1.4b Social Construction of Reality
The Social Construction of Reality
Sociologists using a microsociological approach are often also using a symbolic interactionist perspective. Symbolic interactionism proposes that a shared meaning of behavior and attitudes influences people’s actions. Shared meanings emerge through social interaction. Any given action could have multiple meanings, but it is through culture (see Chapter 4), that groups determine the meaning of symbols. The social construction of reality framework focuses on explaining how people give meaning to things or ideas through social interaction. For example, money is socially constructed.
How Money is Socially Constructed
People must agree on, or socially construct, what counts as money and what it is worth. In past cultures, gold, shells, beads, bronze, livestock, and more have served as currency. Today, money takes the form of physical paper and coins. Still, there is agreement among citizens, the government, and businesses that several other things can represent money. Money can take the form of a paper check, a credit card, an app, or digitally (account and routing numbers). Money also exists as a cryptocurrency like Bitcoin. Cryptocurrency exists only in digital form.
Photo 1.12
Money Takes Physical and Digital Forms
Money is worth whatever value the issuing government says its worth. However, people also value money according to what it can buy. One dollar holds less value today than 50 years ago. In 2025, one needs $6.10 to buy what one dollar could buy in 1975 (U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics, 2025). Financial markets determine the value of the U.S. dollar based on the demand for it in other countries on any given day. Thus, the form money takes, and its value can change over time.
Sociologists study how groups and institutions, like the media, socially construct social phenomena. Cryptocurrencies like Bitcoin are new digital currencies. Companies selling cryptocurrency have enlisted the media to help socially construct it as something of value. They differ from other currencies because they are not government-endorsed. For-profit companies sell cryptocurrency, so one can use traditional currency to buy cryptocurrency.
Cryptocurrencies are appealing because they have the potential to make their investors a lot of money. However, the same factors that can lead to their increasing value can also cause them to lose significant value. A disadvantage of cryptocurrency is that they are not protected by government-backed insurance. Yet, the lack of government involvement makes cryptocurrency attractive to people involved in crime. Therefore, cryptocurrency has a mixed-reputation.
To improve cryptocurrency’s reputation, these companies have turned to celebrities to endorse their products as “good investments.” Several celebrities endorsed cryptocurrencies. However, they did not share that these were paid endorsements or explain the risks of cryptocurrencies. The Securities and Exchange Commission sued, charged, or settled with Tom Brady, Jake Paul, and Kim Kardashian, among other celebrities, for their involvement in promoting cryptocurrencies (Kelley, 2023; Korn, 2022). Money is not the only part of social life that is socially constructed. Everything from what counts as a family, to race and gender are socially constructed. Even phenomena with a biological component, like race, are determined through social interaction (see Chapters 8 and 9). The next section introduces intersectionality. Intersectionality draws attention to how sociodemographic factors are constructed, leads to maintains inequality.