The Social Construction of Meaning

Author(s): David R. Maines

Source: Contemporary Sociology, Vol. 29, No. 4 (Jul., 2000), pp. 577-584
Published by: American Sociological Association
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Charting Futures for Sociology:

Culture and Meaning
The Social Construction of Meaning*
DAVID
R. MAINES
Oakland University
Maines;Woakland. edu

arguably
hasbeendevelopedbestin
Whatis commonlycalledthe "socialconstruc- perspective
tionof meaning"
is oneexpression
of sociology's the areaof socialproblems
(Schneider1985),it
duringthelast30 years
increasing
maturity.
It is anareathatcutsto the hasclearlygrownrapidly
veryheartof the sociological
enterprise
bychal- and now is beingusedin nearlyeveryareaof
lenging vulgar essentialismsand models of sociology.
Admittedly,constructionismof late has
humangrouplifebasedon reifiedconstructs
that
areinconsistentwith whatwe knowaboutthe acquireda somewhatfaddishquality,perhaps
similarto the "sociology
of . . . (whatever)"
of
humanspecies.
The firstmajorchallengewaslargelycom- the 1970s.I doubtthat it is any morefaddish
pletedby the 1930s,wheninstincttheoryas a than otherconventions,however,suchas the
levelsorthe trinity
formofbiologicalessentialism
wasreplaced
with useof 5 percentsignificance
a whollysocialontologyin whichexplanations of race,class,and genderas core independent
Sorokin(1956),of course,madeusall
andunderstandings
of socialphenomenacould variables.
be soughtin theirownterms.It is therefore
fair awareof the fadsand foiblesof sociologyand
so I will lookpastconstructo saythatthe entirefieldof sociologyhasbeen relateddisciplines,
trendier
aspectsin searchof itsproduca socialconstructionist
oneformostof thetwen- tionism's
tiethcentury,to the extentthatpracticing
soci- tive potential. I will briefly characterize
ologistslookdirectlyat socialprocessesto find contemporaryconstructionismand then
a theoryof meaningthathasbroadsociexplanationsfor societal configurationsand describe
ological
application.These discussionswill
arrangements.
delineate
threegenericareasof scholarship
that
A secondwaveof constructionist
scholarship
invesis conventionallymarked by Berger and canusefullyframean arrayof substantive
the
Luckmann's
The Social Corlstruciiorl
of Reality tigations.I will concludeby emphasizing
need
for
scholarship
on
the
dialectics
of
struc(1966). Berger and Luckmanndrew from
andalsoarguethatsociWeberian,phenomenological,
and pragmatist tureandinterpretation,
ologists
should
become
moreconsciousof the
scholarship,
which is moreexplicitlyinterpreconstructionist
ideas
that
theyin factuse,since
tive andhas beenusedto challengethe sociothat
increased
awareness
will
allowsociologyto
logicalessentialisms
stemmingfrominfluential
continue
to
mature
as
a
discipline.
misunderstandings
of Durkheim
andthe subsequenthegemonyof so-called"socialfactist"par- Constructionism and Meaning
adigms. While this newer constructionist Statedin its most generalterms,the constructionist
agendais the attemptto showthat
no matterhow sedimentedsocial conditions
* I appreciatethe help of Art Bochner,Robert
Perinbanayagam,
andMichaelKatovichwithspe- may appearor actuallybe, those conditions
cific issuesin this essay,and the Contemporary nonethelessare produced,maintained,and
Sociology
editorsandtheparticipants
in mydepart- changed through interpretive processes.
varyin
ment'sFacultyResearch
Workshop
whoprovided Scholarsworkingwithinthisframework
their specificpurposesand modesof analysis,
guidance
forrevisingthe initialdraft.
577

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578 Symposia

Takenonlythatfar,however,the theoryof
andIanHacking(1999)providesa mostuseful
becauseit begsthe quesanalysisof the typesof contemporary
construc- meaningis incomplete
in the
tionism.In its mostelementary
form,Hacking tion of whatin fact is beingtransacted
Drawing
fromquanproposes,constructionistscholarshipis not processof meaning-making.
muchdifferentfromhistorical
analysis
in thatan tumtheory,whicharguesthatmotionandposievent or socialconditioncan be describedin tion cannot be measuredsimultaneously,
proposesthat the dialectical
termsof previoussocialprocesses
or conditions Perinbanayagam
givingriseto it. Ironicconstructio7lism,
however, productionof meaningcan occuronly in the
seeksto exposethe underlying
contingentbases presenceof stableformsthatconstitutetheunits
of taken-for-granted
obdurancies,
whileunmask- of meaning.As he putsit, "theprocessof meanwithinstruments
ingconstructio7lism
goesa stepfurther
to showthe ing. . . [mustbe]. . . measured
of
a
stable,
consistent
and
predictable
character"
harmfulconsequences
of reifiedconstructions.
(1986:
111).
Language,
with
its
grammar,
synReformist
andrebellious
constructionism
entailsthe
tax,
and
vocabulary,
is
the
obvious
instance
of
explicitinfusionof valuepositionsintoanalyses,
such
stability
in
that
it
provides
the
categories
in whichsocialconventionsbecomethe targets and structuresfor symbolic transactions.
forcritiqueandchange.Theconstructionist
per- Anotherexampleis a society'scurrency:
While
spective,according
to Hacking,is interdiscipli- the meaningsof moneymayvarywithinflation
naryandrangesfromconventionalanalysesof ratesor the availability
of money,thosemeansocial processes to the activities of the ings can be establishedor transactedonly in
activist/scholar
as an agent of reconstruction relationto the stabilityof the unitsof currency.
andchange.The conceptualcenterof the per- Moreover,
it is obviousthat transformations
of
spective,which some constructionists
might linguisticor monetarystructureswill affect
arguedoesnot exist,liesin the proposition
that meaningsrelevantto thosestructures
by introconstructs
(definitions,
ideas,values,beliefs)are ducinguncertainty
intotheirtransactions.
Thus,
inseparable
fromand mutuallyconstitutiveof justas therearetwo sourcesof uncertainty
in
social conditions(categories,"facts,"forms, quantum
physics(motionandposition),thecerstructures).
taintyanduncertainty
of meaningcanbe found
"Meaning"theotherconceptin the titleof bothin the transactions
of meaningandin the
this essay is at best a sensitizingconcept. degreeof stabilityin the unitsor categoriesof
Althoughmeaninghasbeenseriously
underthe- meaningbeingtransacted.
Mostgoodsociologists
understand
this,and
orized,most sociologistsdrawfroma general
socialbehavioristic
framework
to directatten- in his richly arguedessay Perinbanayagam
tion to sharedor commonresponses,
significa- locatesmeaningat the centerof thatsociologitions,intentionsandgoals,and,in general,the cal understandingthat is, in the dialectical
andprocess,stabiiityand
interpretive
andrepresentational
processes
that relationsof structure
emergence,
certainty
anduncertainty.
To phrase
underliehumanconduct(Blumer1969:2).
Perinbanayagam
(1986), who understands it in the termsof thisessay,he providesa path
that Blumer'swasnevera subjectivistic
nor a alongwhichwecanstudyandbetterunderstand
but only in
"micro"perspective,providesan exceedingly processesof meaningconstruction
relation
to
already-constructed
(sedimented)
insightfulanalysisof meaningthat has broad
Thisis similarto thattakenbyBerger
sociological
appeal.He beginswiththe pragma- meanings.
and
Luckmann
(1966)in theirdiscussion
of sigtismof G. H. Meadbyarguing
thatmeaningis a
nification
and
"objectified
sedimentations,"
and
socialtransaction
and is constitutedexactlyin
it can be usedas a framework
for identifying
an audience's
abilityto respondin a waycomthreelinesof theoryandresearch
thatcanmove
mensurate
withan initiator's
actorutterance.
If usforward
in thisareaof scholarship.
theaudiencecannotrespond,
thenit canbe said
thata meaningful
transaction
hasnot occurred. Consequential Constructions
Thus theorized,the problemof meaningis
Whileit is truethatall meanings,whatever
encasedin the problemof consensusas Scheff theirdegreeof sedimentation,
havebeencon(1967)treatsit, to whichStone (1962)would structed,
it is nottruethatallconstructed
meanaddthat meaningis alwaysa variableranging ings are taken into account or even
somewhere
betweencompletepredictability
to consequential(Goffman1981). Some exist
completeunpredictability.
merelyaspartof the noiseof humanconductor

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Symposia 579
atbestbecomemarginalized
in voicesof loweffiAlthoughsomestudiesof the consequential
cacy. Other constructedmeanings,however, constructionof religionhave an unmasking
becomeincorporated
into the ongoingcultural qualityto them(seePagels1995;Ellerbe1995),
and socialstructural
arrangements
of a society workin this areatendsto be closerto the hisandthuscanbe highlyconsequential.
Manyof torical constructionismversion defined by
these meaningspertainto fundamental
cate- Hacking.Recentworkin thesocialconstruction
containsan irongoriesof humangrouplife (includingthe very of gender,however,frequently
qualitybyrevealing
howgender
ideaof categories
itselfl,whichwereof central ic orunmasking
aremorefundamentally
ideologiconcernto Durkheim(Rawls1996).Examples classifications
of work on these matters would include cal andpoliticaleconomicsystemsof advantage
(Hacking(1999:7-10). Ironic
Meehan's(2000) accountof how the category anddisadvantage
also appearsin the ongoing
ga7lgwaspoliticallyconstructed
in the 1970sas constructionism
on nationalism
(e.g.,Gellner1983;
an object of police attention(see also Best scholarship
1990).In this line of research,the
1995), and Ault's(1996) analysisof how the Hobsbawm
category
bisexuality,
asanambiguous
identitynot category71atio71 becomesa highlyconsequential
Whenlookingclosely
fittinginto the essentialistbinarysexualdivi- andreifiedconstruction.
finds
sion, findsitselftodaypulledby the religious ata nation'speople,though,oneinvariably
of ethnicheritages,
languages,
conrightto meanimmoralchoicesandby lesbian an amalgam
testedterritorial
claims,internalculturaldivifeminismto meandisloyalty
to women.
the
Religionis a fertileareafor studyingthe sions,andreligiouslineagesthatdestabilize
category
71atio71. Whatexists,Anderson
(1983)
dialecticalproductionof consequential
meancommunities,"
or powerings. The canonical construction of tellsus, are"imagined
that in contempoChristianity's
NewTestament
bythe Councilof ful symbolicrepresentations
Carthagein 397 CE, for example the exact rarytimesareverysubjectto variousmediathat
structure
of whichis stillmaintained
bythenew tell a peoplewhotheyare.
Ironic,unmasking,and reformist/rebellious
Catholic Catechism(Catechism
1995: 40)constructionism
havebecomeincreasingly
comclaimsto representthe truerevelationof the
mon
in
the
study
of
race
and
ethnicity,
often
ChristianGod throughapostolicsuccession.
withthe explicitgoalof reducing
That sedimentedtext, however,has becomea accompanied
theharmful
consequences
of racialclassification
homogenized,
consequentialicon that glosses systems.Historicalanalyses
have been enorand hidesits constructed
nature.It masksthe mouslyimportantfor understanding
the interdeeptheologicalcleavages,alternative
versions pretivedimensions
of thesesystems.Hannaford
of apostolicsuccessions,
thepresenceof compet- (1996) examinesthe West'shistoryof criteria
inggospels(e.g.,Philip,Steven,Thomas,Mary forgroupinclusionandexclusion,andfindsthat
Magdalene),
the contestednatureof God'sgen- consciousracialcriteriadidnot existuntilafter
der,the creationof Maryfrommerelya mother the Reformation
anddid not beginto become
to the Motherof God,the transformation
of the solidifieduntil the late seventeenthcentury.
aphoristic
Jesusintothe narrativized
divinityof Contemporary
racialarrangements
and underthe gospels,and competingclaimsof human standings,the argumentgoes, derive from
divinity(e.g.,Simonthe Gnostic)thatcharac- Europeanpolitical economic expansionism,
terizedthe firstfourcenturiesof Christianity politicalphilosophy's
articulation
of the individ(Dowley1995;Ellerbe1995;Cunneen1996; ual,andthe Enlightenment's
creationof scienMack1993;butseealsoStark1996).Andwhile tificmeasurement
andclassification
systems(see
Christianorthodoxieshave been contestedin alsoGould1981).Thislineof workcomfortably
everycenturyof the pasttwo millennia,those restsin Blumer's
(1955)theoryof racialstratifiorthodoxies,
especially
whenfusedwithpolitical cation,in whichhe theorized
raceasa socialdefeconomicstructures,
havepositioned
millionsof inition whose meaningsare establishedin
humansto fatesof oppression
or privilege.Any economic,political,legal,andpreferential
sets
religion,accordingly,
becomesa research
sitefor of relations.It is thoserelations,Blumerargued,
studyingthe relationsbetween"thehistorythat that createrace itselfand that maintainand
humanbeingsmakeandlivespontaneously
[and transform
racialcategories.
the] structures
of meaningthat they have not
Buildingon theorysuch as Blumer'sand
chosen"(Denzin1992:74).
recenthistoricaland comparative
scholarship

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580 Symposia

(see Appiahand Gates 1995;Harrison1998; andsequence,but tendsto minimizeor ignore

Waters1990;Pride1999),we now quitecon- the emplotment
of meaning.The virtueof that
ventionallyregardraceas sociallyconstructed worknonethelessis in replacingvariables
with
ratherthan as biologicallydetermined.The eventsas the unit of analysisandin reframing
essentialistblack/whitedistinction is now causalanalysis(Mahoney1999)andmacrohisunderstoodas historicallyunique to North toricalanalysis(Paige1999)in moreprocessual,
America,butalsoas one thatnevercompletely situational
directions.
existedandhas been undoingitselfat a faster
Collective,consequential
meanings,howevratein the last threeor fourdecades.Serious er,havebeenexaminedin variousways.Somers
attentionto raceas a complex,multi-institu- (1992:617) arguesthatthe goalof class-formationalsocialconstruction
is nowfarmorecom- tion theoryis "explaining
and recoveringthe
monthanbefore.Koger(1985)punctuates
the meaningof workingclass social action,"and
intrinsiceconomicnatureof racein his studyof towardthatend she usesa varietyof narrative
blackslaveownersin SouthCarolina;
Ignatiev conceptsto capturethe structural
andhistorical
(1995)providesa laborhistoryanalysisof "how contextsof the riseof the Englishworkingclass.
the Irishbecamewhite";Loewen(1988)shows Workalongsimilarlineshasusedtheconceptof
howChineseimmigrants
to Mississippi
became "narrative
structure"
to examinethe relationsof
black;Davis(1991)andothers(Russell,
Wilson, collectiverepresentations
andstorybelievability
and Hall 1992;Katz1986) discussthe preva- (Maines1999;Bridger
andMaines1998)andto
lence and characterof mixed-racepeoples; inquireinto how narrativestructures
prefigure
Denton(1997) examinescurrentissuesof the storycredibility.
BarrySchwartz's
(1996)work
classification
of mixedracepeoples;Williams has been invaluablein furtheringour under(1995)describes
howhe completely
changedhis standingof the construction
of collectivememrace,goingfromwhiteto blackwhenhe moved ory and thus of dominantculturalmeaning
to Muncie,Indiana;Kusow(1998) showshow structures.
Schwartz
showshowthe meaningof
Somali immigrants
to Canadadid not have Abraham
Lincolndependson the "socialframes
"race"at all until afterthey immigrated;
and of memory"
thatarethemselves
keyedto generNakayama
andMartin(1999)andFrankenbergationalchange.Powerful
groups,functioningin
(1993)havecompiledfascinating
materialson wayssimilarto Becker's(1963) depictionof
the new area of the social constructionof
"moralentrepreneurs"
andFine's(1996)depic"whiteness."
tion
of"reputational
entrepreneurs,"
revivedthe
Such challengesto racialessentialism
have
collective
meaning
of
Lincoln
by
defining
his
madeit mucheasierto workwithinthe space
relevance
to
World
War
II
in
terms
of
his
releBlumeropeneda half-century
agoandto appreciate more fully analysessuch as Omi and vance to the Civil War. Accordingly,while
Winant's(1986), which focus on race as an Lincolnhascometo restinsidea "goodstory"of
unstableset of meaningssimultaneously
keptin America,it is importantto recognizethat the
itself,asa kindof culturalinformation
place and transformed
throughpoliticaleco- narrative
technology
(Altheide 1995), has made that
nomicandassociational
relationships.
meaningpowerful.
While worksuchas that mentionedabove
NarrativeInquiry
Mattersof consequential
constructions
clear- seeksto linkcollectiveandpersonalmeanings,
intostandard
areas
ly speakto theneedforgreateremphasis
on his- otherworkinfusesnarrative
toricalanalysesin sociology,which in turn of socialtheory.Ezzy(1998) linksnarrativeto
requiresattentionto recentdevelopmentsin symbolic interactionismand hermeneutics,
narrativeinquiry(Gothamand Staples1996). Denzin(1992) locatesnarrativeinteractionism
Whiletherehas been enormousgrowthacross in culturalstudies,and Howardand Allen
betweenattributhe boardin this area,both substantively
and (1989)showthe compatibility
methodologically,
notallnarrative
sociologyhas tiontheoryandliterarycriticismin the studyof
emphasized
meanings.Of the threeirreducible textual interpretation.Moreover, Orbuch
elements of narrative everlts orderedin a (1997) clearlyarticulates
the naturalaffinities
sequerlce
and configuredinto a plot (Maines betweennarrative
andthe longline of workon
1993) it is the lastelement,plot,thatconveys accountsin sociology,psychology,
andcommumeaning.Narrativepositivism(Abbott 1992; nicationstudies,andMaynard(1988)earlyon
Griffin1993)emphasizes
the elementsof events exploredtheconnections
betweennarrative
and

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Symposia 581
conversation
analysis.
Regardless
of the substantiveareaortheoretical
approach,
though,scholarsusinga narrative
framework
findthemselves
movingmoreexplicitlyinto considerations
of
the structures
andtransactions
of meaning.

Eachlevel,in effect,wasa situationwithdifferent stakeholders

andconditionsthatcalledout
differentprocessesof interpretation
(negotiation, accommodation,
indifference)such that
the intendedeffectsof the policy were not
alwaysthe actualeffects.The varioussituations
of policy implementation,Hall concludes,
becomepartof the processof policyformation.
Similarly,Gusfield(1996) has analyzedthe
problemsof alcoholconsumption
as a situated
activity.Peoplewhodrinkin barsdo so largely
becausethat is wherethey can find alcohol,
friends,sociability,
andthentheydrivehomein
carsbecausecarsaretheirmeansof transportation. The "drinking/driving
problem"comes
fromthosetwo situationsbecomingcombined.
However,that combinationitself has been
definedas a problemof drinkingratherthana
problemof drivingbecauseof the powerof the
"alcoholism
movement,"
andthusglossesallthe
structures
of choiceexpressed
or impliedin that
combination.
Gusfield,though,squarely
directs
attentionto the varietyof situations
of drinking
andhow thosesituationsareproduced.
In the
courseof his analysishe recommends
the manifeststudyofhowthemeanings
ofdrinking
activitiesareconstructed,
andhe illustrates
one way
of conducting
suchresearch.

SituationalAnalysis
It isa sociological
axiomto assertthathuman
conductoccursin situationsandthusis contextuallyinfluenced,and it is thereforefittingto
discuss what W. I. Thomas long ago
([1927]1966)
termed"situational
analysis"
asthe
thirdareaof significance.
Thomasdrewfromthe
attitude-value
schemehe hadworkedoutearlier
withZnaniecki
to proposea modelcomposed
of
threeelements:attitudes(definitionsof situations), values(goalstowardwhichdefinitions
aredirected),andsituations(factorsconditioning the behaviorpattern).In this model,he
regarded
interpretation,
variation,
andthe indeterminacy
of outcomesas situatedconduct,and
he therebyproblematized
meaning.Whilethis
approach
hasbeenvastlyunderused
in sociology,sociologists
arebeginningto recognize
itssignificanceandthuslinesof workexist that are
quite consistentwith Thomas'smodel and
deserving
of seriousattention.
One of the thorniestproblems
in socialpsychologyhas been the indeterminate
relations
between attitudesand behavior.Deutscher, Conclusions
Mytopicis unlikemostothersin sociologyin
Pestello,andPestello(1993)explainthoseindecategory
of scholarterminaterelationships
by observingthat they thatit is not a conventional
smallgroups,family,
arealwayssituated.In somesituations(depend- ship,suchas stratification,
ing on audience,setting,whatis at stake),the ortheory.Thereis no definitivebodyof knowlrelationships
betweenattitudesandbehaviorare edgethatI knowof calledthe "socialconstrucYetno practicing
sociologist
consistent,while in othersituationsthe same tion of meaning."
ones
relationships
are inconsistent.Sometimespeo- can avoidthis topic,andall level-headed
ple areawareof suchsituationalvariation,but realizethat their subjectmatteris composed
muchof the time they arenot becauseof the exactlyof variousdegrees,kinds,andsituations
compartmentalization
of sociallife.Accordingly, and structuresof meaning and absurdity.
forexample,a sociologist
whoteachesstudentsa Moreover,most sociologists,upon reflection,
Durkheimian
versionof howhumangroupscre- will recognizethat in one wayor anotherthey
framework.
Insteadof writatedvariousdeitiesand then on Sundaywor- usea constructionist
havingbeen"socially
conships God-the-creatordoes not necessarily ingaboutsomething
experience
inconsistency,
becausethe twositua- structed,"however,they may use terms or
"created,"
"caused,"
tionsof workandworshiparenot morallycon- phrasessuchas "produced,"
nectedbutinsteadarecompartmentalized.
This "givesriseto,""isinfluencedby,"or "emerges
approach,
then,suggests
thatthe meaningof an from,"all of whichbelongto a familyof referprocesses
(Britt1997).
attitudeor utteranceis a functionof the situa- encesto constructionist
The implication
hereis that theredoesnot
tion in whichit is expressed.
faultlinebetween
PeterHall (1995) likewisehas studiedthe existsomedeepandenduring
andnonconstructionists,
which
flowof a federaleducational
policythroughstate constructionists
tendto perpetuate
legislature,
statebureaucracy,
local schooldis- is a fictionthat sociologists
Rather,thereis a faultlineof
trict,andlocalschoolcontexts,andhasshown amongthemselves.
betweenthosewhorealizetheydo
how the policywastransformed
at each level. consciousness

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582 Symposia

constructionist
scholarship
and those who do then takethe furtherstepto studyhow meannot. Eventhisdivision,though,is beginningto ingsbecomehistorically
sedimented
andsubseerodeinsofaras the vocabularies
thathelp sus- quently experienced as taken-for-granted
tain it arechanging.Thereis little doubt,for obdurancies.The hard questions,moreover,
instance,that sociology'sgrowingmaturityis involvenot just how meaningsbecomecondirectlylinkedto the widerrecognition
but,as Strauss(1971:
among structedandsedimented
sociologiststhat the old dichotomiessuchas 10)suggests,
how"intertwined
setsof meanings"
structure
vs.process,materialism
vs. idealism,
arrangements.
or restat thebaseof socialstructural
microvs. macro no longerservethe interests Whenwegetto thatpoint,sociologists
willfind
of scholarswishingto understand
betterthe themselvesat the verycoreof the socialontolmattersof humangrouplife.Thatmaturity
also ogythey espouseandwill findthemselvesalso
is relatedto the destabilization
of theorysince developinga morematureset of explanations
the 1970sandthe consequent
processes.
Uponreachincreasein theo- thatstressstructuration
retical and empiricalanalysesemphasizing ingthatpoint,sociologists
willhavealready
recaction,agency,contingency,
culture,andhisto- ognizedthat their disciplinecan be only an
scienceandthatitssubjectmatteris
ry.We witnessthesedevelopments
acrossvari- interpretive
interpretations.
ousspectraof sociological
work,andwhentheir madeupexactlyof patterned
implications
arethoughtfully
considered
we can
seethattheyinvitereconsideration
of howsoci- References
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andtheirwork.
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I havesuggested
threeareasof broadsocioMethodsandResearch
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as I have argued,
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nessamongsociologists
in theirrecognition
that
Reflections
on theOriginandSpreadof Nationalism.
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to assertany socialontologyis to assertthat
somethinghas been sociallyconstructed.
This Appiah,KwameAnthony and HenryLouisGates,Jr.,
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recognitionis not one of meresemanticsor
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Press.
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becauseit willforceanaAult,
Amber.
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lyststo lookevenmorecloselyat actualhuman
UnambiguousSex/GenderStructure:The Case of
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also
449-63.
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in Becker, Howard. 1963. Outsiders.New York: Free
themselvesdeservedirectstudy,and that such
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sociologicalimporDoubleday.
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Contemporary
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Social Accessibilityand Involvement:Challenges of the Iklentyfirst Century

CANDACE
WEST
University of California, Santa Craz
west@2cats.acsc.eda

to others,butoftenadmired.
In 1974,two U.S. cardiologists
(Friedman
and notonlyacceptable
sincethe "TypeA"
Rosenman1974) identifiedthe majorcauseof Whatis more,theyaverred,
whenthosewith"particucoronaryarteryand heartdiseaseas "TypeA complexonlyappears
traits"areconfrontedwith perBehavior":
an observablepatternof "chronic, larpersonality
incessantstruggleto achievemoreandmorein ceived challengesoutside themselves,it is
less and less time, and if requiredto do so, unlikelyto surfacein the absenceof a challengagainstthe opposingeffortsof otherthingsor ing environment
(1974:84). Nonetheless,said
otherpersons"
(p.84). Friedman
andRosenman the cardiologists,
the visiblesignsof the "Type
described13 signsof the "TypeA personality," A"complexforma significant
behaviorpattern
includingfree-floating
hostilityandcharacteris- in and of themselves,and this patternis "the
tic impatience
at the ratemostthingsoccur.For majorcauseofpremature
coronary
heartdisease"
example,they said,"TypeA individuals"
are (1974:9).
At theturnofthetwenty-first
century,"Type
proneto undueannoyance
andevenragewhen
is lookingless and less like the
a carjustaheadof themgoes too slow,when A Behavior"
theyareforcedto waitin a queue,orwhenthey reactionof a particularpersonalitytype. For
mustcarryout necessarybut repetitioustasks instance,findingsof a nationwidestudyby an
company(Richards2000) showthat
thatdistractthemfrommoreinteresting
activi- insurance
ties.Suchindividuals
oftenfindthemselves
try- 76 percentof U.S. driversare simultaneously
ingto do (andthinkabout)morethanonething engagedin otheractivitiesthat distractthem
at a time,suchasdictatingletterswhiledriving, fromthe road,suchas tuningthe radio(62 perpondering
overbusiness
orprofessional
problems cent),eating(57 percent),turningto speakto a
while on vacation,or contemplating
matters passenger(56 percent),and/ortalkingon cell
outsidethe conversation
whilelisteningto oth- phones(29 percent)."Roadrage"is so common
erstalk.
thatreports
of it makeheadlinesonlywhenthey
Friedman and Rosenman ( 1974: 84) involveextremedisplays
of hostility forexamacknowledged,
of course,thatthe "TypeA per- ple,the manwho,whenhis carwasinvolvedin
sonality"
is involvedin a formof conflictthatis a minor rear-endcollision at an airport,

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