The mutual construction of social and self

a social critique of social cognition

Jeroen Jansz

pp. 243-250

in: Michael E. Hyland, William J. Baker, René van Hezewijk, Terwee (eds), Recent trends in theoretical psychology, Berlin, Springer, 1990

Abstract

In general, modern psychology is characterized by an individualistic view of the person. Theories of social cognition, which are dominant in social psychology nowadays, are no exception to this rule. They conceptualize the self-schema as a homunculus which constructs actively his personal environment. Consequently, the classical dualism between self and social is revitalized, with the attribution of primacy to the individual mind. In this paper, person and selfhood are conceptualized as being constructed in interpersonal communication. Primacy is attributed to public discourse, without, however, lapsing into determinism. As an agent, the individual takes part in and contributes to public communication. On the one hand, he or she uses public language for, for example, self-reflection. On the other hand, language cannot exist without the "words' of individual speakers. This mutual construction is illustrated with some examples.