Chapter 17 - Personality and Social Structure: Social Psychological Contributions

Abstract

This chapter focuses on the personality and social structure perspective. Virtually all major social theorists have fashioned concepts and developed hypotheses for explaining the linkages between personality and social structure. Personality and social structure constitute an interdisciplinary field par excellence; political scientists, anthropologists, sociologists, and psychiatrists as well as psychologists have all contributed. The apparent paradox is very important for understanding the study of personality and social structure within contextual social psychology. The apparent paradox involves the way the two social psychologies, sociological and psychological, treat the study of personality. Three interrelated factors explain this apparent paradox: (1) social psychologists in the sociological mold have different—though not conflicting—aims from their psychological colleagues. (2) There has been over the past generation a general trend throughout psychology toward situationalizm. (3) Sociological social psychology has been shielded from these psychological influences. The personality and social structure perspective has been emphasized only on multilevel approach. Persons, situations, and societies are all changing continuously. Multilevel models are used to capture the dynamics of change. The personality and social structure perspective provide a promising approach for coming to grips with this challenge.