The science of social psychology would benefit from a renewed commitment to big brash theory. Jost and Kruglanski (this issue) suggest that social constructionist themes and attitudes may be useful in this regard. I elaborate further on the ways in which social constructionist theory can indeed inspire conceptual boldness but warn that constructionist approaches can also be conceptually constraining. Social psychology will benefit most if social psychologists emulate social constructionists' willingness to engage in “unnecessary” speculation but rebel against constructionists' unwillingness to seek universally applicable theories. Social constructionism challenges us to confront big questions, and the science of social psychology will best be spurred forward if we respond to that challenge by seeking big bold answers.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Conway, L. G., III, & Schaller, M. (2002). On the verifiability of evolutionary psychological theories: An analysis of the psychology of scientific persuasion. Personality and Social Psychology Review, 6, 152-166.
2.
Crandall, C. S., & Schaller, M. (in press). Scientists and science: How individual goals shape collective norms. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundations of culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
3.
Edley, N. (2001). Unraveling social constructionism. Theory and Psychology, 11, 433-441.
4.
Edwards, D. (1997). Discourse and cognition. London: Sage.
5.
Feyerabend, P. (1975). Against method. London: New Left.
6.
Gergen, K. J. (1977). The social construction of self-knowledge. In T. Mischel (Ed.), The self: Psychological and philosophical issues (pp. 139-169). New York: Academic.
7.
Heine, S. J., Lehman, D. R., Markus, H. R., & Kitayama, S. (1999). Is there a universal need for positive self-regard?Psychological Review, 106, 766-794.
8.
Higgins, E. T. (1992). Increasingly complex but less interesting articles: Scientific progress or regulatory problem?Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 18, 489-492.
9.
Kenrick, D. T., Li, N. P., & Butner, J. (in press). Dynamical evolutionary psychology: Individual decision-rules and emergent social norms. Psychological Review.
10.
Kenrick, D. T., Maner, J., Butner, J., Li, N. P., Becker, D. V. & Schaller, M. (in press). Dynamical evolutionary psychology: Mapping the domains of the new interactionist paradigm. Personality and Social Psychology Review.
11.
Krebs, D., & Janicki, M. (in press). Biological foundations of moral norms. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundations of culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawerence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
12.
Kruglanski, A. W. (2001). That “vision thing”: The state of theory in social and personality psychology at the edge of the new millennium. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 80, 871-875.
13.
Latané, B. (1996). Dynamic social impact: The creation of culture by communication. Journal of Communication, 46(4), 13-25.
14.
Nisbett, R. E. (1990). The anticreativity letters: Advice from a senior tempter to a junior tempter. American Psychologist, 45, 1078-1082.
15.
Nisbett, R. E., Peng, K., Choi, I., & Norenzayan, A. (2001). Culture and systems of thought: Holistic versus analytic cognition. Psychological Review, 108, 291-310.
16.
Norenzayan, A., & Atran, S. (in press). Cognitive and emotional processes in the cultural transmission of natural and nonnatural beliefs. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundations of culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
17.
Richter, L., & Kruglanski, A. W. (in press). Motivated close mindedness and the emergence of culture. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundations of culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
18.
Schaller, M., Conway, L. G., III, & Tanchuk, T. L. (2002). Selective pressures on the once and future contents of ethnic stereotypes: Effects of the communicability of traits. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 8.
19.
Schaller, M., Rosell, M. C., & Asp, C. H. (1998). Parsimony and pluralism in the psychological study of intergroup processes. In C. Sedikides, J. Schopler, & C. Insko, (Eds.), Intergroup cognition and intergroup behavior (pp. 3-25). Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
20.
Sober, E. (1990). Let's razor Ockham's razor. In D. Knowles (Ed.), Explanation and its limits (pp. 73-93). Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.
21.
Solomon, S., Greenberg, J., Schimel, J., Arndt, J., & Pyszczynski, T. (in press). Human awareness of mortality and the evolution of culture. In M. Schaller & C. S. Crandall (Eds.), The psychological foundations of culture. Mahwah, NJ: Lawrence Erlbaum Associates, Inc.
22.
Sperber, D. (1990). The epidemiology of beliefs. In C. Fraser & G. Gaskell (Eds.), The social psychological study of widespread beliefs (pp. 25-44). Oxford, England: Clarendon.
23.
Stam, H. J. (2001). Introduction: Social constructionism and its critics. Theory and Psychology, 11, 291-296.
