| Social tensions represent the "go" and "energy" for change within all social systems. Most social theories seek to explain and predict how manipulating social tensions can lead to various future outcomes and states. However, the phenomenon of social tensions is rarely defined, classified, or explored through empirical research. This research has created a social tensions construct and conducted empirical research by using the context of the global financial crisis to create social tension taxonomy. The taxonomy emerged through a mixed method research approach that applied a theoretical and conceptual framework based upon complexity, structuration, and sensemaking theories to analyzed discourse of social tensions at the meso and macro levels of analysis across the actions, structures, and practices among financial actors. The taxonomy that emerged provided the basis for understanding the dynamic nature by which social tensions emerge as maladaptive tensions, become transformed into adaptive and creative tensions, and dissipate through innovations to enable a system to realize its desired state of stable increase. The exploration of tension dynamics applied the tension taxonomy and led to the creation of a tension physiology and tension anatomy. This research makes four important contributions to our understanding of tensions by expanding upon Jaffee's discussion of two cardinal tensions and McKelvey's description of two primary tension configurations, as well as increasing our understanding of the dynamic role tensions play in sensemaking, structuration, and complexity theory. These insights can guide the development of theory, practice, and research.;Keywords. Tensions, complexity, sensemaking, structuration, taxonomy, transformation, innovation. |
