Editing Externalization (psychology) (section)

== Social and Developmental Psychology ==
The social psychological understanding of externalization differs somewhat from that of psychoanalysis. In early research, '''Erving Goffman''' used theatrical metaphors to illustrate how individuals present themselves in daily interactions with the world. He emphasized that the "self" is not a fixed internal essence but rather a product of performance.<ref name=":1">{{Cite book |last=Longhofer |first=Wesley |url=https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/9781003320609 |title=Social Theory Re-Wired: New Connections to Classical and Contemporary Perspectives |last2=Winchester |first2=Daniel |date=2023-04-28 |publisher=Routledge |isbn=978-1-003-32060-9 |edition=3 |location=New York |language=en |doi=10.4324/9781003320609}}</ref> His work was among the earliest to connect '''c'''onscious acts of externalization with the ways individuals shape their personal image and influence the social structures around them. Building upon this, '''Peter Berger and Thomas Luckmann''' further developed the concept in their 1966 study. They proposed that reality is constructed through communication, and externalization is a continuous process by which this construction occurs. In this process, individuals express their subjective meanings through actions, language, and institutions, thereby integrating them into the fabric of the social world. More specifically, human activities actively shape and project reality, which is then objectified and internalized into the broader social order.<ref name=":1" /> Compared to the psychoanalytic approach, which focuses on intrapsychic mechanisms, the social psychological perspective places greater emphasis on how individuals articulate their subjective perceptions and emotions—and, through this expression, actively transform social reality. In short, externalization here refers to how people modify social structures through their actions.

A classic example that illustrates this is the '''classroom scenario'''.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Pomerantz |first=Kathryn Anne |date=2005 |title=Classroom challenging behaviour: A social constructionist phenomenon that exists through pupil–teacher discourse |url=https://doi.org/10.53841/bpsecp.2005.22.3.17 |journal=Educational and Child Psychology |volume=22 |issue=3 |pages=17–27 |doi=10.53841/bpsecp.2005.22.3.17 |issn=0267-1611}}</ref> In a classroom, teachers and students engage in behaviours like raising hands or assigning homework, which follow socially constructed—rather than natural—rules. Through these actions, individuals externalize subjective meanings (e.g., the teacher's identity as a “knowledge authority”), thereby shaping and maintaining social reality.

Around the same period, developmental psychology also offered a new layer of understanding of externalization. Echoing the views of social psychology, the developmental school—represented by the work of [[Erik Erikson]]—similarly regarded externalization as a constructive and functional mechanism. It allows individuals to project their inner world outward through behavior, thereby facilitating mutual understanding, communication, and influence with the external environment.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erikson |first=Erik H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=nGqc6JxV0aQC&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=Identity:+Youth+and+Crisis&ots=anEtqVdyYX&sig=Of_ytGGze30yS0TCsOu_6UXsU28#v=onepage&q=Identity:%20Youth%20and%20Crisis&f=false |title=Identity Youth and Crisis |date=1968 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-31144-0 |language=en}}</ref> Erikson approached the concept from a more detailed and expansive perspective. His studies on how adolescents externalize internal conflicts into outward rebellious behaviors during puberty are particularly emblematic of his understanding of the concept.<ref>{{Cite book |last=Erikson |first=Erik H. |url=https://books.google.com/books?hl=en&lr=&id=5JrjqzBMHa8C&oi=fnd&pg=PP2&dq=Childhood+and+Society&ots=AeBgpHisBR&sig=W9zeyXQFwY3f1RaxkTYczW15_OA#v=onepage&q=Childhood%20and%20Society&f=false |title=Childhood and Society |date=1993 |publisher=W. W. Norton & Company |isbn=978-0-393-31068-9 |language=en}}</ref>

As a result, with the later contributions of both social and developmental psychology, externalization gradually moved beyond being viewed merely as a pathological defense mechanism. Instead, it came to be understood and accepted as a vital factor in human social development—one that enables the self to navigate and respond to the complexities of social and environmental challenges through cognition and emotional expression.