Volume 13, Issue 1 (7-2026)
Shenakht Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry 2026, 13(1): 120-129 |
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Ranjbar I, Bahrami S, Bahrami S. Explaining the Psychological Mechanisms of Social Bonding in Axel Honneth’s Political Thought: An Interpretive Analysis of a Philosophical Text. Shenakht Journal of Psychology and Psychiatry 2026; 13 (1) :120-129
URL: http://shenakht.muk.ac.ir/article-1-2819-en.html
URL: http://shenakht.muk.ac.ir/article-1-2819-en.html
1- Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah , Iranjbar@iau.ac.ir
2- Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah.
2- Islamic Azad University, Kermanshah.
Abstract: (12 Views)
Introduction: The erosion of social solidarity in contemporary societies calls for renewed explanations of the psychological mechanisms underlying social bonds. Axel Honneth’s recognition theory, structured around three spheres—love, rights, and solidarity—offers a foundational account, yet existing scholarship lacks an integrated framework linking psychological mechanisms to normative and institutional levels.
Objective: This study reconstructs the conceptual architecture of recognition theory and formulates the psychological mechanisms of social bonding within an integrated model explaining how these mechanisms generate solidarity in contemporary societies.
Methods: The research adopts an interpretive qualitative analysis of philosophical texts. Honneth’s major works were critically reexamined, and key concepts of recognition theory were extracted and compared to develop an analytical framework connecting individual, intersubjective, and institutional levels.
Findings: In Honneth’s account, solidarity emerges from the internalization of reciprocal patterns of recognition at the psychological level. Three core mechanisms are identified: basic trust derived from affective relations, normative self-worth grounded in legal recognition, and social self-esteem generated through social esteem. Through the concept of recognition justice as the normative core, these mechanisms interact dialectically to sustain social solidarity.
Conclusion: The grammar of solidarity in Honneth’s theory constitutes a network of psychological, intersubjective, and institutional processes that enable social cohesion not through homogenization but through deepening relations of mutual recognition. This model clarifies how recognition experiences, personal identity, and normative structures jointly ground durable solidarity and provide a normative horizon for rebuilding trust and collective respect.
Objective: This study reconstructs the conceptual architecture of recognition theory and formulates the psychological mechanisms of social bonding within an integrated model explaining how these mechanisms generate solidarity in contemporary societies.
Methods: The research adopts an interpretive qualitative analysis of philosophical texts. Honneth’s major works were critically reexamined, and key concepts of recognition theory were extracted and compared to develop an analytical framework connecting individual, intersubjective, and institutional levels.
Findings: In Honneth’s account, solidarity emerges from the internalization of reciprocal patterns of recognition at the psychological level. Three core mechanisms are identified: basic trust derived from affective relations, normative self-worth grounded in legal recognition, and social self-esteem generated through social esteem. Through the concept of recognition justice as the normative core, these mechanisms interact dialectically to sustain social solidarity.
Conclusion: The grammar of solidarity in Honneth’s theory constitutes a network of psychological, intersubjective, and institutional processes that enable social cohesion not through homogenization but through deepening relations of mutual recognition. This model clarifies how recognition experiences, personal identity, and normative structures jointly ground durable solidarity and provide a normative horizon for rebuilding trust and collective respect.
Type of Study: Research |
Subject:
Special
Received: 2026/04/8 | Accepted: 2026/05/19 | Published: 2026/06/22
Received: 2026/04/8 | Accepted: 2026/05/19 | Published: 2026/06/22
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