20
APPROACHES TO THE STUDY OF
NATIONAL CHARACTERISTICS IN
A MULTICULTURAL SOCIETY*
Director of
VERA RUBIN, PH.D.
Research, Program for the Study of Man in the
Columbia University, New York, N.Y.
Tropics,
study of &dquo;national character&dquo; and of the impact of values on personality
complex heterogeneous society still presents methodological and conceptual problems in the social sciences. Anthropological studies have been the
target of criticism because of sampling techniques, the selection of data on
&dquo;intuitive&dquo; grounds, and the reliability and validity of ethnological methods
used to establish generalizations about normative value systems.(’) In reaction
to such criticism a somewhat defensive position has developed in social anthropology. In the introduction to a recently published anthropological study of
minority groups in the New World, the authors write:
&dquo;The traditional research methods and concepts of social anthropology were
developed in work with simple tribes and with relatively small communities. It
is with some humility and reluctance that we apply ourselves to a subject which
hardly lends itself to the traditional methods of anthropological inquiry because
it involves masses of people spread out over large areas.&dquo;(9)
However, anthropologists are becoming increasingly involved in the study
of social structure and values in complex societies, and they are looking to
multi-disciplinary techniques and a combination of approaches to supplement
the ethnographic method. There has been growing interest in the use of large-
HE
T in
a
scale attitude surveys as useful tools to validate field data about the cultural
impact of value systems on personality.
A field study was undertaken in Trinidad, British West Indies, in the
of 1957. Here the survey method was utilized experimentally as an
to
adjunct traditional field methods The Allport-Gillespie autobiography and
questionnaire, with some modifications, were selected as survey instruments.
They were originally designed for cross-national studies partly in the effort to
overcome what in the authors’ opinion were considered to be some of the
conceptual and methodological shortcomings of national character studies:
summer
procedure assumes that a pattern of culture is composed of a few
thematic
threads that characterize the life of the group as a whole
important
and are presumably to be found in every individual who is a member of the
group. Some devotees of this method hold that there is in each culture a ’modal
personality’, a kind of common denominator in the character structure of each
and every member.
&dquo;The
&dquo;Opponents of the culture-pattern theory argue that it tends to oversimplify
social system that is in reality many-sided, and at the same time runs the risk
of caricaturing the diversity of personalities that actually comprise the nation or
the culture in question. These critics prefer not to look for a central or thematic
a
*
Paper presented at the annual meeting of the American Anthropological Society, Washington, D.C., 1958.
t The survey in Trinidad was carried out by the author and Ira Greiff under the auspices of the Program
for the Study of Man in the Tropics; the substantive data are being analysed with the assistance of Marisa
Zavalloni,
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21
formula but to proceed in
a
somewhat
what range and
cultures)
of
opinion
variety
more random empirical manner to discover
and attitude are to be found in a given
The instrument had been used for exploratory studies of modal valueorientation in ten European, American, and Asiatic countries and provides a
base for cross-cultural comparisons. A specially designed sentence-completion
forml was added to the survey battery. The questionnaires were intended to
probe real / ideal patterns and attitudes about family life, race, education, occupation, social mobility, aspirations, and relationships to the larger society. As
personal documents, they yield a great deal of information which permits us
to formulate hypotheses about ethnic and social class variables in the patterning
of value-oriented aspects of personality. The data, currently being categorized,
coded and analysed, will serve as the basis for a comparative socio-cultural and
socio-psychological analysis of ethnic and social class characteristics in the framework of culture-history in Trinidad.
Trinidad, now the capital of the Federation of the West Indies, is a multiracial and multicultural society. The heterogeneity of races, cultures and social
classes is a heritage of European colonization and settlement, slavery, and the
plantation society. To a certain extent, Trinidad is racially the &dquo;Hawaii&dquo; of the
Caribbean. There has been a great deal of transculturation among the different
segments of the society. Far from being a melting pot, however, the sub-cultures
remain distinctive and have been characterized as &dquo;plural societies&dquo;. ~7~ Moreover, distinctive plural cultural traditions have been retained in many sectors of
the society. The social structure is cross-cut by regional, religious, occupational
and socio-economic variables as well as by race, colour, and ethnic origin.
Historically, race and social position have been closely aligned; to the traditional
three-class colour system of the West Indies-white, mulatto, black, with intraclass differentiations-the East Indian population must be added as a major
demographic and socio-cultural factor in this heterogeneous society.
Today, over one-third of the population of Trinidad, 37 per cent in the
1946 census, consists of East Indians who are the descendants of indentured
labourers introduced since the mid-nineteenth century. Overt and covert caste
distinctions have not disappeared, and there is considerable variation in the
degree of acculturation and of retention of customary beliefs and behaviour.
One of the chief factors in the dynamics of acculturation has been the minority
status of the East Indian group and its marginal position with regard to social,
economic and political power in the national community. Endogamy, family
systems of land tenure, orthodox religious adherence, as well as the prevailing
attitudes of the larger society, have bolstered cultural retentions and isolationism.
Cultural pluralism is maintained also by means of organized educational, political
and religious activities established under East Indian nationalist leaders. §
The bulk of the population, 59 per cent, is &dquo;Creole&dquo;, ranging phenotypically
from black to light in colour and socially from urban and rural lower classes to
the new elite now in administrative power and leadership roles.
~ I wish
to acknowledge the assistance of Dr. E. K. Schwartz in preparing the forms for field use.
§ The following example is quoted from the Trinidad Guardian of November 23rd, 1958:
&dquo;Dr. Amala Chauduri, associate professor of pediatrics at the University College of Calcutta, urged all
Indians to be loyal to their mother country, India, during a lecture at the Gandhi Ashrama here on Friday night.
&dquo;Dr. Chauduri urged the women to wear the orhni and the sari. There was nothing to be ashamed about
wearing them,
as
they represented something they ought
to be
proud of,
she added.&dquo;
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22
The until-now dominant upper-class White society represents a small percentage of the population, 2.8 per cent, and it, too, is internally differentiated,
the basis of ethnic origin, along hierarchical lines of social prestige. While
retaining major economic interests and prestige based on colour and social
position, this group is gradually losing political power and is being replaced by
the coloured elite.
on
The heritage of slavery and colonial dependency has left its mark, not only
the social structure, but on the value system of all segments of the population.
Nevertheless, antecedent beliefs and traditions as well as the structural system
have been instrumental in maintaining a network of plural cultures. The rising
tide of nationalism in the British West Indies has swept the Creoles into new
positions and roles. The changing social structure and the growing socio-political
aspirations of the East Indians have also intensified racial tensions in the society
and sharpened the boundaries of cultural pluralism.
on
The purpose of this paper is to present some hypotheses and tentative
formulations about subcultural differences in social personality, derived from
the preliminary analysis of a subsample in the study. The battery of instruments
was administered to a randomI sample of 1,000 students between the ages of
15 and 19, comprising one-third of this age group in all the secondary schools,
and to several hundred individuals up to 26 years of age in the teacher training
schools. Standard sampling techniques were used, and the following data were
collected for each student: age, sex, academic status, rural-urban residence,
religion, race and ethnic identification, and social class, both self-ascribed and
objective. Discussion will be limited here to the major ethnic variables delineated
in those aspects of the study dealing with aspirations and motivations. The
statistical analysis will be reported elsewhere.
Although all Trinidad youth who are on the verge of careers reveal great
anxiety about goal achievement, the definition of the situation varies subculturally. Creole students are largely concerned with ego-adequacy to fulfil desired
roles. Lack of achievement is attributed by them to failure due to individual
incompetence. Anxiety is related to concern about personal abilities to accomplish goals, or to possible personal moral failures rather than to environmental
shortcomings as obstacles to goal fulfilment. For East Indian students, on the
other hand, the environmental situation is seen as the intervening factor in the
possibility of goal achievement. The obstacle lies in the situation, not in the
individual, and ego-anxiety is related to concern about external events and
obstacles. Thus, they reveal far greater concern about external instrumentalities
for achievement and fear lack of opportunity or facilities to pursue a career:
the East Indian student, for example, is far more concerned about health as an
instrumentality in achievement, and he has particular anxiety about incapacitating illness or accident which might interrupt education and the pursuit of a
career. While Creole students fear failure in school examinations due to egoinadequacy, the East Indian student fears failure due to illness or other imposed
environmental factors.
There
are
also subcultural differences in the strength of valences attached
Replies of East Indian students reveal far greater intensity of
to achievement.
11
The non-stratified random sample procedure
alphabetical lists at each school.
taken from
was
used : the tests
were
administered to every third
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student,
’
23
desire for
goal
achievement. While status and social
prestige
lated, self-esteem for the East Indian student is also dependent
are
on
closely
corre-
status achieve-
anxiety is not equally characteristic of the Creole sample.
The autobiographies of lower socio-economic status Creole students place far
less emphasis on prestige attainment and do not reveal similar high-status / selfesteem correlations. The Creole student tends to show greater interest in the
personal affective dimensions of goal achievement, in the satisfactions attendant
on performance, in the attainment of material possessions for enjoyment, and
in inter-personal relations with family and friends. He has many foci of interest.
The East Indian student, on the other hand, tends to be more concerned with
the prestige attributes of achievement and is consistently more power-oriented.
The lower-class Hindu student cites fewer occupational alternatives; his range
tends to be channelled to a single goal and reveals greater intensity about the
need for goal fulfilment. Success and power are linked as primary motives for
mobility, and other interests are mentioned only in passing.
ment. This status
Congruent with observations of rising political interest in this subculture,
find that East Indian youth evince a strong interest in political matters and
show, more frequently than the other groups, high motivation to pursue political
careers. The data also indicate that political interests are linked to the personal
desire for power, to be powerful figures in the community, either through professional or political channels. Correlated with the desire to achieve great prestige
for themselves and their children, another more frequent goal among East Indian
students is a willingness to make greater long-range sacrifices for education as
a channel to achievement.
we
It may be predicated that greater motivation is necessary for the East
Indians to overcome perceived or real obstacles to achievement, and that the
affect surrounding achievement ideals, particularly of those in the lower socioeconomic class, is intensified and reinforced by the discrepancy between culturally desired roles and socially available statuses, between opportunity structure
and social aspirations. For the Creoles there is presently more real possibility
of assuming leadership roles and desired statuses. More alternatives are available
in the social structure, and Creole students envisage more clearly the possibility
of occupational alternatives, and the requirements and means for fulfilling these
roles, although there may be a class differential in respect to role knowledge.
It must be pointed out that in a hierarchical social structure with limited
social class and inter-ethnic communication there is a differential knowledge of
the norms of desired statuses and of the instrumentalities for achieving them. The
concepts of role behaviour and the models of role learning have social class as
well as ethnic correlates due to different styles of life, and variations in sources
of information and availability of specific role models. Thus, rural lower-class
children of both East Indian and Creole samples are less familiar at the community level with content of role behaviour and means of achievement than
middle-class individuals. In both groups, however, national culture heroes whose
careers are popularly known may serve as ethnic role models for the upwardly
mobile students.
Role behaviour in the Creole sample is perceived in terms of performance
rather than ascribed qualities, while the lower-class East Indian student stresses
ascribed qualities of role behaviour as a means of gaining social favour and
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24
thereby prestige and power. For example, the lower-class East Indian student
frequently aspires to the role of lawyer-politician, modelling himself after
nationalist leaders. With limited knowledge of structural instrumentalities for
achievement, he may be guided by charismatic culture heroes as role models.
He anticipates goal fulfilment through the conscious acquisition of behavioural
attributes such as &dquo;friendliness&dquo; and &dquo;generosity&dquo;, as the significant achievement
properties of the role. ~5~ Expectations of role behaviour vary subculturally. The
more
rules of the game are different, as the models and the structural situation vary.
Social perception of behaviour and sanctions relating to asocial behaviour
also vary subculturally. The data clearly reveal significant differences in the
nature of ego-involvement inducing shame-guilt reactions. Questions referring
to shame elicited &dquo;guilt&dquo; responses from the Creole students, who tend to link
shame and guilt reactions. Feelings of &dquo;shame&dquo; are induced by a personal
consciousness of guilt: &dquo;I feel ashamed when ... I have done something wrong.&dquo;
In a recent analytic review of the literature on shame-guilt, Lynd has pointed
out that:
&dquo;Benedict, like Freud, contrasts guilt, a failure to live up to one’s own
picture of oneself (based on parental values), with shame, a reaction to criticism
by other people.&dquo; (3)
The questionnaire alone does not establish such linkages, but field observations are available to supplement these findings. Other data from the study
reinforce the hypothesis that super-ego formation in the Creole group reflects
the value orientation of the Protestant ethos and the dominant role of conscience
in self-judgment. The individual bears the responsibility for his actions. The
sense of guilt is pervasive, and the individual in this subculture is intropunitive.
This ties in with concerns about ego adequacy in role fulfilment; guilt is linked
with failure to live up to one’s own image of oneself.
On the other hand, the value system of the East Indian student, as revealed
the data, stresses feelings of shame and hinges on situational determinants
which induce such feelings. Shame reactions are elicited in the discovery of the
situation by others, rather than in the private knowledge of wrong-doing on the
part of the individual: &dquo;I feel ashamed when ... I am caught doing something
wrong.&dquo; No attempt is made here to trace the psychoanalytic origins of shameguilt components or to correlate them with differences in child-rearing patterns.
But in Piers’ (6) view, shame derives analytically from tension between ego and
ego ideal, whereas guilt derives from tension between ego and superego. This
would coincide with the survey findings of ethnic differences in attitudes towards
transgressions and towards achievement goals.
by
For the East Indian student frustration-anxiety is correlated with external
factors, and the activities of others are shame-causative. In addition, he fears
being &dquo;falsely accused&dquo;, &dquo;let down by others&dquo;, misunderstood, maligned, and
consequently victimized. This extropunitive aspect of the ethos plays an important role in achievement, and world view. The coincidence of political interest
and prestige-power aspirations, as revealed in the data and supplemented by
participant observation in the society-at-large, lead us to formulate the hypothesis
that power orientation is characteristic of modal personality among educated
mobile East Indian youth in Trinidad. The responses of the East Indian students
suggest a social personality configuration characterized by high concern with
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25
social prestige, fear of victimization, and dependence on external approval for
social achievement and inner security. One sets one’s sights on long-range goals;
achievement brings power and prestige; lack of achievement brings disgrace,
and failure is due to some external force. Regarding the value system of the
East Indian student, one hypothesis for field investigation is that the operative
ethos of the role system is Karma-like rather than Protestant, which relies on
caste-like, ascribed attributes as a means to goal achievement. Such an analysis
will be undertaken in the light of role and reference group theory, especially with
regard to the internalization of socio-cultural values.
On the basis of field knowledge of the existing social structure one may
predict greater social maladjustment among the mobile-oriented Hindu youth,
if actual achievement does not measure up to aspirations. Increase in the
educated group of the potential elite who encounter frustration of the desire to
&dquo;seek a place in the sun&dquo; may lead to social disturbance, particularly under
charismatic leadership. Personal maladjustment may be expressed in the greater
incidence of suicide among East Indians, who account for 67 per cent of all
suicides for the years 1950-57.~[
In Merton’s view,<4>
it is the imperfect co-ordination of goals and means
in society which leads to anomie, but value orientations inherent in the dominant
ethos of each group also have a significant bearing on attitudes towards goal
achievement, anticipatory role behaviour, and the culturally approved ego ideal.
Goals and values are reflected in the self-image. The individual’s security
system, his accommodation to role participation in his society, his personal
sense of frustration or fulfilment are functionally related not only to the social
structure but also to the value system of his reference group. The social structure
and the value system become mutually reinforcing in the cultural gestalt. Interdisciplinary tools are required for analysis of the interrelated aspects and their
subcultural variants.
The use of appropriate survey techniques provides methodological rigor
for the validation of field data on the interaction of social, cultural and psychological factors. However, quantification per se is not the primary goal of analysis,
as facts in themselves may be meaningless until placed in a meaningful theoretical
frame, and it is not a question of giving up one’s anthropological heritage for a
&dquo;mess&dquo; of statistical or psychological &dquo;pottage&dquo;, or vice versa.
necessarily a partial report of work in progress and deals only with
findings and preliminary hypotheses which will have to be refined as to
range and deviation with regard to social class and other variables. The particular
method adapted has proven effective in social science research elsewhere(8) and
more explicit socio-cultural categories of analysis have been developed for this
study.
On the basis of a general appraisal, we believe the survey method may
provide a fruitful and reliable technique for validating studies of normative
value orientation and their subcultural variants. In our own study it has also
provided significant leads for more intensive field studies of social organization
and changing attitudes towards the &dquo;West Indian Family&dquo;. Whether the ultimate
This is
some
’I East Indians also
August 1957).
comprise 56.8
per t:ent of the
attempted
suicides
reported
for this
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period (through
26
is socio-cultural
heuristic value when
goal
or psycho-cultural analysis, research of this nature is of
placed in the functional historical framework of anthro-
pology.
z
REFERENCES
1.
2.
3.
4.
5.
6.
7.
8.
9.
Gillespie, James M., and Allport, Gordon W.: Youth’s Outlook on the Future, a
Cross National Study. Garden City : Doubleday and Co., 1955, p. 2.
Cf. Inkeles, Alex, and Levinson, Daniel J.: "National character: the study of modal
personality and socio-cultural systems," in G. Lindzey (ed.), Handbook of Social
Psychology, Vol. II. Cambridge : Addison-Wesley Pub. Co., 1954; and Stoetzel, Jean :
Without the Chrysanthemum and the Sword (a study of the attitudes of youth in
post-war Japan). New York: Columbia University Press, 1955.
Lynd, Helen M.: On Shame and the Search for Identity. New York : Harcourt Brace,
1958, p. 21.
Merton, Robert K.: "Social structure and anomie," in Social Theory and Social
Structure. Chicago: The Free Press, 1949.
Nadel, S. F.: The Theory of Social Structure. London : Cohen and West Ltd., 1957,
p. 23.
Piers, G., and Singer, M.: Shame and Guilt. Springfield : Charles Thomas and Co.,
1953.
G. : Framework for Caribbean Studies. Mona, Jamaica : University
Smith, Michael A
College of the West Indies, Extra-mural Department; and "Ethnic Cultural Pluralism
in the British Caribbean," paper presented at the Thirtieth Study Session of the
International Institute of Differing Civilizations, Lisbon, April 1957.
Stoetzel, Jean: op. cit., p. 34.
Wagley, Charles, and Harris, Marvin: Minorities in the New World (six case studies).
New York: Columbia University Press, 1958, p. xvi.
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