14 Examples of Social Imagination

John Spacey, updated on September 22, 2023

Social imagination is the tendency to link personal experiences to large social forces. This includes the association of personal problems with social problems. Social imagination also prominently includes viewing yourself in terms of a social identity including factors such as social status. The following are illustrative examples of social imagination.

Losing your job was caused by a recession.	Marital problems caused by gender roles.
Obesity caused by the food industry, advertising or cultural norms.	Addiction caused by media glamorization of substance abuse.
Viewing your relatively low income as a result of income inequality.	Viewing crime as caused by an unfair society.
An individual views their poor school results as caused by social media.	An individual who views their personal identity in terms of memberships in social groups.
Tying self-esteem to social status.	Viewing mental health issues as caused by stress over environmental issues.
Viewing a landlord’s efforts at renovation as a process of gentrification.	Viewing social isolation as a result of social media.
Viewing your general failure to thrive economically as caused by globalization.	Viewing the successes of others as caused by their social identity.

The term social imagination doesn't necessarily mean that these impressions aren't accurate and rooted in reality. For example, it is very possible to lose your job due to an economic downturn.

Social imagination is related to post modernism with its view that individuals have little or no agency such that their problems are a direct result of society, systems and power structures.

Social imagination is associated with an external locus of control whereby a person believes that their results in life are not a result of their own efforts but are rather a result of external things such as society, oppression, luck or fate.

Social imagination may generate learned helplessness whereby individuals believe they are hapless victims of larger social forces.

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