Discussion Classical and Contemporary Perspectives in Social Psychology
When responding to classmates, address them by name so lines of communication don’t get confused. Your responses must be thoughtful and substantive. A mere question, opinion, piece of advice, or affirmation of a previous post will not suffice for active participation. You need to critically oppose or expand your classmates ideas. Responses can focus on many things, such as:
–You can try to clarify or correct something that confused your classmate
–You can direct them to a section of the readings that addresses their question or point of confusion
–You can offer personal or general examples of things mentioned in the post
–You can provide an internet link with information that answers something the original post asked about
Initial Post
Read the summary and all the articles in Section I.A (“The Social Construction of Reality”) and then answer the following questions. What does it mean that reality is socially constructed? Describe one example from your college, work, or religion experiences where a belief, attitude, and/or pattern of behavior was socially constructed.
Student Response (Leatha)
Social construction of reality is what the people of a society have set as their standards to live by, though what they believe to be normal may not be the truth. It is where a complex set of rules separate frontstage and backstage regions, thereby covering up natural bodily functions, death and decay, or frustration at work (Preves, & Mortimer, 2011, p. 4). Though one society may find the rituals amongst the Nacirema people similar to their own, the secrecy surrounding the rituals that the Nacirema culture uses to ensure their privacy to those tasks may seem odd to the outsider. This sentiment is echoed in the process that morticians and funeral directors use while dealing with the body of a persons loved one. The body goes through a transformation where a life like and well-preserved figure of the loved one is presented for the funeral, though in actuality the body has already started the decaying process and there is no life left in the body. Similarly, the Disney company goes to great lengths to hide the reality of their business from guests that visit their theme parks. Entire undergrounds are created to the business side of the industry away from the illusion that is presented to guest of the theme park.
This same type of staging happens in everyday life though it is hidden by those around us. I have worked in many hospitals and watched this staging effect happen when a hospital is trying to maintain their national accreditation so they can keep their federal funding. As soon as the inspectors arrive, additional staff is called in to cover any holes and anything in need of repairs is hidden from view. As the inspectors are escorted throughout the hospital, administration is scrambling trying to send word to that area of the hospital so additional help is present while the inspectors are in that area. Additionally, this allows for any last-minute items to be hidden or problems to disappear until after the inspectors leave. Once they are gone, the hospital goes back to normal as if nothing ever happened.
