ABSTRACT
This chapter is about convincing people that social constructionist ideas have something to offer. It exposes the assumption that psychology has often based its theories upon the taken-for-granted assumptions of the societies and culture in which it arose and these, translated into popular psychology, have in turn infiltrated the everyday thinking of people. The chapter presents a case in support of social constructionism by discussing the ways in which mainstream psychology and these taken-for-granted assumptions may be seen as inadequate and by indicating how social constructionism may sometimes offer a better fit with the experience and observations of the world. It uses three examples of personality, health and illness, and sexuality to illustrate some of the main features of social constructionism. Social constructionism allows people to highlight and address some of the areas where common sense assumptions and mainstream psychology do not give us satisfactory explanations.
