Compare and contrast the goals and methods of attitude researchers and discursive psychologists. Which approach do you consider the most useful, and in what ways?

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To what extent are our selves constructed through language and discourse?  

It is generally accepted that language consists of an agreed set of symbols, which enable us to communicate with members of the same culture as ourselves. Human development involves interaction with others therefore the medium of language whether spoken, written, or gestured and the discourses that emerge play a central role. The social constructionist perspective advocates language as one of “the most powerful agents of socialisation” (Wetherell and Maybin, 1996) and emphasises its importance in the construction of the self. This paper will seek to advocate the social constructionist viewpoint, however counter-arguments will be formulated from the biological and experiential perspectives of the self. The former identifies genes and evolution as frameworks for understanding social behaviour and the latter views this construction as fundamentally individual. Through contrasting these perspectives, the important role, which language and discourse play in the construction of the person within the social setting, will become apparent, thus validating the social constructionist perspective.

Social constructionists believe that identity is multifaceted where one has a different identity depending on the context one is in, thereby constructing a distributed sense of self.  The example of Kondo is used as strong evidence for the multiplicity of the self. According to social constructionism, Kondo’s multifaceted self, as neighbour, daughter, worker, American, Japanese etc. is due to her movement across different social contexts and to the practices and meanings, which each context implies.  Through meeting the demands of the political/communal nature of Japan Kondo experienced internal transformations to her consciousness in the form of new patterns of thought, new internal monologues, self-descriptions and positioning of the self in relation to other people.  Through a series of interactions, rewards and punishments Kondo was taught what to do and say.  When Kondo greeted Mr. Sakamoto with a formal bow he positively affirmed her and thus subtly reinforced social requirements.  Also, when Kondo’s routines were not accurate, i.e. the tea ceremony, her teacher guided her into ‘proper’ behaviour, as her sense of self was also at risk in the interaction.  Therefore, her sense of self would seem to be embedded in and emerging from the complex meanings of her environment.  From an experiential perspective, it could be argued that Kondo portrays a lack of self-will, personal definition, authority, authenticity and belief in herself in her interactions with others. According to Taylor, “being authentic means getting in touch with the true self”. These characteristics point to the possibility that Kondo consistent with Erikson’s and Garcia’s theory of identity, has no true sense of self yet and is engaged in the exploration of roles before achieving ego identity or her core self. Furthermore, identity confusion could account for the conflict in Kondo’s experiences in relation to these different identities. However, the social constructionist perspective would argue that there is consistency in how an individual acts but that it is because of conflicting identities that the true self emerges, as in the case of Kondo when she left Japan. The social constructionist position therefore allows the individual autonomy to actively engage in their environment. It does not view people merely as passive victims of society. Social life is seen to provide the tools to allow the individual to actively engage with others as well as to resist and change our social and cultural heritage.  

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Having discussed the multifaceted self this paper will now examine the impact, on the self, of the variation of language across cultural settings.  It is evident that the role of language and discourse or the meanings, which we extract from them, cannot be discussed in abstract from the social practices to which they are tied.  The use of grammar in the Japanese language highlights the interconnectedness of the Japanese culture. Kondo noted that their use of pronouns made it utterly impossible to engage in conversation without referring to the relationship between oneself and one’s interlocutor. Kondo’s Japanese experience illustrated ...

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