Constructing emotions: Weaving meaning from memories

This paper is in three sections—theory, method and data. We consider that emotions are socially constructed, and begin with an interpretation of social constructionism as it applies to emotion. The conclusion drawn from the analysis of theories from a variety of disciplines is that it is important to incorporate and extend the notion of appraisal into a study of emotion. This notion is prominent in the cognitive approach and the social constructionist approach allows the cognitive and social views of emotion to be integrated. This approach enabled us to examine the process whereby individuals engage with each other, and hence with the social structures, in their construction of emotions. We employed a method ‘memory‐work’ which uses written memories as source material. This is discussed at some length since it is integrated within a theory of socialization which is closely related to social constructionism. Finally, we present an analysis of some data which illustrate and demonstrate the processes involved in constructing emotion. Our work confirms and extends the social constructionist view. Paradoxically, in highlighting the notion of agency, we stress the essentially social nature of the individual and overcome some of the problems which arise in methods which examine only the individual or the society.