SOCIAL CONSTRUCTIONIST THEORIES OF EMOTIONS
Mesquita B., Parkinson B.
This chapter reviews social constructionist approaches, which propose that social processes contribute to the constitution of emotion. It first outlines the development of the social constructionist tradition, focusing on the key ideas and their originators. It then presents evidence for the central assumptions of social constructionist theory, including those relating to emotion’s multicomponentiality, social functionality, and activity rather than passivity. Finally, it considers future directions for the social constructionist project by addressing emerging ideas about the nature of emotion concepts, dynamic co-construction of emotions, and the interpenetration of biological and cultural processes.