Social character
With social character or in the literature (often used) social character ( social character ), a basic concept of analytical social psychology of Erich Fromm , the social formation is character structure of the people of a society , a social environment or a reference group according to their way of life and society typical expectations and Functional requirements with regard to socially adapted behavior are meant.
classification
As a representative of the Frankfurt School, as well as in his later career, Fromm tried to combine the ideas of psychoanalysis and social science (sociology from a Marxist perspective) with an emphasis on humanism . This becomes clear in many of his writings - especially for the character of society , Beyond the Illusions from 1962 is mentioned.
Empirical investigations took place shortly before the seizure of power in the Weimar Republic in the form of the study workers and white-collar workers on the eve of the Third Reich . However, this study can still be viewed as an experimentally designed precursor. A later much more elaborate empirical study took place decades later on the social character of a Mexican village .
approach
Mediator
The orthodox Marxists believed that the economic base directly determines the ideological superstructure (values, ideas, etc. of a society) (see: Base and Superstructure ). Fromm lacked a mediating element " how the economic base is translated into the ideological superstructure". Fromm tried both theoretically and empirically to show that this mediation takes place via the social character and via the social unconscious .
Character theory
In general, Fromm advocates a character doctrine that is based on that of Freud (see character orientation and psychoanalysis and ethics ).
While the individual character describes the unmistakable richness of the character structure of an individual, the social character refers to the socially significant core structure of the character common to the people of a society:
“By“ social character ”I understand the core of a character structure that most members of a culture have in common in contrast to the individual character in which people belonging to the same culture differ from one another. [...] "
The social character is primarily meant to be functional and not essentialist ; Fromm is expressly concerned with the structure of society. B. is relatively fixed in certain historical periods, but can also change.
The character of a society determines the motivation of its members:
"The function of the social character is to shape the energies of the members of this society in such a way that their behavior does not depend on their conscious decision whether they want to adhere to the social model or not, but that they want to behave in this way, how to behave and that it gives them satisfaction at the same time to behave according to the requirements of culture. [...] "
As a result, what is socially customary acts as “natural” and “self-evident” for the people within the respective society or social class. The social character is identical to the modal personality or basic personality .
Erich Fromm emphasizes the social necessities that must be followed by the members of the society in each society. For a society to function adequately , its members must acquire a character that enables them to do what they must do. In an authoritarian society, for example, people are expected to be highly motivated and eager to invest their time and energy in the work, to subordinate themselves to a hierarchy and selflessly fulfill the instructions given to them. In the permissive consumer society, on the other hand, a character and activity structure is required that induces people to consume happily and extensively.
In this way, the character structure of every person is aligned in such a way that he can fulfill the expectations placed on him in the respective society, as it were voluntarily. He develops character traits that differentiate him from people who live in other societies. With this perspective, Fromm is not interested in the peculiarities that distinguish the individual people from one another, but rather asks about the similarities that can be seen in the psychological reactions of the members of a reference group and examines that part of their character structure that most people have Members of this group is common. Fromm describes this common core in character as social character. The formation of the social character takes place in most societies at the expense of the spontaneity and freedom of the individual member of society.
Acquisition
The social character is essentially acquired in the family as the "agency of society". According to Fromm, the social character arises in the interaction of socio-economic social structure and psychological structure and makes it possible to use human energies as social productive force .
Comparable concepts
- Pierre Bourdieu later developed a comparable, differing concept with the sociological concept of habitus .
- Furthermore, with regard to differences between culture and progress, the theory of cultural phase shift by William Ogburn is worth mentioning.
- A sociological theory that also refers to Fromm's approaches is that of Hartmut Rosa's response .
literature
Specifically to the social character:
- Erich Fromm: Beyond Illusions. The meaning of Marx and Freud. (1962), in: Erich Fromm Complete Edition, Volume IX.
- Erich Fromm: Appendix: Character and social process , in: ders., Die Furcht vor der Freiheit , in: Erich-Fromm-Gesamtausgabe, Volume I, Munich 1981, pp. 379–392.
- Erich Fromm, Rainer Funk, The Pathology of Normality , Berlin 2005.
Empirical research:
- Erich Fromm: Workers and employees on the eve of the Third Reich. A social psychological investigation. (1980), edited and commented by Wolfgang Bonß, in: Erich Fromm-Gesamtausgabe, Volume III.
- Erich Fromm and Michael Maccoby : The social character of a Mexican village. Psychoanalytic characterology in theory and practice. (1970), in: Erich Fromm Complete Edition, Volume III.
Web links
- Toward a Science of Social Character by Michael Maccoby , who conducted research with Fromm in Mexico, on the subject of social character .
Individual evidence
- ↑ Fromm, Erich 1962: Beyond the Illusions. The meaning of Marx and Freud . In: Fromm-Gesamtausgabe, Volume IX, pp. 85ff. (Chapter 8: Individual character and social character )
- ↑ Fromm 1962: Beyond the Illusions [...] . In: Fromm-Gesamtausgabe, Volume IX, p. 89f .: “There is no society as such, only special social structures that have different, verifiable effects. Even if these social structures change in the course of historical development, they are relatively fixed in the respective historical period. [...] "
- ↑ cf. Fromm 1962: Beyond Illusions. In: Fromm-Gesamtausgabe, Volume IX, p. 92.