Studying Social Representations: an Outsider’s Perspective

Objective. The aim of this article is a brief look at the current state of development of the theory of social representations (SRs), and a discussion of problematic points of the methodology of the SRs analysis.Background. Over the sixty years of its existence, the theory of SRs has been enriched with new ideas, methodological and methodological techniques to study SR, expanded the ranks of its supporters, who answered open questions and formulated new ones. The article proposes a brief look at the development of the theory of SR and empirical approaches to SRs. The main methods of research of the SRs are discussed.Conclusions. Observing the development of the theory of SRs over the past decade, the authors find new arguments in favor of the idea expressed by G. Breakwell, that the heterogeneity of empirical approaches to SRs turned out to be not a weakness, but a strength of the theory of SRs, by giving this theoretical tradition influence within the framework of social psychology.

1. Vinogradova Ya.E., Gurieva S.D. Metodologicheskie priemy i metody izucheniya sotsial'nykh predstavlenii [Methodological techniques and methods of studying social representations]. Nauchnoe mnenie = The Scientific Opinion, 2021, no. 10, pp. 10–13. DOI:10.25807/22224378_2021_10_10 (In Russ.).

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