SocialReality
Financiado
Second Nature: Towards an Information-Processing Theory of the Reification of So...
Second Nature: Towards an Information-Processing Theory of the Reification of Social Reality
Social reality is comprised of numerous social constructs such as institutions, practices, and norms. These constructs are mind-dependent (e.g., paper money is valuable because people believe it is). Research suggests that when pe...
Social reality is comprised of numerous social constructs such as institutions, practices, and norms. These constructs are mind-dependent (e.g., paper money is valuable because people believe it is). Research suggests that when people misconstrue social constructs to be mind-independent facts (e.g., viewing inequality as a fact of nature), they are less likely to question their legitimacy. Thus, the attribution of mind-independence to social constructs, or reification, plays a critical role in governing human behavior. Despite the importance of this process, we currently do not have a general scientific theory that explains reification across its varied instantiations (e.g., the reification of nations, economic systems, mental ailments). In the proposed project I aim to develop and test a domain-general, information-processing theory of reification. My pilot data suggest that there is both between-individual and within-individual gradation in the extent to which constructs are reified. I argue that in both cases, reification may be a consequence of (i) de-mentalizing (i.e., adopting a mindset and a discourse that does not consider mental states); (ii) the mere passage of time and increased experience with the construct; (iii) abstraction of knowledge (in which the process of generating facts omits information concerning the human origins of constructs, giving rise to erroneous inferences of naturalness). These three processes may be causally related (i.e., with increased experience, constructs are abstracted, leading to de-mentalizing); however, they also represent three stand-alone hypotheses which will be assessed across five work-packages—using neuroimaging, natural language processing methods, longitudinal big-data analyses, and behavioral paradigms from experimental economics and memory research. A better understanding of reification may help us devise interventions to de-reify maladaptive states of affairs, thereby addressing some of society's greatest ills.
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Duración del proyecto: 59 meses
Fecha Inicio: 2023-11-01
Fecha Fin: 2028-10-31
Fecha Fin: 2028-10-31
Línea de financiación: concedida
El organismo HORIZON EUROPE notifico la concesión del proyecto el día 2023-11-01
Línea de financiación objetivo
El proyecto se financió a través de la siguiente ayuda:
ERC-2023-STG:
ERC STARTING GRANTS
Cerrada
hace 2 años
Presupuesto
El presupuesto total del proyecto asciende a
1M€
Líder del proyecto
TEL AVIV UNIVERSITY
No se ha especificado una descripción o un objeto social para esta compañía.
Perfil tecnológico
TRL
4-5
Perfil tecnológico
TRL
4-5