The Social Construction of Reality

Written by Peter L. Berger and Thomas Luckmann, about the sociology of knowledge. Central to the concept of The Social Construction of Reality is the idea that people and groups create conceptions and mental representations of each other based on their interactions. Theses conceptions eventually create and institutionalize roles that each of the actors play in relation to each other. These institutionalized relations embed meaning into society. Therefore people’s conceptions and experiences shape and eventually become a perceived reality, allowing reality to be socially constructed.