ABSTRACT

           The paper addresses the issue of social acceptability and how it is constructed within society when certain innovative but controversial behaviors that challenge generally accepted traditions are already socially manifested, and members of society are forced to position themselves towards these realities. The theories in the scientific literature that are influenced by classical Weberian rationalism emphasize that reality is objective, even if individuals relate to it from their subjective positions, and acceptance comes from the rational understanding of the world around them. One reason why the formation of social acceptability is not satisfactorily explained only by the process of rational filtering is the fact that argumentation is what makes the reality of the minority comprehensible for the majority of individuals, and argumentation involves communication, i.e. an exchange of ideas that can change both the perception of the transmitter and the receiver. The perceptual position adopted by the receiver is influenced by his / her own experiences, as well as by their system of values. In the process of socialization, individual values come into contact with the values of other individuals, and sometimes as a result of this contact a conflict of values results. From a constructionist perspective, in the process of the social construction of reality, the co-transformation of values through the communicative action between individuals produces a re-creation of the reality initially perceived, which can lead to either social exclusion or social acceptability. This paper analyzes from a theoretical standpoint how the social construction of values within society influences the process of achieving social acceptability.

            Keywords: social acceptability, social values, social construction of reality, social innovation, social perception.

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