If we run a group of people a distance of 100 meters, on average only one in a hundred people will fall below 12 meters. Even so, that time is almost never enough to win the championships of a higher institute, that is to say, it is a sportingly mediocre time. No person with a minimum of critical spirit would dare to say that it is impossible to run the 100 m in less than 12 seconds, for the simple fact that the world record is known to be even lower than this brand.
In other cases, it is very easy to be seduced by common sense based on the results of most people and we do not give ourselves realize that a small part of this majority is an exception, whether we are talking about marriages, or the happiness of people, etc. Therefore, in this Psychology-Online article, we will analyze what is common sense and what is it for.
Index
- What is common sense
- Common sense theories
- What good is common sense
What is common sense.
In several languages there is only one expression to designate common sense. The meaning of common sense is generally understood as a set of
Perhaps the most spontaneous way to determine the meaning of the expression common sense is to put the accent on the adjective "common", which easily leads to understand it as a kind of shared heritage of knowledge, ideas, conceptions, principles, but also styles of thought and ways of reasoning. Find out what the types of thinking according to psychology.
On the other hand, the expression common sense can also cause confusion if it is considered as a synonym of "good sense / judgment!, although both have a different meaning:
- Common sense: judgment without any reflection, commonly felt by an entire order, by a whole people, by a whole nation or by all humanity. In this article, we tell you what is the sense of belonging in psychology.
- Good sense / judgment: ability to judge a situation with balance and rationality, understanding the practical needs that it implies.
Common sense theories.
Different theories of common sense have been formulated. We see them below.
Kelley's attribution theory
The social psychologist Harold Kelley postulated one of the common sense theories in 1992 that states that common sense psychology includes the people's ideas about their own behavior and that of others, as well as on the antecedents and consequences of this behavior. In addition, these ideas are expressed in phrases, sayings and family stories that we tell each other and that serve to describe people.
In this sense, Kelley argues that common sense psychology is embedded and supported in our everyday language. But how is common sense produced? According to this theory, it is created and transmitted by people who have the opportunity to observe and learn how individuals behave and the conditions under which specific variations occur in the behaviors. In addition, reflections and discussions of these questions develop general perceptions about behaviors and about individuals.
Common sense as a cultural system according to Geertz
Another of the common sense theories was postulated by the anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1988), common sense is a interpretation of the immediate consequences of the experience. He affirms that it is a characteristic of the thought based on common sense is to affirm that its principles are immediate products of experience, not deliberate reflections on it.
Geertz, therefore, suggests differentiating between the simple learning of reality and the judgments or evaluations about it. Therefore, common sense may be considered a cultural system that can change from one town to another. Another characteristic identified by Geertz is that common sense is totalizing, that is, no religion is more dogmatic, no science is more ambitious, and no philosophy is more general.
What is common sense for?
The collection of all psychological knowledge derived from common sense and past experience is known as naive psychology. This deals with the ability of people to interpret their own behaviors and the behaviors of others. Naive psychology allows us to understand what common sense is for.
A fundamental principle of naive psychology is the belief that man is capable of mastering reality, thanks to him.to anticipate and control situations, adopting variable and transitory behaviors in different situations with a certain stability.
According to psychologist Frizt Heider, naive psychology guides our behavior towards other people. Heider affirms that in everyday life we create ideas about other individuals and about the social situations, we interpret them and try to predict how they will behave in certain circumstances.
In addition, common sense reasoning is also used to justify the behavior of the crowd as absolutely reasonable. From a psychological point of view, below, we can observe different examples:
- Surviving or dissatisfied personalities who live above the media use it to justify small everyday problems.
- The unfortunate use it as an alibi to avoid committing themselves, for example, after the age of forty it is normal to gain weight.
- Libertines use common sense to justify their vices.
This article is merely informative, in Psychology-Online we do not have the power to make a diagnosis or recommend a treatment. We invite you to go to a psychologist to treat your particular case.
If you want to read more articles similar to What is common sense and what is it for?, we recommend that you enter our category of Social psychology.
Bibliography
- Agazzi, E. (et al.) (2004). Valori e Limiti del Senso Comune. Milan: Franco Angeli.
- Iannella, G. (2009). L’azione anti-psychologica del senso comune. Rivista di Psicologia Clinica, 2:165-180.
- Profeti, E. (2013). Che cos’è Naive Psychology. Recovered from: http://www.impararestudiando.eu/wp-content/uploads/2013/06/Prof.ssa-Elena-Profeti-Che-cos%C3%A8-la-Psicologia-ingenua.pdf
- Thea (2019). Common sense. Recovered from: https://www.albanesi.it/psicologia/senso-comune.htm
