Culture, Behavior, and Personality

"[This book] is a landmark in the field dealing with relationships between culture and personality.... Culture, Behavior, and Personality: Contemporary Readings represents an interested and stimulating sampling of... studies by anthropologists and psychologists and psychiatrists in the field as defined by LeVine.... The book should be used in acquainting the student with some of the new trends in researching culture and personality relationships." --Louise S. Spindler, American Anthropologist "LeVine demonstrates an amazing ability to synthesize and distill a wide variety of viewpoints. His contribution is a significant milestone in the attempt to develop a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework for future considerations of social structure and personality." --Lauren Langman, Contemporary Sociology "This book is a valuable contribution to the study of culture and personality. The author succinctly organizes and synthesizes a diverse subject matter into a set of questions which require investigation, not only for the sake of developing the field of culture and personality, but also because these questions are important to understanding the psychosocial and adaptive issues of our time." --Berton H. Kaplan, American Scientist "[G]ood writing... reflecting a logical, often brilliant, mind at work, a mind that weaves a complex, enduring pattern of ideas and research strategies drawn from at least half a dozen disciplines. The text is useful for all anthropological scholars, not just those studying psychological anthropology, for it offers ideas for solving a wide range of anthropological problems, including those of interest to medical and clinical anthropologists." --Ann McElroy, Medical Anthropology Quarterly "Few students of culture and personality have combined so well the knowledge and skills required by this field of research. LeVine is able to draw upon his own field experience in Africa, on psychoanalytic training, and on the relevant literature in psychology and sociology as well as that of his own discipline, anthropology. This book will merit study by anyone with a general interest in the relationships between enduring dispositions of individuals and the social structures and cultures within which human development takes place." --John A. Clausen, Science "[This book] is a landmark in the field dealing with relationships between culture and personality.... Culture, Behavior, and Personality: Contemporary Readings represents an interested and stimulating sampling of... studies by anthropologists and psychologists and psychiatrists in the field as defined by LeVine.... The book should be used in acquainting the student with some of the new trends in researching culture and personality relationships." --Louise S. Spindler, American Anthropologist "LeVine demonstrates an amazing ability to synthesize and distill a wide variety of viewpoints. His contribution is a significant milestone in the attempt to develop a comprehensive interdisciplinary framework for future considerations of social structure and personality." --Lauren Langman, Contemporary Sociology "This book is a valuable contribution to the study of culture and personality. The author succinctly organizes and synthesizes a diverse subject matter into a set of questions which require investigation, not only for the sake of developing the field of culture and personality, but also because these questions are important to understanding the psychosocial and adaptive issues of our time." --Berton H. Kaplan, American Scientist "[G]ood writing... reflecting a logical, often brilliant, mind at work, a mind that weaves a complex, enduring pattern of ideas and research strategies drawn from at least half a dozen disciplines. The text is useful for all anthropological scholars, not just those studying psychological anthropology, for it offers id

Robert A. LeVine is Roy Edward Larsen Professor of Education and Human Development Emeritus at Harvard University's Graduate School of Education. One of his main research concerns parenthood and child development in societies such as African, Asian and Latin American. He is a member of numerous professional organizations such as National Academy of Education and the Spencer Foundation, where he is on the Board of Directors.

Introduction: The Comparative Study of Personality and Sociocultural Environments 1. Basic Questions for Culture and Personality Research 2. Group Differences In Individual Behavior Patterns An Overview of Existing Theories and Methods 3. Theoretical Conceptions of Culture-Personality Relations 4. Concepts of Socialization 5. Methods of Assessing Personality 6. Institutions, Deviance and Change Population Psychology: An Evolutionary Model of Culture and Personality 7. The Applicability of a Darwinian View 8. Basic Concepts In an Evolutionary Model 9. Adaptive Processes 1: Stability 10. Adaptive Processes II: Change 11. A Cost-Benefit View of Psychosocial Adaptation The Study of Individual Dispositions in Social Settings 12. Strategies in Personality Study 13. Psychoanalytic Clinical Method 14. The Couch and the Field 15. Universal Categories and the Translation Problem 16. Psychoanalytic Ethnography: Structures for Comparative Observation 17. Religious Symbols and Religious Experience Conclusions 18. New Directions in Culture and Personality Research 19. The Self in Culture