Demonstrating Social Constructionism in Psychology Courses: The “Who Am I?” Exercise

In this article we describe a class exercise aimed at facilitating students' understanding of social constructionism. Students (n = 88) from 3 psychology classes wrote 10 responses to the question “Who am I?” The instructor collected and shuffled their responses, eliminating descriptors that clearly identified the respondents' gender (e.g., mother, brother). All remaining responses for individuals were read to or by the class. Students were able to accurately guess the gender of respondents. A discussion of the social construction of gender followed the exercise. Students' written reactions and comments indicated that the exercise was a useful tool for demonstrating social constructionism and initiating discussion about the meaning of gender.