What is social knowledge?

Any of us, through superficial observation, can see that Social phenomena have a very different nature from physical ones. Furthermore, we not only see them differently, we also act differently towards them. But what really is social knowledge? And how do we build that knowledge in our minds? Many psychologists throughout history have sought to answer these questions.

The study of social knowledge is a very broad and highly relevant field of research. This is because the interest of this field of study is multiple and can be considered from many points of view (psychological, educational, epistemological…). In this article we are going to talk about two specific aspects: the construction of representations of social reality and the nature of social phenomena.

Construction of social knowledge

A key aspect of social knowledge is understanding how it is constructed. People, when observing the functioning of the world around us, build representations or models that explain what we perceive. This helps us give meaning to what happens outside of us and to generate our own models, very useful as frameworks for action.

This theory of representations was created by social psychologist Serge Moscovici. With them, I intended to explain that our behavior is governed by a common code with which we name and classify everything that happens to us. That is why these social representations allow us to act in a “socially acceptable” way in most situations.

Indeed, Representations make it possible to anticipate what is going to happen, and act accordingly. It is easy to deduce the great adaptive value of our ability to generate and adjust valid and reliable models. For example, when we reach a representation of how electricity works and the damage it can do, we discard the idea of ​​sticking our fingers in a socket.

A key aspect of the human species is its social environment. Thanks to life in society we have been able to adapt to a hostile environment, despite the natural deficiencies of human beings. Therefore, it is logical to think that we must have a large repertoire of social models that allow us to know how to act in our daily lives in the social framework.

Within these representations or models of society, which is what is called social knowledge in psychology, we can find three large categories:

Knowledge of others and oneself: Through experience with others we create models that allow us to know others and ourselves. Knowing the minds of others, that is, knowing how others think helps us predict their actions. Studies on the so-called “theory of mind” can be framed within this section.Moral and conventional knowledge: The subject acquires the rules or norms that regulate the relationships he has in relation to others. Knowing this allows us to adapt to our community and live with others. In this sense, psychologist Lawrence Kohlberg studied the development of morality in human beings.Knowledge of institutions: A key aspect of social knowledge is understanding the roles that people occupy within a society. Here we talk about the representations we have about how a shopkeeper, a boss, a political representative, etc. behaves. This helps us carry out any social act without needing to know what the person in front of us is like, because we know the role they must play.

Nature of social phenomena

Although it seems obvious that there are differences between a physical phenomenon and a social one, making these differences explicit becomes complicated. You can define physical facts as objective and independent of the subject and social facts as subjective and dependent, but from a socio-constructivist perspective this distinction is meaningless.

An attempt to understand what social phenomena are composed of is what the philosopher John Searle proposes to us. To explain the representations about the social world, he introduces three elements: (a) the constitutive rules, (b) the assignment of functions and (c) the collective intentionality.

Just as a game is made up of rules, Searle affirms that institutions are also made up of rules.. And the importance of these rules is that without them neither the game nor the institutions could exist.

For example, when playing chess there is a regulation that tells us what we can do and what we cannot do; If these rules did not exist, the game would be meaningless. Well the same thing happens with Our institutions exist to the extent that we say they exist. A clear example is currency, there are rules that say how much each bill is worth and under what conditions they are exchanged. If these did not exist, money would only be metal or paper.

When we talk about assigning functions, we refer to the intention to attribute functions to objects or people. We say that chairs are for sitting and forks are for eating, but these are not intrinsic properties of objects: the function is imposed by humans. This attribution is largely collective, generating socially shared knowledge about the function of people and objects in society.

And finally, It is important to understand the role that collective intentionality plays. This involves the human being’s attempt to share beliefs, desires and intentions. Which allows us to act within a framework where cooperation is possible, thus managing to coexist in an adaptive and safe society for all its individuals.

Social knowledge helps us understand and know how to act within society. Its study has great added value and allows us to act at many levels. For example, in relation to education, understanding this helps us know what pedagogical models or measures we should take when creating a more just and cooperative society.

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