Class and Personality in Society

Book excerpt: "This volume graphically demonstrates how differences in social class affect personality. It does so by presenting research in class character covering a broad range of phenomena in the area shared by psychology, sociology, psychiatry, and anthropology. Concerned with key issues of substance and method in this area, the essays in Class and Personality in Society provide firsthand experience in the divergent ways in which specialists view and explore the relationship between personality and social status. The material offers a picture of how, out of controversy and confusion, scholars and researchers can achieve order, clarity, and sophistication. The editor's extensive introductory essay provides frames of reference from the social sciences pertinent to this aspect of social psychology. It describes historic trends and suggests fresh answers to controversial issues such as the nature of American class structure, the contribution of psychoanalysis to psychological research, and the relative importance, to personality, of early training versus current circumstance. Calling for more sociological awareness in psychological research, Grey documents his views with specific examples. The discussion is further enlivened by its pertinence to such current problems as the culture of poverty and community psychiatry. Class and Personality in Society was originally intended for use in courses in Social Psychology and Culture and Personality, and in sociology courses that discuss how social institutions and processes are related to individual personality. It may also provide stimulating supplemental reading in introductory psychology or sociology course. It will also prove valuable to professionals in specialized programs in clinical psychology and psychiatry concentrating on community mental health."--Provided by publisher.