Social representations

Cvetkovich, G., and P.L. Winter. 2003. Trust and social representations of the management of threatened and endangered species. Environ. Behav. 35(2) 286-307. 

Hosts social Community responses and reception Social representations of tourism and differences in community views... 

A more complex account of what visitors learn is accessed by exploring how the relationships among concepts and attitudes alter owing to site visits. Here the attention is on how visitors reorganise their overall understanding of the topic and mindfully restructure their social representation. The full definition and meaning of this term will be developed in the next few pages. 

The multiple intersecting features of social representations theory as an... 

Defining ideas for social representations Explanatory statement... 

Systems of knowledge Social representations are complex meta-systems of everyday knowledge and include values, beliefs and attitudes. They are mini theories or branches of knowledge in their own right. 

Central and peripheral elements Central elements are seen as irrefutable, core ideas which are very difficult to change. Peripheral elements are the operational parts of social representations they are conditional guides to action. 

Reality organisation Social representations assist in organising and defining reality, but they are not merely cognitive summaries but contain guides to action and response. 

Applicable to conflict settings Social representations help understand conflict by contrasting group knowledge systems and recognising power. 

Centrality of communication Social representations are not individual beliefs but are public and shared with communication being central to their continuity. 

Uncertainty Social representations make the unfamiliar familiar. 

Metaphor as process Through analysis, metaphors and comparisons social representations fit and synthesise new information into existing or extended understanding. 

Image Social representations usually have an image and a visual component. 

External visibility Social representations can be seen in social and cultural artefacts and forms. 

Identity Sharing social representations is central to identity group formation and behaviour. 

Dynamic Social representations are changing systems of knowledge. Individuals influence and create changes in social representations but so do larger communication processes such as the media. 

Social connection Social representations provide a commonality for discourse and interaction connecting people to each other. 

Other knowledge realms Social representations can be influenced by other knowledge systems such as science or religion but in turn influence these systems. 

Culturally bound -culturally shared Social representations can differ across and within cultures but attention to shared representations amongst cultures and group can exist and should be studied. 

Social representations theory promises to be a major conceptual pathway in building the next generation of studies that explore tourists reflections on, and the further outcomes of, their experiences. 

Social roles of the tourist How tourists are viewed, what tourists do, distinctive features of being a tourist, implications of travelling to other places Stereotype analysis Social representations Role theory, including role distance, altercasting, role conflict, role prescriptions The outsider and flaneur roles Liminality and liminoid space... 

Breakwell, G.M. and Canter, D.V. (1993) Aspects of methodology and their implications for the study of social representations. In G.M. Breakwell and D.V. Canter (eds) Empirical Approaches to Social Representations (pp. 1-12). Oxford Clarendon Press. 

Farr, R. (1990) Social representations as widespread beliefs. In C. Fraser and G. 

Farr, R.M. (1987) Social representations A French tradition of research. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour 17 (4), 343-369. 

Farr, R.M. (1993) Common sense, science and social representations. Public Understanding of Science 2,289-304. 

Farr, R.M. and Moscovici, S. (1984) Social Representations. Cambridge Cambridge University Press. 

Halfacree, K.H. (1993) Locality and social representation Space, discourse and alternative definitions of the rural. Journal of Rural Studies 9 (1) 23-37. 

Huguet, P. and Latane, B. (1996) Social representations as dynamic social impact. Journal of Communication 46,57-63. 

Jaspars, J. and Fraser, C. (1984) Attitudes and social representations. In R.M. Farr and S. Moscovici (eds) Social Representation (pp. 101-123). Cambridge Cambridge University Press. 

Joffe, H. (2003) Risk From perception to social representation. British Journal of Social Psychology 42, 55-73. 

Moliner, P. (1995) A two-dimensional model of social representations. European Journal of Social Psychology 25, 27-40. 

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