Why are people’s self-understandings important in social-science explanations?

In the philosophy of social science, people’s self-understandings are considered vital because human actions are fundamentally intentional and meaningful, rather than mere physical movements. Unlike natural phenomena, human behavior is shaped by conscious states—such as motives, goals, desires, and cultural orientations—that constitute an "inside" to human action.1

The importance of these self-understandings in social-science explanations includes:

• Interpretation of Meaning: Many theorists argue that social science must be an interpretive endeavor. Because humans act based on their conceptual schemes and cultural worlds, understanding them requires grasping their subjective states, similar to interpreting a text or painting.1
• Ideology Critique: Self-understandings are also critical because they can be systematically mistaken or influenced by self-deception and ideology. Social scientists use these insights to engage in critique, assessing the accuracy and rationality of an agent's beliefs to explain why certain behaviors or social conflicts arise.2
• Uncovering Structures: Approaches like ethnomethodology focus on these self-understandings to reveal the "taken-for-granted" structures of everyday life.1

While some approaches, such as behaviorism or structuralism, argue that internal meanings are irrelevant to scientific explanation, those who prioritize human agency maintain that ignoring the conscious, intentional nature of human life fails to capture what makes social action unique.1