Role-playing as an Agar of Sociality: An Experimental Method?

Abstract

Article introduces active role-playing as a research experimental method in the social sciences. It frames role-playing to the simulating research methods, opens its epistemological pro- perites and methodological conceptions in social psyschology. Main argument constructs the defense of epistemological properties of active role-playing as an experimental method in the social sciences in general. The inspiring source is one the side Latour's sociology of associations, which problematizes the very subject of social sciences, the sociality itself and on the other side the naturalizing approaches connecting social sciences and cognitive science. In this context main argument for meaningfulness of simulated social reality lies in the usage of the same cognitive mechanisms in the real and simulated so- cial interaction. In the article perspective both sources are united by their accent on perceiving social reality as fundamentaly interpsychological phenomenon between the traditional conpcetions micro and macro level. Through analogy of Petri dish article conpcetualizes shift of the original method of situational social psychology toward utililization of designed diegetic liminal situations as laboratories of the social.