Date of Award:

5-1952

Document Type:

Thesis

Degree Name:

Master of Science (MS)

Department:

Sociology and Anthropology

Department name when degree awarded

Sociology

Committee Chair(s)

Therel R. Black

Committee

Therel R. Black

Abstract

The emergence of modern concepts of personality and the study of processes involved in personality formation are relatively recent developments (14, p. 83). From these concepts and studies of personality has developed the theory that personality emerges out of the contact the individual has with his society and his culture. This theory does not discredit the importance of biological or hereditary background as an important condition or prerequisite for personality development, but it does hold that the social and cultural forces provide the stimulus and arranges the general patterns for personality formation.

The social and cultural forces operate in close conjunction with each other in affecting personality. The social force is that which is resident within the group. It is a product of the size of the group, the stability of the group, the values of the group, and other distinguishable group attributes. The cultural force is a combination of the values, ideas, and attitudes which the group conveys to its members.

The social force is present when an individual's actions are modified by or not completed without the intercession of another human being (24, p. 5). The soical force is more important in the small, relatively permanent, intimate, and unspecialized primary group like the family or child play-group (5, p. 56). The influence of this kind of group is relatively permanent. It is important at early stages of development when perhaps the mother alone interacts on an intimate level with the child, and it is important at later stages in the family, play-group, neighborhood, and other organizational groupings.

The cultural influence upon personality begins early when the mother superimposes on the child accepted standards of nursing, feeding, sleeping, and toilet control. It continues as the child learns the "do's" and "don'ts" of the family and standards of other groupings in the society.

Though the social and the cultural influences are analytically distinguishable and though neither of these influences is reducible to the other one (19, p. 6), they are more meaningfully understood in the problem of personality development if viewed as forces working together.

Personality develops through cultural and social influences in three overlapping stages. First, as a baby, the individual is almost unrestricted. Through the influence of others he becomes more restricted through learning the cultural values. For instance, children in our society are usually kept from sucking their thumbs. Secondly, as he matures, he learns to consider others before he acts to fulfill his own desires. He considers himself in relation to others and the rules laid down by the culture. Thus, he develops a "role" or a view of himself for each situation. Thirdly, becoming more mature, he is able to generalize all of the views of himself into a single picture or "generalized role." His view of himself is a social and cultural product in that his view of himself as a person is a reflection of how he has interpreted how others in his group have felt about him, and how they have treated him. He can only come to see himself as a person of acceptable worth if he is so regarded by those of his group who are most important to him.

It is generally accepted by social scientists that the first few years of the individual's life are crucial for the establishment of the deeper levels of personality (14, p. 141). It is during childhood that one learns roles for various situations and begins to establish his "generalized role." The early personality, however, is not established in an irrevocable form. There is no reason for a fatalistic view concerning man's ability to break the mold of his childhood learning. This learning, admittedly, often sets the pattern for many later responses to people; even for one's lifelong estimate of oneself. But, new situations and new stimuli will change not only a man's behavior--they will change his belief in himself (8, p. 213).

In harmony with the theory that one's personality and behavior patterns change and are modified by the totality of one's experiences, the stage of adolescence in our society is recognized as an exceptionally acute phase of self-development. The adolescent faces as a major role the necessity of defining his self and his personality in relation to new groups, experiences, and expectations. This role is vastly influenced in development by the nature of the person's associations, whether they are satisfying and relatively free from conflict, and whether he is accepted and wanted as an individual (3, p. 336).

Whether the individual is accepted or not is to some extent a product of his group affiliations. The group can extend an accepting attitude to the individual by such means as (1) giving him membership, (2) applauding his efforts, and (3) excusing his mistakes. Thus, the individual is given through the accepting group a means of developing his personality that minimizes failures.

It is upon the theoretical basis that the group is an important social and cultural influence upon the personality of the individual that the present study is undertaken. It seems appropriate that certain aspects of this theory need to be examined in a specific area. Therefore, it is the purpose of this study to investigate the following questions: "Is group participation among Kane and Piute County, Utah high school students related to personality adjustment for the school year 1951-1952?" and "Is there a relation between participation in either the family, the school, the church, or dating and dancing groups and personality adjustment?"

The answers to the questions of this study might be of great interest to leaders of the school, church, and family groups. These groups make a large expenditure of time, effort, and finance for programs designed to develop wholesome personalities in adolescents. Activities like car-riding, "family-nights," and reunions are sponsored by the family. The schools promote a large variety of activities involving participation such as debating, intramural sports, and clubs. The church promotes participation in prayer-meetings, suppers, and summer-camps. These programs are supported in the belief that participation in them will be of value to the adolescent's personality. The validity of this belief will be tested, in part at least, through answering the questions posed by the study.

When consideration is given to competition that frequently arises between groups for the time and loyalty of the adolescent (12, p. 152), the answers to the questions in the study might prove of further worth. Competition develops when those responsible for a program become "sold" on their group as the one of greatest worth to the adolescent. For instance, a church whose leaders are opposed to dancing might schedule prayer meetings on nights that the school sponsors dances. Such rivalry may lower the confidence of the student in the conflicting programs as well as in other adult-sponsored programs designed for his benefit. When the relative worth of programs purporting to develop wholesome personalities in adolescents is known, leaders should be in a better position to judge the emphasis that should be placed on each of them.

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