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SocialrepresentationWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Socialrepresentation
FromWikipedia,thefreeencyclopedia

Asocialrepresentationisastockofvalues,ideas,metaphors,beliefs,andpracticesthataresharedamongthemembersofgroupsandcommunities.
Socialrepresentationtheoryisabodyoftheorywithinsocialpsychologyandsociologicalsocialpsychology.Ithasparallelsinsociologicaltheorizing
suchassocialconstructionismandsymbolicinteractionism,andissimilarinsomewaystomassconsensusanddiscursivepsychology.

Contents
1 Originanddefinition
2 Anchoringandobjectification
3 Interpretationanddevelopments
4 Statusandprevalence
5 Seealso
6 References
7 Furtherreading
8 Externallinks

Originanddefinition
ThetermsocialrepresentationwasoriginallycoinedbySergeMoscoviciin1961,[1]inhisstudyonthereceptionandcirculationofpsychoanalysisin
France.Itisunderstoodasthecollectiveelaboration"ofasocialobjectbythecommunityforthepurposeofbehavingandcommunicating".[2]Theyare
furtherreferredtoas"systemofvalues,ideasandpracticeswithatwofoldfunctionfirst,toestablishanorderwhichwillenableindividualstoorient
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themselvesintheirmaterialandsocialworldandtomasteritandsecondlytoenablecommunicationtotakeplaceamongthemembersofacommunity
byprovidingthemwithacodeforsocialexchangeandacodefornamingandclassifyingunambiguouslythevariousaspectsoftheirworldandtheir
individualandgrouphistory".[3]Inhisstudy,Moscovicisoughttoinvestigatehowscientifictheoriescirculatewithincommonsense,andwhathappens
tothesetheorieswhentheyareelaborateduponbyalaypublic.Forsuchanalysis,Moscovicipostulatedtwouniverses:thereifieduniverseofscience,
whichoperatesaccordingtoscientificrulesandproceduresandgivesrisetoscientificknowledge,andtheconsensualuniverseofsocialrepresentation,
inwhichthelaypublicelaboratesandcirculatesformsofknowledgewhichcometoconstitutethecontentofcommonsense.
Moscovici'spioneeringstudydescribedhowthreesegmentsofFrenchsocietyinthe1950s,i.e.theurbanliberal,theCatholic,andthecommunist
milieus,respondedtothechallengeofpsychoanalyticideas.Moscovicifoundthatcommunicationprocesses,thecontents,andtheirconsequences
differedacrossthethreesocialsegments.Moscoviciidentifiedpropagandaasthetypicalcommunicationofthecommunistmilieu,whereby
communicationisorderedsystematicallyemphasisingincompatibilityandconflict.Theintentionistogeneratenegativestereotypes.Propagationwas
thetypicalformoftheCatholicsegment,identifiedasdidacticandwellorderedbutwiththeintentiontomakelimitedconcessionstoasubgroupof
Catholicswithaffinitiestopsychoanalysis,andsimultaneously,tosetlimitstotheacceptancewithintheestablishedorthodoxyoftheChurch.Diffusion
wastypicalofurbanliberalmilieus,wherebycommunicationwasmerelyintendedtoinformpeopleaboutnewopportunities,withlittleresistanceto
psychoanalysis.

Anchoringandobjectification
Moscovicidescribedtwomainprocessesbywhichtheunfamiliarismadefamiliar:anchoringandobjectification.Anchoringinvolvestheascribingof
meaningtonewphenomenaobjects,relations,experiences,practices,etc.bymeansofintegratingitintoexistingworldviews,soitcanbeinterpreted
andcomparedtothe"alreadyknown".[4]Inthisway,thethreatthatthestrangeandunfamiliarobjectposesisbeingerased.Intheprocessof
objectificationsomethingabstractisturnedintosomethingalmostconcrete.
Socialrepresentations,therefore,aredepictedasboththeprocessandtheresultofsocialconstruction.Inthesociocognitiveactivityofrepresentation
thatproducesrepresentations,socialrepresentationsareconstantlyconvertedintoasocialrealitywhilecontinuouslybeingreinterpreted,rethought,re
presented.[5][6]
Moscovici'stheorisationofsocialrepresentationswasinspiredbymileDurkheim'snotionofcollectiverepresentations.Thechangefromcollective
representationstosocialrepresentationshasbeenbroughtaboutbythesocietalconditionsofmodernity.[6][7]

Interpretationanddevelopments

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Socialrepresentationsshouldneitherbeequatedwithrelativelystablecollectiverepresentations,norshouldtheybeconfusedwithindividual,cognitive
representations.Thishasbeenelaboratedbyseveralauthorswhocontributedtothetheory:GerardDuveenandBarbaraLloydemphasizedthe
articulationoftheindividualandthecollectiveinmicrogeneticprocessesofsocialization,[8]WolfgangWagnertheorizedabouttheroleofactionand
socialinteractionintheconstructionofsocialrepresentations,[9][10]andSandraJovchelovitchproposedtoregardsocialrepresentationsasaspacein
between,atthecrossroadsbetweentheindividualandsocietythatisthepublicsphere,thatlinksobjects,subjectsandactivities.[11]Mostauthorsagree
thatsocialrepresentationsaredynamicelementsofknowledgethatdependonsocialconflictanddisputetooriginateandthathaveahistoryof
elaborationandchangeovertime.Bauer&Gaskellintegratethisviewintheirformalmodelrelatingthreeelements:subjects,orcarriersofthe
representationanobject,activity,orideathatisrepresentedandaprojectofasocialgroupwithinwhichtherepresentationmakessense.[12]This
conceptualisationisknownasthetobleronemodelofsocialrepresentations.
TherehavebeenvariousdevelopmentswithinthefieldsinceMoscovici'soriginalpropositionofthetheory.JeanClaudeAbricandhiscolleagueshave
exploredthestructuralelementsofsocialrepresentations,distinguishingbetweencoreandperipheralelementsintermsofthecentralityandstabilityof
certainbeliefs.Thisapproachhascometobeknownasthecentralnucleustheory.[13]SaadiLahlouexplorestherelationsbetweensocialrepresentations
andbehavior,focusingoneatingrepresentationsandconsumerbehaviour.[14]OtherimportantdevelopmentshavebeenmadebyCarolineHowarthin
linkingSocialidentitytheorywiththetheoryofsocialrepresentations,[15]byGerardDuveeninelaboratingdevelopmentalaspectsinrelationtothe
microgenesisofsocialrepresentationsofgender,[8]andbyWolfgangWagnerinfathomingtherelationshipbetweendiscursiveprocesses,collective
behaviourpatternsandtheconstructionofsocialrepresentations.[16]

Statusandprevalence
SocialrepresentationtheoryispopularmainlyamongEuropeansocialpsychologists.Twooftheclassicworksintherealmofthistheoryinclude
Moscovici'sownseminalworkonrepresentationsofpsychoanalysisinFrance,[1]andDeniseJodelet'sexemplarystudyofthesocialrepresentationof
madness.[17]However,thetheoryisfarfrombeingasettleddoctrineasitattractsongoingdebateandcontroversyfrombothsocialrepresentationistsand
othertheorists.[18][19]ThetheoryislessknownintheUnitedStates,partlybecausemuchofMoscovici'soriginalworkhasbeenpublishedinFrench.

Seealso
Cognitivepolyphasia

References
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1.Moscovici,S.(1961).Lapsychanalyse,sonimageetsonpublic.Paris:PressesUniversitairesdeFrance.
2.Moscovici,S.(1963).Attitudesandopinions.AnnualReviewofPsychology,14,231260.
3.Moscovici,S.(1973).Foreword.InC.Herzlich(Ed.),Healthandillness:Asocialpsychologicalanalysis(pp.ixxiv).London/NewYork:AcademicPress.
4.Hijer,B.(2011)."SocialRepresentationTheory",NordicomReview,32,316
5.Wagner,W.&Hayes,N.(2005).EverydayDiscourseandCommonSense:TheTheoryofSocialRepresentation.NewYork:PalgraveMacmillan.
6.Jovchelovitch,S.(2007).KnowledgeinContext:Representations,communityandculture,London:Routledge.
7.Alexander,J.C.(1995).FindeSicleSocialTheory.London:Verso.
8.Duveen,G.,&Lloyd,B.(Eds).(1990).Socialrepresentationsandthedevelopmentofknowledge.Cambridge,England:CambridgeUniversityPress.
9.Wagner,W.(1996).Queriesaboutsocialrepresentationandconstruction.JournalfortheTheoryofSocialBehaviour,26,95120.
10.Alison,C.,Dashtipour,P.,Keshet,S.,Righi,C.,etal.(2009).'Wedontshare!Thesocialrepresentationapproach,enactivismandthefundamental
incompatibilitiesbetweenthetwo'.CultureandPsychology,15(1),8395.
11.Jovchelovitch,S.(1996).Indefenceofrepresentations.JournalfortheTheoryofSocialBehaviour,26,121136.
12.Bauer,M.W.&Gaskell,G.(1999).TowardsaParadigmforResearchonSocialRepresentations.JournalfortheTheoryofSocialBehaviour,29(2),163186.
13.Abric,J.C.(Ed).(1994).Pratiquessocialesetrepresentations.Paris:PressesUniversitairesdeFrance
14.Lahlou,S.(1995).PenserManger,Paris,PUF.
15.Howarth,C.(2002).Identityinwhoseeyes?Theroleofrepresentationsinidentityconstruction.JournalfortheTheoryofSocialBehaviour32(2),pp145162.
16.Wagner,W.,Mecha,A.,&Carvalho,M.d.R.(2008).DiscourseandRepresentationintheConstructionofWitchcraft.InT.Sugiman,K.Gergen,W.Wagner,&
Y.Yamada(Eds.),MeaninginAction:Constructions,NarrativesandRepresentations.Tokyo:Springer.
17.Jodelet,D.(1991).MadnessandSocialRepresentations.London:Harvester/Wheatsheaf.
18.Voelklein,C.,&Howarth,C.(2005).AReviewofControversiesaboutSocialRepresentationsTheory:ABritishDebate.Culture&Psychology,11,431454.
19.Verheggen,T.,&Baerveldt,C.(2007).Wedon'tshare!Thesocialrepresentationapproach,enactivismandthegroundforanintrinsicallysocialpsychology.
Culture&Psychology,13(1),527.

Furtherreading
Gillespie,A.(2008).Socialrepresentations,alternativerepresentationsandsemanticbarriers[1]
(http://lse.academia.edu/AlexGillespie/Papers/88689/Social_representations_alternative_representations_and_semantic_barriers).Journalforthe
TheoryofSocialBehaviour38,4,376391.
Moscovici,S.(1988)."Notestowardsadescriptionofsocialrepresentations".JournalofEuropeanSocialPsychology18(3):211250.
doi:10.1002/ejsp.2420180303.
Moscovici,S.(1984)."Thephenomenonofsocialrepresentations".SocialRepresentations:369.
Wagner,W.,Duveen,G.,Farr,R.,Jovchelovitch,S.,etal.(1999).TheoryandMethodofSocialRepresentations.AsianJournalofSocial
Psychology,2,95125.
Wagner,W.&Hayes,N.(2005).EverydayDiscourseandCommonSenseTheTheoryofSocialRepresentations.NewYork,NY:Palgrave
Macmillan.

Externallinks
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