The Psychology of Reification: Perceiving Social Reality as Mind-Independent

The Psychology of Reification: Perceiving Social Reality as Mind-Independent | Research Square window.SnipcartSettings = { analytics: { enabled: false } }; (function() { var accessVector = localStorage.getItem('access_vector') || ''; window.dataLayer = window.dataLayer || []; if (accessVector) { window.dataLayer.push({ user: { profile: { profileInfo: { snid: accessVector } } } }); } })(); (function(w,d,s,l,i){w[l]=w[l]||[];w[l].push({'gtm.start':new Date().getTime(),event:'gtm.js'});var f=d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0],j=d.createElement(s),dl=l!='dataLayer'?'&l='+l:'';j.async=true;j.src='https://www.googletagmanager.com/gtm.js?id='+i+dl;f.parentNode.insertBefore(j,f);})(window,document,'script','dataLayer','GTM-K279D39R'); Browse Preprints In Review Journals COVID-19 Preprints AJE Video Bytes Research Tools Research Promotion AJE Professional Editing AJE Rubriq About Preprint Platform In Review Editorial Policies Our Team Advisory Board Help Center Sign In Submit a Preprint Cite Share Download PDF Article The Psychology of Reification: Perceiving Social Reality as Mind-Independent Maor Levitin, Oded Hirsh, Inon Raz, Michael Gilead This is a preprint; it has not been peer reviewed by a journal. https://doi.org/ 10.21203/rs.3.rs-9115023/v1 This work is licensed under a CC BY 4.0 License Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Abstract Human societies are built from shared beliefs, norms, and institutions, yet these arrangements often feel as fixed as natural laws. Philosophers and social theorists have long described this tendency as reification: the perception of socially constructed realities as mind-independent, but it has rarely been examined empirically. We investigated how people represent the mind-dependence of social reality across nine studies (N = 4,892). Using scale development, multilevel modeling, explanatory framing manipulations, and large-scale mapping of 200 social facts, we measured individual and structural variation in mind-dependence attributions and tested their consequences. Participants reliably distinguished social from natural facts, and mind-dependence judgments formed a construct separable from essentialism. Institutionalized arrangements appeared less mind-dependent, whereas intentional explanations increased perceived mind-dependence. These attributions predicted expectations of economic volatility and moral responsibility. Together, the findings establish a psychological foundation for understanding when social reality is perceived as mind-dependent versus reified. Social science/Psychology/Human behaviour Social science/Sociology Full Text Additional Declarations There is NO Competing Interest. Ethics Statement All studies reported in this manuscript were approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Tel Aviv University. The research was conducted in accordance with institutional guidelines and the principles outlined in the Declaration of Helsinki. Approval was granted under the following protocol numbers: 0008555-1, 0008557-1, 0009170-2, 0009831-1, 0010232-1, 0010283-1, 0010461-1, 0010678-2, 0011061-1, 0011087-1, 0011137-1, 0011240-1, 0011336-1, and 0011658-1. All participants provided informed consent prior to participation, and participation was voluntary. Data were collected and stored in accordance with institutional ethical standards and applicable regulations governing research with human participants. Supplementary Files SI.pdf Supplementary Information Cite Share Download PDF Status: Under Review Version 1 posted You are reading this latest preprint version Research Square lets you share your work early, gain feedback from the community, and start making changes to your manuscript prior to peer review in a journal. As a division of Research Square Company, we’re committed to making research communication faster, fairer, and more useful. We do this by developing innovative software and high quality services for the global research community. Our growing team is made up of researchers and industry professionals working together to solve the most critical problems facing scientific publishing. Also discoverable on Platform About Our Team In Review Editorial Policies Advisory Board Help Center Resources Author Services Accessibility API Access RSS feed Manage Cookie Preferences © Research Square 2026 | ISSN 2693-5015 (online) Privacy Policy Terms of Service Do Not Sell My Personal Information {"props":{"pageProps":{"initialData":{"identity":"rs-9115023","acceptedTermsAndConditions":true,"allowDirectSubmit":false,"archivedVersions":[],"articleType":"Article","associatedPublications":[],"authors":[{"id":612051932,"identity":"79b8600b-b6b1-4604-b75b-cd38ae10ede7","order_by":0,"name":"Maor Levitin","email":"data:image/png;base64,iVBORw0KGgoAAAANSUhEUgAAAZAAAAAyAQMAAABI0h/eAAAABlBMVEX///8AAABVwtN+AAAACXBIWXMAAA7EAAAOxAGVKw4bAAAA4ElEQVRIiWNgGAWjYLCCBwwMPAzMDIxAmoGHjygtCUCVPMwMzAYgLWzEagFaw8AmAeIQ1KLbfvjYh4SKwzL27LzHKr/m2MmwMTA/fHQDjxazM2nJMxLOHAY6jC/ttuy2ZKDD2IyNc/BpOZBjzJDYlgbUwmN2W3IbM1ALD5s0Xi3n3wC1/INoKZbcVk+ElhsgWxpswFoYP247TIyWZ8kMCceAWg7zGEszbjvOw8ZMyC/nkw8zfKiRsGfvP2P48ee2ant+9uaHj/FpQQHMPGCSWOUgwPiDFNWjYBSMglEwYgAAwM08enX5bwIAAAAASUVORK5CYII=","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0009-0006-9926-5501","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":true,"prefix":"","firstName":"Maor","middleName":"","lastName":"Levitin","suffix":""},{"id":612051933,"identity":"0b86c51f-c082-4290-99eb-5c11c76a3b6c","order_by":1,"name":"Oded Hirsh","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Bar Ilan University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Oded","middleName":"","lastName":"Hirsh","suffix":""},{"id":612051934,"identity":"d4ae0e13-4476-41eb-9ecc-8ee54e073ee0","order_by":2,"name":"Inon Raz","email":"","orcid":"https://orcid.org/0000-0002-3707-1051","institution":"Tel Aviv University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Inon","middleName":"","lastName":"Raz","suffix":""},{"id":612051935,"identity":"f85db138-c142-4ac0-94e5-4793478a8223","order_by":3,"name":"Michael Gilead","email":"","orcid":"","institution":"Ben-Gurion University","correspondingAuthor":false,"prefix":"","firstName":"Michael","middleName":"","lastName":"Gilead","suffix":""}],"badges":[],"createdAt":"2026-03-13 13:01:38","currentVersionCode":1,"declarations":"","doi":"10.21203/rs.3.rs-9115023/v1","doiUrl":"https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-9115023/v1","draftVersion":[],"editorialEvents":[],"editorialNote":"","failedWorkflow":false,"files":[{"id":106726458,"identity":"e6cab650-dd3e-4325-a1a2-e741c8869857","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-12 18:36:10","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"manuscript-pdf","size":1234316,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Article File","description":"","filename":"Manuscript.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9115023/v1_covered_0b568386-992c-4386-a58d-a71346d01f9f.pdf"},{"id":106523422,"identity":"872d3351-73d4-477e-8bbc-d4beba2ddf49","added_by":"auto","created_at":"2026-04-09 13:19:49","extension":"pdf","order_by":1,"title":"","display":"","copyAsset":false,"role":"supplement","size":720785,"visible":true,"origin":"","legend":"Supplementary Information","description":"","filename":"SI.pdf","url":"https://assets-eu.researchsquare.com/files/rs-9115023/v1/3c7a7e0e312a1ec1f43ec168.pdf"}],"financialInterests":"\u003cp\u003eThere is \u003cstrong\u003eNO\u003c/strong\u003e Competing Interest.\u003c/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eEthics Statement All studies reported in this manuscript were approved by the Institutional Review Board (IRB) of Tel Aviv University. 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