An important area of continuing development in human resource development (HRD) concerns the foundational theories that underpin research and practice in the field. This article explores some of the philosophical and theoretical foundations of the social realm related to HRD. As such, it provides a perspective for framing HRD research and practice from the view that social forces arbitrate the thoughts and behaviors of people. This perspective begins with philosophical questions on the nature of social science and continues with an overview of key concepts and theories drawn from sociology and social psychology. For some, social science is qualitatively different from natural science and therefore requires different methods for study, as well as different theoretical frames. The intent here is to offer a framework for approaching HRD from the perspective of the social realm.
AbramsD.HoggM. A. (1990). An introduction to the social identity approach. In AbramsD.HoggM. A. (Eds.), Social identity theory: Constructive and critical advances (pp. 1-9). New York, NY: Harvester Wheatsheaf.
2.
AdlerP. S.KwonS. W. (2002). Social capital: Prospects for a new concept. Academy of Management Review, 27(1), 17-40.
3.
AshforthB. E.MaelF. (1989). Social identity theory and the organization. Academy of Management Review, 14(1), 20-39.
4.
AshforthB. E.SlussD. M.SaksA. M. (2007). Socialization tactics, proactive behavior, and newcomer learning: Integrating socialization models. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 447-462.
5.
AshkanasyN. M. (2002). Studies of cognition and emotion in organisations: Attribution, affective events, emotional intelligence and perception of emotion. Australian Journal of Management, 27, 11-20.
6.
AxelrodR. (1986). An evolutionary approach to norms. American Political Science Review, 80, 1095-1111.
7.
BaldwinM. W. (1992). Relational schemas and the processing of social information. Psychological Bulletin, 112, 461-484.
8.
BarleyS. R.TolbertP. S. (1997). Institutionalization and structuration: Studying the links between action and institution. Organization Studies, 18(1), 93-117.
9.
BauerT. N.BodnerT.ErdoganB.TruxilloD. M.TuckerJ. S. (2007). Newcomer adjustment during organizational socialization: A meta-analytic review of antecedents, outcomes, and methods. Journal of Applied Psychology, 92, 707-721.
10.
BergerP.LuckmannT. (1966). The social construction of reality: A treatise in the sociology of knowledge. New York, NY: Penguin.
11.
BerscheidE. (1994). Interpersonal relationships. Annual Review of Psychology, 45, 79-129.
12.
BeyerJ. M.HannahD. R.MiltonL. P. (2000). Ties that bind. In: AshkanasyN. M.WilderomC. P. M.PetersonM. F. (Eds.), Handbook of organizational culture & climate (pp. 323-338). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
13.
BillettS. (2004). Co-participation at work: Learning through work and throughout working lives. Studies in the Education of Adults, 36, 190-205.
14.
BishopR. C. (2007). The philosophy of the social sciences: An introduction. London, UK: Continuum.
15.
BourdieuP. (1997). The forms of capital. In HalseyA. H.LauderH.BrownP.Stuart WellsA. (Eds.), Education: Culture, economy, society (pp. 46-58). Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press. (Original work published 1983)
16.
CallahanJ. L.de DavilaT. D. (2004). An impressionistic framework for theorizing about human resource development. Human Resource Development Review, 3(1), 75-95.
17.
ChanJ.ToH. P.ChanE. (2006). Reconsidering social cohesion: Developing a definition and analytical framework for empirical research. Social Indicators Research, 75, 273-302.
18.
ColemanJ. S. (1988). Social capital in the creation of human capital. American Journal of Sociology, 94(Suppl.), S95-S120.
19.
Cooper-ThomasH. D.AndersonN. (2006). Organizational socialization: A new theoretical model and recommendations for future research and HRM practices in organizations. Journal of Managerial Psychology, 21, 492-516.
20.
CooterR. (2000). Do good laws make good citizens? An economic analysis of internalized norms. Virginia Law Review, 86, 1577-1601.
21.
DoiseW. (1997). Organizing social-psychological explanations. In McGartyC.HaslamS. A. (Eds.), The message of social psychology: Perspectives on mind in society (pp. 63-76). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
22.
EllicksonR. C. (1998). Social norms, social meaning, and the economic analysis of law. Journal of Legal Studies, 27, 537-552.
23.
ElsterJ. (1983). Explaining technical change: A case study in the philosophy of science. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
24.
ElsterJ. (1989). The cement of society: A study of social order. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
25.
EtzioniA. (2000). Social norms: Internalization, persuasion, and history. Law & Society Review, 34(1), 157-178.
26.
FiskeS. T.TaylorS. E. (1991). Social cognition (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw-Hill.
27.
FlyvbjergB. (2001). Making social science matter: Why social inquiry fails and how it can succeed again. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
28.
GaravanT. N.McGuireD.O’DonnellD. (2004). Exploring human resource development: A levels of analysis approach. Human Resource Development Review, 3, 417-441.
29.
GaravanT. N.O’DonnellD.McGuireD.WatsonS. (2007). Exploring perspectives on human resource development: An introduction. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9(3), 3-10.
30.
GergenK. J. (1994). Realities and relationships: Soundings in social construction. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press.
31.
GergenK. J. (2010). Relational being: Beyond self and community. Oxford, UK: Oxford University Press.
32.
GiddensA. (1987). Social theory and modern sociology. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
33.
GlaeserA. (2005). An ontology for the ethnographic analysis of social process: Extending the extended-case method. Social Analysis, 49(3), 16-45.
34.
GoethalsG. R. (2003). A century of social psychology: Individuals, ideas, and investigations. In HoggM. A.CooperJ. (Eds.), The Sage handbook of social psychology (pp. 3-23). London, UK: SAGE.
35.
HarreR. (2002). Rom Harre on social structure and social change: Social reality and the myth of social structure. European Journal of Social Theory, 5(1), 111-123.
36.
HaslamS. A. (2004). Psychology in organizations: The social identity approach (2nd ed.). London, UK: SAGE.
37.
HoD. Y. F.WangH. (2009). Interpersonal perceptions and metaperceptions in dialogic action therapy: A relational methodological approach to theory construction. Humanistic Psychologist, 37, 79-100.
38.
HoggM. A. (2006). Social identity theory. In BurkeP. J. (Ed.), Contemporary social psychological theories (pp. 111-136). Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
39.
HoggM. A.GrieveP. (1999). Social identity theory and the crisis of confidence in social psychology: A commentary, and some research on uncertainty reduction. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, 2, 79-93.
40.
HoggM. A.TerryD. J. (2000). Social identity and self-categorization processes in organizational contexts. Academy of Management Review, 25(1), 121-140.
41.
HouseJ. S. (1977). The three faces of social psychology. Sociometry, 40(2), 161-177.
42.
JamesW., 1952. The consciousness of self, principles of psychology, In: HutchinsR.M. (ed.), Great Books of the Western World, Encyclopaedia Britannica, Chicago, IL, Chapter 10. (Original work published in 1890)
43.
JenkinsR. (2004), Social identity (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.
44.
JosephJ. (2003). Social theory: Conflict, cohesion, and consent. Edinburgh, UK: Edinburgh University Press.
45.
KahnW. A. (1990). Psychological conditions of personal engagement and disengagement at work. Academy of Management Journal, 33, 692-724.
46.
KatzD.KahnR. L. (1978). The social psychology of organizations (2nd ed.). New York, NY: John Wiley.
47.
KuchinkeK. P. (2007). Response to May and Bowman: Human resource development— Multiparadigmatic, multidisciplinary, open-ended, and complex. Human Resource Development Review, 6(2), 136-141.
48.
LawrenceB. S. (2011). Careers, social context and interdisciplinary thinking. Human Relations64(1), 59-84. doi:10.1177/001872671038429310.1177/0018726710384293
49.
LeeM. (2001). A refusal to define HRD. Human Resource Development International, 4, 327-341.
50.
LeeM. (2007). Human resource development from a holistic perspective. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9(1), 97-110.
51.
LemkeJ. L. (1997). Cognition, context, and learning: A social semiotic perspective. In KirshnerD.WhitsonJ. A. (Eds.), Situated cognition: Social, semiotic, and psychological perspectives (pp. 37-55). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
52.
LinN. (2001). Social capital: A theory of social structure and action. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
53.
LuckmannT. (2008). On social interaction and the communicative construction of personal identity, knowledge and reality. Organization Studies, 29, 277-290.
54.
McAdamsR. H. (1997). The origin, development, and regulation of norms. Michigan Law Review, 96, 338-434.
55.
McClureJ. P.BrownJ. M. (2008). Belonging at work. Human Resource Development International, 11(1), 3-17.
56.
McGuireD.GaravanT. N.O’DonnellD.WatsonS. (2007). Metaperspectives and HRD: Lessons for research and practice. Advances in Developing Human Resources, 9(1), 120-139.
57.
McLeanG. N.McLeanL. (2001). If we can’t define HRD in one country, how can we define it in an international context?Human Resource Development International, 4, 313-326.
58.
MillerK. D.TsangE. W. K. (2010). Testing management theories: Critical realist philosophy and research methods. Strategic Management Journal, 32, 139-158.
59.
MoodyJ.WhiteD. R. (2003). Structural cohesion and embeddedness: A hierarchical concept of social groups. American Sociological Review, 68, 103-127.
60.
MouzelisN. P. (2008). Modern and postmodern social theorizing. Cambridge, UK: Cambridge University Press.
PfefferJ.SalancikG. R. (1978). The external control of organizations: A resource dependence perspective. New York, NY: Harper & Row.
66.
PolkinghorneD. E. (1988). Narrative knowing and the human sciences. New York, NY: State University of New York Press.
67.
RosenbergA. (2008). Philosophy of social science (3rd ed.). Boulder, CO: Westview.
68.
RusbultC. E.ArriagaX. B. (2000). Interdependence in personal relationships. In IckesW.DuckS. (Eds.), The social psychology of personal relationships (pp. 79-108). Chichester, UK: John Wiley.
69.
SaksA. M.UggerslevK. L.FassinaN. E. (2007). Socialization tactics and newcomer adjustment: A meta-analytic review and test of a model. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 70, 413-446.
70.
SandefurR. L.LaumannE. O. (1998). A paradigm for social capital. Rationality and Society, 10, 481-501.
71.
SchonD. A. (1983). The reflective practitioner: How professionals think in action. Basic Books.
72.
ScottW. R. (2003). Organizations: Rational, natural, and open systems (5th ed.). Upper Saddle River, NJ: Prentice Hall.
73.
SchwarzN. (1998). Warmer and more social: Recent developments in cognitive social psychology. Annual Review of Sociology, 24, 239-264.
74.
SealeC. (1999). Quality in qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 5, 465-478.
75.
SherifM. (1936). The psychology of social norms. New York, NY: Harper.
76.
SolomonR. C.HigginsK. M. (1996). A short history of philosophy. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
77.
StrykerS. (1997). “In the beginning there is society”: Lessons from a sociological social psychology. In McGartyC.HaslamS. A. (Eds.), The message of social psychology: Perspectives on mind in society (pp. 315-327). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
78.
SwansonR. A. (2001). Human resource development and its underlying theory. Human Resource Development International, 4, 299-312.
79.
SwansonR. A. (2009). Theory of human resource development. In: SwansonR. A.HoltonE. F.III (Eds.), Foundations of human resource development (2nd ed., pp. 97-111). San Francisco, CA: Berrett-Koehler.
80.
TajfelH. (1982). Social psychology of intergroup relations. Annual Review of Psychology, 33, 1-39.
81.
TetlockP. E.SkitkaL.BoettgerR. (1989). Social and cognitive strategies for coping with accountability: Conformity, complexity, and bolstering. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 632-640.
82.
ThorngateW. (1975). Process invariance: Another red herring. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2, 485-488.
83.
TorracoR. J. (2004). Challenges and choices for theoretical research in Human resource development. Human Resource Development Quarterly, 15(2), 171-188.
84.
TurnerJ. C.HaslamS. A. (2001). Social identity, organizations, and leadership. In TurnerM. E. (Ed.), Groups at work: Theory and research (pp. 25-65). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum.
85.
TurnerJ. C.HoggM. A.OakesP. J.ReicherS. D.WetherellM. S. (1987). Rediscovering the social group: A self-categorization theory. Oxford, UK: Basil Blackwell.
86.
TurnerJ. C.OakesP. J. (1997). The socially structured mind. In McGartyC.HaslamS. A. (Eds.), The message of social psychology: Perspectives on mind in society (pp. 355-373). Cambridge, MA: Blackwell.
87.
Van MaanenJ.ScheinE. H. (1979). Toward a theory of organizational socialization. Research in Organizational Behavior, 1, 209-264.
WangG. G.SwansonR. A. (2008). The idea of national HRD: An analysis based on economics and theory development methodology. Human Resource Development Review, 7(1), 79-106.
90.
WeickK. E. (1979). The social psychology of organizing (2nd ed.). Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.
91.
WeickK. E. (1999). Theory construction as disciplined reflexivity: Tradeoffs in the 90s. Academy of Management Review, 24, 797-806.
92.
WeickK. E. (2001). Making sense of the organization. Malden, MA: Blackwell.
93.
WinchP. (1990). The idea of a social science and its relation to philosophy (2nd ed.). London, UK: Routledge.
94.
YinR. K. (2003). Case study research: Design and methods (3rd ed.). Thousand Oaks, CA: SAGE.
95.
YorksL. (2005). Nothing so practical as a good theory. Human Resource Development Review, 4(2), 111-113.
