Social character in a Mexican village;: A sociopsychoanalytic study

The aims of the authors in this innovative study are to test a new method which permits the application of psychoanalytical theory to study of social groups without psychoanalyzing the individual members of the group...to test the theory of social character, and to discover data which might be useful. The first serious attempt to combine intensive psychological and psychoanalytic research techniques with detailed anthropological observations, it gives insights into peasant life going far beyond more traditional studies. In focusing on the interaction of psychological, social, and economic factors in forming and modifying behavior, the authors make major contributions to socio-economic development theories . . . . By demonstrating how villagers with a "productive-hording" character prove to be more successful in a changing world than those with an unproductive-receptive" character, the author suggest a highly plausible middle road combining the best features of more traditional explanations.