The role of social interaction in the formation and use of abstract concepts

Abstractness, i.e., the capability to form and use abstract concepts, like “fantasy”, is pivotal to human cognition. Abstract concepts come in different kinds and are characterized by sensorimotor, interoceptive, emotional, linguistic, and social aspects to various degrees. In this Perspective, we propose a social route to abstractness, highlighting the role of social interaction and conceptual flexibility. We distinguish two notions: “socialness,” the idea that abstract concepts evoke more social aspects than concrete concepts, and “social metacognition,” a process that includes a monitoring and an interactive phase. Because abstract concepts do not have perceptually similar referents and their meaning is often indeterminate, people monitor their knowledge of abstract knowledge longer, feel more uncertain, and use inner speech more. Other people’s support is more critical to acquiring abstract concepts and, once acquired, to aligning and co-building conceptual meaning. Our view introduces a further semantic dimension, vagueness, which leads to a distinction between abstract concepts with more determined meaning, like some scientific and magnitude concepts, and abstract concepts whose meaning remains vague and socially negotiable. Our perspective connects literature on concepts, knowledge outsourcing, knowledge communities, and political polarization.