If we make a group of people run a distance of 100 meters, on average only one in every 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, 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 it is known that the world record is even lower than this mark.
In other cases, it is very easy to be seduced by common sense based on the results of the majority of people and we do not realize that a small part of this majority is an exception, whether we are talking about marriages or happiness. of people, etc. Therefore, in this Psychology-Online article, we will analyze What is common sense and what is it for?.
What is common sense
In several languages there is a single expression to designate common sense. The meaning of common sense is generally understood as a set of cognitive attitudes that a certain social group shares more or less immediately and thoughtlessly. Thus, common sense tends to be considered as a kind of common cognitive heritage of the entire human species.
The most spontaneous way to determine the meaning of the expression common sense is perhaps to put the emphasis on the adjective “common”, which easily leads to understanding it as a kind of shared heritage of knowledge, ideas, conceptions, principles, but also styles of thinking and ways of reasoning. Find out what the are.
On the other hand, the expression common sense can also cause confusion if it is considered as a synonym for “good sense/judgment!”, although both have a different meaning:
- Common sense: judgment without any reflection, commonly felt by an entire order, by an entire people, by an entire nation or by all of humanity. In this article, we tell you.
- Good sense/judgment: ability to judge a situation with balance and rationality, understanding the practical needs it implies.
Common sense theories
Different common sense theories have been formulated. We see them below.
Kelley’s attribution theory
Social psychologist Harold Kelley postulated one of the common sense theories in 1992 which states that common sense psychology includes the people’s ideas about their own behavior and that of others, as well as the antecedents and consequences of this behavior. Furthermore, 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 defends that common sense psychology is inserted 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 in behaviors occur. Furthermore, reflections and discussions of these issues develop general perceptions about behaviors and individuals.
Common sense as a cultural system according to Geertz
Another of the theories of common sense was postulated by the anthropologist Clifford Geertz (1988), common sense is a interpretation of the immediate consequences of experience. He claims that it is a characteristic characteristic of the common sense-based approach is to affirm that its principles are immediate products of experience, not deliberate reflections on it.
Geertz, therefore, suggests differentiating between simple learning about reality and judgments or evaluations about it. Therefore, common sense can 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 more ambitious, and no philosophy more general.
What is common sense for?
The collection of all psychological knowledge derived from common sense and past experience is known as naïve psychology. This deals with people’s ability 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 toforesight and control of situationsadopting variable and transitory behaviors in different situations with a certain stability.
According to the psychologist Frizt Heider, naive psychology guides our behavior towards other people. Heider states that in everyday life we create ideas about other individuals and social situations, we interpret them and try to predict how they will behave in certain circumstances.
Furthermore, common sense reasoning is also used to justify the behavior of the masses 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 daily problems.
- The unfortunate people use it as an alibi not to commit themselves, as, 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, at 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.
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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. Clinical Psychology Review2:165-180.
- Profeti, E. (2013). What is Naive Psychology?. Retrieved 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. Retrieved from: https://www.albanesi.it/psicologia/senso-comune.htm