory and method of social represe..."

  • ...) constitute the main methodological framework for works carried out in this area (see, for example, Kronberger and Wagner, 2000; Markova, 1997, 2003; Wagner, 1994; Wagner et al., 1999)....

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  • ...…interviewing, focus groups, discourse analysis, documentary analysis, verbal association techniques, etc.) constitute the main methodological framework for works carried out in this area (see, for example, Kronberger and Wagner, 2000; Markova, 1997, 2003; Wagner, 1994; Wagner et al., 1999)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: An operational definition of a ‘social representation’ is proposed as the comparison of four characteristics of communication systems: the content structures, the typified processes, and their functions within the context of segmented social milieus.
Abstract: Based on Moscovici’s (1961) classical study on the cultivation of psychoanalytic ideas in France in the 1950’s and our own research on modern biotechnology, we propose a paradigm for researching social representations. Following a consideration of the nature of representations and of the ‘iconoclastic suspicion’ that haunts them, we propose a model of the emergence of meaning relating three elements: subjects, objects, and projects. The basic unit of analysis is the elongated triangle of mediation (SOPS): subject 1, object, project, and subject 2, captured in the image of a ‘Toblerone’. Such social units cultivate, that is produce, circulate and receive representation which may be embodied in four modes–habitual behaviour, individual cognition, informal communication and formal communication–and in three mediums–words, visual images or non-linguistic sounds. We propose an operational definition of a ‘social representation’ as the comparison of four characteristics of communication systems: the content structures (anchorings and objectifications; core and peripheral elements), the typified processes (diffusion, propagation, propaganda etc.), and their functions (identity, attitude, opinion, resistance, ideology etc.), within the context of segmented social milieus. Seven implications for research on social representations are outlined: (1) content and process; (2) segmentation by social milieus rather than taxonomies; (3) cultivation studies within social milieus; (4) multi-method (mode and medium) analysis; (5) time structures and longitudinal data; (6) the crossover of cultural projects and trajectories; (7) the disinterested research attitude. This ideal type paradigm leads to an operational clarification to identify new research questions, and to guide the design and evaluation of studies on social representations.

551 citations


Cites background from "Theory and method of social represe..."

  • ...5 For a review of recent research on social representations on gender, the public, madness, the individual, see Wagner et al. (1999)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The review reveals that the response to risk is a highly social, emotive and symbolic entity and a theory and methods appropriate to such qualities are proposed, to produce a valid psychology of risk.
Abstract: This paper is concerned with how people make meaning of the risks they face. It explores certain assumptions of the risk perception approaches, which dominate the area. It argues that despite changes currently taking place in the field, such models still focus on static, intrapersonal processes, with many viewing human thinking as analogous to erroneous information processing. In the place of an individual 'deficit' focus, the paper proposes a more intersubjective theory of the response to risk. Social representations theory is evaluated and its validity assessed by highlighting empirical work on representations of biotechnological and health risks. The review reveals that the response to risk is a highly social, emotive and symbolic entity. Therefore a theory and methods appropriate to such qualities are proposed, to produce a valid psychology of risk.

458 citations


Cites background from "Theory and method of social represe..."

  • ...While anchoring involves drawing on shared knowledge from the past, objectification involves drawing on the current experiential world of the particular group member (Wagner, 1998; Wagner et al., 1999)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: The authors critically assess the dimension of individualism-collectivism (I-C) and its various uses in cross-cultural psychology and call into question the utility of I-C as an explanatory tool for cultural variation in behavior.
Abstract: The authors critically assess the dimension of individualism-collectivism (I-C) and its various uses in cross-cultural psychology. They argue that I-C research is characterized largely by insufficient conceptual clarity and a lack of systematic data. As a result, they call into question the utility of I-C as an explanatory tool for cultural variation in behavior, suggest alternative dimensions for cross-cultural research, and interpret the weaknesses of research on I-C as illustrative of a general trend in social psychology.

250 citations


Cites background from "Theory and method of social represe..."

  • ...The meaning of these behaviors is collectively constructed (Bauer & Gaskell, 1999; Kim & Markus, 1999; Wagner, 1998; Wagner et al., 1999)....

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Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: It is suggested that symbolic coping occurs in countries where a recent increase in policy activity and of media reporting has alerted the public and that these beliefs are relatively independent of pre-existing popular science knowledge and functionally equivalent to scientific knowledge in providing judgmental confidence and reducing self-ascribed ignorance.
Abstract: Using data from policy analyses, media analyses and a European-wide survey about public perceptions of biotechnology conducted in 1996 and again in 1999, it is shown how a country's public develops an everyday understanding of a new technology (genetic modification) construed as potentially harmful by the media. To understand the reliance on images and related beliefs, we propose a theory of collective symbolic coping. It identifies four steps: first, the creation of awareness; second, production of divergent images; third, convergence upon a couple of dominant images in the public sphere; fourth, normalization. It is suggested that symbolic coping occurs in countries where a recent increase in policy activity and of media reporting has alerted the public; that this public show a high proportion of beliefs in menacing images; that these beliefs are relatively independent of pre-existing popular science knowledge; and that they are functionally equivalent to scientific knowledge in providing judgmental confidence and reducing self-ascribed ignorance. These propositions are shown to be true in Austria and Greece. Several implications of the theory are discussed, including social representation theory and public understanding of science.

218 citations


Cites background from "Theory and method of social represe..."

  • ...Some aspects of the notion of symbolic coping introduced in this paper bear upon the social representation approach (see Moscovici, 1988; Wagner et al., 1999), but it will be argued that the theory of symbolic Requests for reprints should be addressed to Wolfgang Wagner, Abt. f. Sozial- und…...

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  • ...Some aspects of the notion of symbolic coping introduced in this paper bear upon the social representation approach (see Moscovici, 1988; Wagner et al., 1999), but it will be argued that the theory of symbolic...

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References
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Book
01 Jan 1973
TL;DR: The INTERPRETATION OF CULTURES CLIFFORD GEERTZ Books files are available at the online library of the University of Southern California as mentioned in this paper, where they can be used to find any kind of Books for reading.
Abstract: THE INTERPRETATION OF CULTURES CLIFFORD GEERTZ PDF Are you searching for THE INTERPRETATION OF CULTURES CLIFFORD GEERTZ Books files? Now, you will be happy that at this time THE INTERPRETATION OF CULTURES CLIFFORD GEERTZ PDF is available at our online library. With our complete resources, you could find THE INTERPRETATION OF CULTURES CLIFFORD GEERTZ PDF or just found any kind of Books for your readings everyday.

20,105 citations

Journal ArticleDOI
TL;DR: A new sex-role inventory is described that treats masculinity and femininity as two independent dimensions, thereby making it possible to characterize a person as masculine, feminine, or "androgynous" as a function of the difference between his or her endorsement of masculine and feminine personality characteristics.
Abstract: This article describes the development of a new sex-role inventory that treats masculinity and femininity as two independent dimensions, thereby making it possible to characterize a person as masculine, feminine, or "androgynous" as a function of the difference between his or her endorsement of masculine and feminine personality characteristics. Normative data are presented, as well as the results of various psychometric analyses. The major findings of conceptual interest are: (a) the dimensions of masculinity and femininity are empirically as well as logically independent; (6) the concept of psychological androgyny is a reliable one; and (c) highly sex-typed scores do not reflect a general tendency to respond in a socially desirable direction, but rather a specific tendency to describe oneself in accordance with sex-typed standards of desirable behavior for men and women. Both in psychology and in society at large, masculinity and femininity have long been conceptualized as bipolar ends of a single continuum; accordingly, a person has had to be either masculine or feminine, but not both. This sex-role dichotomy has served to obscure two very plausible hypotheses: first, that many individuals might be "androgynous" ; that is, they might be both masculine and feminine, both assertive and yielding, both instrumental and expressive—depending on the situational appropriateness of these various behaviors; and conversely, that strongly sex-typed individuals might be seriously limited in the range of behaviors available to them as they move from situation to situation. According to both Kagan (1964) and Kohlberg (1966), the highly sex-typed individual is motivated to keep his behavior consistent with an internalized sex-role standard, a goal that he presumably accomplishes by suppressing any behavior that might be con

7,984 citations

Journal Article
TL;DR: A preliminary demarcation of a type of Bourgeois public sphere can be found in this article, where the authors remark on the type representative publicness on the genesis of the Bourgois Public Sphere.
Abstract: Part 1 Introduction - preliminary demarcation of a type of Bourgeois Public Sphere: the initial question remarks on the type representative publicness on the genesis of the Bourgois Public Sphere. Part 2 Social structures of the Public Sphere: the basic blueprint institutions of the public sphere the Bourgois family and the institutionalization of a privateness oriented to an audience the public sphere in the world of letters in relation to the public sphere in the political realm. Part 3 Political functions of the public sphere: the model case of British development the continental variants civil society as the sphere of private autonomy: private law and a liberalized market the contradictory institutionalization of the public sphere in the Bourgeois constitutional state. Part 4 The bourgeois public sphere - idea and ideology: publicity as the bridging principle between politics and morality, Kant on the dialectic of the public sphere, Hegel and Marx the ambivalent view of the public sphere in the theory of liberalism, John Stuart Mill and Alexis de Tocqueville. Part 5 The social-structural transformation of the public sphere: the tendency toward a mutual infiltration of public and private spheres the polarization of the social sphere and the intimate sphere from a culture-debating (kulturrasonierend) public to a culture-consuming public the blurred blueprint - developmental pathways in the disintegration of the bourgeois public sphere. Part 6 the transformation of the public sphere's political function: from the journalism of private men of letters to the public consumer services of the mass media - the public sphere as a platform for advertising the transmitted function of the principle of publicity manufactured publicity and nonpublic opinions - the voting behaviour of the population the political public sphere and the transformation of the liberal constitutional state into a social-welfare state. Part 7 On the concept of public opinion: public opinion as a fiction of constitutional law-and the social-psychological liquidation of the concept a sociological attempt at clarification.

6,328 citations

Book
01 Jan 1952

3,764 citations