One of the most prescient books I read in my college years was the book The Lonely Crowd by David Riesman. Its main thesis was that modern man can be divided into two groups according to their social modus operandi. One group Riesman called inner-directed; for them, social interaction is constrained by their tendency to acquire early in life an internalized set of goals. The second group he calls other-directed; they have a social character whose interaction is driven by their tendency to be sensitized to the expectations and preferences of others.
One of the characteristics of a great social theory is its power to explain. I have turned to this division time and again to help me understand people’s actions. Lately, for example, I was contemplating why I (a strong inner-directed personality) seem to find it easier to go against the group in a committee setting, pushing a different course of action than a friend who is more other-directed can.
Many times I’ve wondered how Christianity will fare in a world becoming progressively more other-directed. Persuade an inner-directed person of the truth of Christianity and he will go that direction even if he has to go it alone. But an other-directed person, who takes his cues from the crowd around him, will struggle terribly in a secular world. Does that mean the Church should modify its approach to winning souls to account for this?
And what does the rise of the other-directed masses mean for politics? Years ago I wrote the following in the margins of my copy of The Lonely Crowd: By using one’s peer group as the basis for establishing norms, one opens the door to ‘tyranny of the group’ [i.e. despotic peer pressure.] This way, people end up mimicking an elite, including their personal ideas and actions. That’s a good explanation for people’s actions, from the oxymoronic ‘cookie cutter individualism’ of the 60’s to the mindless mobs of today.
While it was considered a landmark study in its day, one seldom hears any reference to the work today. (The book’s actual thesis is much more involved and complicated than I mention here!) But I thank him for his proposed explanation for people’s ‘guidance system’ because it has helped me understand events in my life.
Askance Eye Miniblog 