Introduction to Special Issue on Discursive Psychology

Abstract

Since its inception in 1987, Discursive Psychology (DP) has developed both methodologically, for instance by drawing closer to Conversation Analysis, and theoretically, by building a body of knowledge which outlines the discursive accomplishment of mind-world relations. One of DP's contributions to psychology consists in the respecification of mainstream topics (like attitudes, identity, memory, and emotions). This editorial outlines the meta-theoretical underpinnings of DP's respecification programme. The empirical studies comprised in this special issue showcase state-of-the art discursive psychological research that respecifies core psychological topics: attitudes, persuasion, emotions, agency, personality, uncertainty, and socialisation. The editorial also delineates the place of DP within contemporary psychological science and reviews DP's theoretical and methodological contributions to key matters including open science, research ethics, and integrity and rigour in qualitative research. The special issue concludes with an insightful commentary by Sally Wiggins on DP's relationship with mainstream psychology.

Vocabularies of social influence: Managing the moral accountability of influencing another

“…Finally, we noted relevant aspects of word selection and use of membership categories. Our analysis follows CA‐underpinned DP standards for methodological integrity and rigour (Humă et al ., 2020). We adopted an iterative analytic strategy, comprising several rounds of analysis in which we focused on each individual case, as well as on recurrent patterns across the collection.…”

Offensive, hateful comment: A networked discourse practice of blame and petition for justice during COVID-19 on Chinese Weibo

“…With its roots in different theoretical and empirical traditions, particularly ethnomethodology and CA, DP aims to understand ‘how psychology is constructed, understood, and displayed as people interact in everyday and more institutional situations’ ( Wiggins and Potter, 2008 : 73). In other words, what are considered underlying cognitive processes in mainstream psychology are treated in DP as discourse practices following ‘a set of formal procedures and rules that can be identified and described’ ( Huma et al, 2020 : 316). As Edwards and Potter (2005 : 242–243) stated, DP starts with discourse to examine how ‘those presumptively prior and independent notions of mind, intention, motive, etc., are topicalized, categorized and, in various less direct ways, handled and managed within discourse itself’.…”

“…Like CA, DP abstains from speculating participants’ intentions and motives in their interaction but instead privileges participants’ interpretations of the current interaction based on observable evidence, that is, what is shown in interaction ( Huma et al, 2020 ). Yet, unlike CA, which concentrates on the structural organisation of talk-in-interaction ( Schegloff, 2007 ), DP ‘has tended to focus on participants’ formulations and categories, and has picked up on issues of turn organisation and sequential placement in a less thoroughgoing way’ ( Hepburn and Wiggins, 2007 : 11).…”

Discursive psychology: Capturing the psychological world as it unfolds.

“…This work continues to critically engage with mainstream cognitive psychology, respecifying notions such as memory, scripts, emotion, attribution, and perception in terms of interactional practices (Edwards, 1997;Hepburn, 2004;Stokoe & Hepburn, 2005). For overviews of these two strands of work, see Augoustinos and Tileaga ˘ (2012), Hepburn (2003, Chapter 7), Huma ˘ et al (2020), andMcKinlay andMcVittie (2008).…”