Year: 1991
Type: article
Abstract: In the first edition of the Handbook of Social Psychology published in 1954 D. J. Levinson and I sought to define the field of national character research as "the study of modal personality and sociocultural systems". While acknowledging the legitimacy of deriving national character from the institutional or cultural forms shared by a population or from the behavior of their nation in acts such as war, peace and commerce, we urged that "national character ought to be equated with modal personality structure; that is, should refer to the mode or modes of distribution of personality variants within a given society".
DOI: 10.3138/ttr.12.83
Author: Alex Inkeles
Language: English
Subfield: Social Psychology
Field: Psychology
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2567584057