THE DEVELOPMENT OF PERSONALITY IN AERICAN
CULTURESummary of a paper by S. Biesheuyel
to._be presented at GCTA/GSA Symposium on
Basic Psychological Structures of African
and Madagascan Populations.
Tananarive. August.t
19 5Q.
Individual differences between people are the
outcome of both constitutional and cultural influences*
Within a culture, similarities between individuals are
determined by the nature of the subsistence economy,
child-rearing habits, institutions, value systems and
cosmology of that culture.
In a homogeneous society where individuals
fu fil traditionally determined roles and where inter­
personal relations are accordingly rabher stereotyped, personality
structures will display a close similarity and a number of modal
personalities may develop, towards the production of which childrearing practices may be consciously or sub-consciously
directed.
In such cultures, individual differences in
personality result very largely from constitutional temperamental
differences, except in so far as they are related to the different
social roles individuals may be called upon to perform.
In societies where interpersonal relations are less
structured by tradition, individual differences are only partly
temperamental in origin and mainly the result o.f a differential
exposure to the heterogeneous influences exercised by various
sub-cultures.
The view that personalities are functional to the require­
ments of a particular culture needs to be qualified in the case
where cultural and racial differences coincide.
A racial diffe­
rence may occur in the form of a genetic temperamental difference
which in turn may give a culture a particular character,
especially with regard to the emotional, or activity habits of
its members.
On the whole, however, the differences between
cultures are due far less to such racial factors than to the
differing ecological circumstances to which they are a response,
and which in turn, but indirectly, shape the personalities that
are the bearers of the culture*
In view of the great diversity of cultures in Africa, the
similarities between members of African cultures are far out­
weighed by the differences.
Whether underlying these cultures
there is some common thread, relating to race, it is not possible
to say.
A number of closely allied races are involved, buo it
is not known whether they have some temperamental disposition in
common which would give all or most African cultures a characteris­
tic feature, setting them apart from Western cultures..
Purely
cultural
similarities/
similarities are probably limited to such aspects as
subsistence economy* level of material culture, certain very
broad aspects of social structure, ancestor worship and ma­
gical beliefs! but it is doubtful whether any generalisation
other than that African cultures tend to produce traditiondirected personalities, would be valid,
And even this very
broad generalisation would only apply to societies in which
contact with Western civilisation had not destroyed the ori­
ginal social structures.
The concept of "an African persona­
lity" would therefore involve such a high degree of abstraction
as to render it without any practical significance.
3»
It was therefore considered expedient to confine our study
to what is known concerning personality development within the
closely related Bantu cultures of Southern Africa, with special
emphasis on the structure of the self, the degree of differentiation
of the ego-system, the manner in which the individual thinks
either consciously or unconsciously of himself and the social
processes whereby these characteristics are developed.
Special
attention was paid to the effects on the ego-system of accul­
turation, particularly during the transitional stages.
The de­
velopment of a new personality structure in an emergent urban
African middle class was also traced, and seme attempt was made
to assess the nature of work motivation, the development
of a value-system, and the conflict of needs in this group.
The three traditional cultures that were chosen
for an analysis of child-rearing practices and personality
development were the Northern Transvaal Pedi (G.M. Pitje),
the North Eastern Transvaal Lovedu (J.D. and E.J. Krige)
and the Zulu of Natal (E.J. Krige).
The choice was made
mainly on the basis of adequacy of available information.
It was found that personality development was
influenced both by similarities and by differences in
the culture of these three Bantu tribes.
Their cultures
were closely alike in the character of their religious
beliefs and in the exclusive identification of the self
with social relations, both factors accounting for the
relatively elementary differentiation, extraversion, and
projective tendency of their modal personalities.
It
is probable that this is a feature of personality
development in most, if not all, African cultures, and
that it is a reasonable generalisation to describe
African personalities as "tradition-directed".
Within
this general structure, the attributes of the modal
selves/
selves were found to diverge considerably as a result
of differences in social structure, value systen and
cosmology between the three tribes.
Pedi culture favoured aggressive personality
qualities, crude dominance-subordination relations, and
little respect for outstanding personal qualities of
achievement because of the importance attaching to
status and to seniority, and because of the belief in
predestination.
Warlike qualities are also favoured
by the Zulu social system; but greater emphasis is
placed on individual prowess and ability.
The lovedu>
on the other hand, are non-aggressive, non-competitive,
concerned with the dignity of the personality, and
able to maintain social order by means of a system of
reciprocities, rather than by coercion.
Ego-security
was found to be much higher among the Lovedu than
among the Pedi, where fear of witchcraft has begun to
pervade all aspects of social life, especially since
changes have occurred as a result of contact with
Western civilisation which have rendered the traditiondirected personality less adapted to the needs of the
culture.
5.
Why should certain cultures produce a traditiondirected personality? Some light is thrown on this
question by a paper on the relation of child training to
subsistence economy, published by Barry, Irvin, Child,
and Bacon.
The hypothesis was put forward that
societies which practised a pastoral or mixed pastoral
and agricultural subsistence economy in which food
accumulation was high would favour the development of
a compliant modal personality, whereas hunting and
fishing cultures, in which food accumulation was low,
would prosper best with the aid of assertive
personalities.
In the former cultures, danger to
future food supplies can best be avoided by adhering
faithfully to routine, whereas in the latter, individual
skill and initiative are at a premium, and innovation
is not feared, because its effects never have irreparable
results.
A thorough statistical study involving 104
societies showed that a bx-polar variable which could
be called "pressure towards compliance vs. assertion"
corralated .94- with high-low food accumulation, and
.93 with a group of societies with intermediate gradings
for food accumulation.
The study further indicated that
food accumulation was the operative factor in the
relationship found between the direction of child
training and the subsistence economy, rather than other
aspects of culture which could have been expected to
have had the more direct effect.
The cultures chosen
for analysis included the Swazi, Tswana, Sotho, Lovedu,
Venda, Zulu, Pondo and Thonga, all ranked in the high
accumulation group in the order given.
The modal
personalities in these societies would therefore be
conformist, responsible and obedient rather than assertive,
self-reliant and motivated towards achievement.
6.
Because social anthropological studies
generally concentrate on social roles and institutionalised
behaviour, little information is available in such texts
about individual personality differences in traditional
societies.
A questionnaire was issued to social
anthropologists and psychologists known to have worked
extensively in traditional communities in Southern
Africa to obtain their views on the nature and prevalence
of such individual differences. The evidence from this
study can be summarised as follows: Individual
differences of the more profoundly personal type,
especially those determined by temperament, occur in
African cultures, as they do elsewhere, but Africans
may be afforded fewer opportunities to reveal these
differences than members of Western societies, partly
because of social pressures, partly because of the
limited diversity of functions represented by AfrL can
societies. In each culture, child-rearing is
directed towards a modal personality, the characteristics
of which are determined by the value system, kinship,
political or other structural features of that culture;
but considerable differences nevertheless occur within
the personality patterns so produced, for which familial
child-rearing practices are partly responsible.
Personality differences also depend on the individual's
status and role in society, but behaviour is far less
stereotyped and conformist than the normative descriptions
,of tribal roles iurvoled one to believe.
The effect of
‘ acculturation has been to cause the gradual disappearance
of any one modal personality, and to increase
individualism, more by removing the traditional behaviour
patterns honoured by all and by freeing individual
impulses and interests, than by enhancing and diversifying
personal character qualities.
7.
In view of the importance that has been
attached to the traumatic weaning which follows on a
long and unrestrained period of breast feeding in many though by no means all - African cultures, one of the
few rigorous experimental investigations of this aspect
of child rearing was reviewed (Albino and Thompson).
It was shown in this study that far from being merely
a disorganising and frustrating experience, such
weaning serves as a powerful stimulus to ego development,
at least when it occurs at the age level of about
eighteen months.
The major value of this work lies in
the evidence it provides against the view that one single
aspect of African child-rearing could dominate the
entire course of African personality development. To
provide a stimulus to ego development is a very different
matter from determining the structure of the ego itself.
8.
To pursue further the effects on personality
development and adjustment of culture changes noted in
the/
the traditional societies, studies were made of two
urban Zulu communities (H. Kuper, Y. Glass).
These
showed once again the attachment of greater importance
to social form than to inner value, leading to
personalities with externalised self-regard.
But
although this general characteristic of the traditiondirected personality still persisted, it was
nevertheless in a state of distintegration as a result
of the gradual disappearance of the culture that
produced it.
Its place is being taken by "id-controlled"
personalities as a transition product.
A trend in
this direction was also observed, in the effects of
acculturation on individual differences and
"individualism" in traditional societies. The emergence
of "inner" or "other-directed" personalities is being
hampered by a limited range of social and occupational
roles, by the relative absence of well-organised groups,
by the nature of interpersonal relations and by the
stage of evolution of institutions and of civilised life
in the townships.
9»
An indication of personality development in a
group of urban Africans in clerical and professional
employment is provided by the work of R. Sherwood at the
N.I.P.R.
This group is representative of an African
urban middle class which, though it shares in the life
of the African townships, is nevertheless much closer
to the ways of thought and value system of the West than
is the average township dweller.
For this group,
social change has been so profound that tradition
direction has ceased to be relevant.
In their
socialisation, the peer-group (both black and white,
despite the barriers between the two races) has been
a more important agent than their parental generation,
whose value system was either out of tune with that of
an industrial economy, or who were undergoing vast
shifts in character themselves.
In this group,
therefore, both socialisation conditions and the
expectations of the white employer favour the
development of the "other-directed personality" rather
than of the "inner-directed" character, where the child
learns to accept the standards of his parents and
internalises their precepts.
10.
As Africans become educated and are drawn into
the Western social and occupational sphere, conformity
to the demands of Western civilisation requires the
development of internalised controls.
It is not
possible to say at this stage, in view of the rapid
political and social changes that are occurring in
Africa, what kind of value system will ultimately
provide direction to their moral behaviour.
In a study
of educated adult Africans' attitudes towards Western
customs/
' customs, moral values and legal concepts (S. Biesheuvel),
it was shown that these concepts were fully understood,
that Western ethical and religious values were generally
accepted as a guide to behaviour, except where they
conflicted with certain deeply established traditional
ideas concerning the satisfaction of natural needs and
the potency of witchcraft.
Where racial discrimination
imposed inequalities, a tendency was observed for noncompliant, aggressive motivation to displace ethicolegal considerations ; but this tendency did not
extend to the relations between individuals, nor did it
extend to the rejection of the validity of Western
values as such.
Indeed, there were clear indications
that an essential feature of moral conduct, namely the
general validity of an ethical principle and the need
to apply it consistently in action, had been grasped.
It would appear that acculturation, more particularly
the combined influence of education and Christianity
(or other world religion for that matter) can provide
one of the essential ingredients of an inner-directed
personality.
It is a matter for further research,
to determine under what circumstances the development
of the self in African cultures will reach the stage
where an intellectually apprehended value system can
actually become generally effective.
11.
Riesman, from whose work the concepts of
tradition-directed, inner-directed and group-directed
personalities have been derived,thafe observed that the
latter are characterised by diffuse anxiety.
It has
been noted that weakening of the social structure in
transitional societies has led to an increase in
anxiety level which is apparent in all African groups.
I.A.T. studies confirm this observation.
In one such
study (S. Lee), it was shown that among African
professional men, there occurred in particular a
conflict between submissive and dominative attitudes,
with the former slightly the stronger.
The inferior
social status of Africans stimulated a reactive
counter-dominance, but in the absence of suitable
outlets, considerable anxiety was engendered.
Among
women, dependent needs were found to be uppermost,
and their anxiety reactions were the result of
environmental stress rather than of internal conflict.
But as this environmental stress became more severe
with increasing responsibilities, anxiety would become
a problem in their case as well, a point borne out by
H. Kuper who pointed out that whereas there is a
.confident relationship between the conservative African
mother and her child in all matters pertaining to
child training, this relationship is changing in the
face of the child-rearing practices favoured by Western
culture.
Greater uncertainty was one of the
outstanding observable results in many African mothers.
Collection Number: AD1715
SOUTH AFRICAN INSTITUTE OF RACE RELATIONS (SAIRR), 1892-1974
PUBLISHER:
Collection Funder:- Atlantic Philanthropies Foundation
Publisher:- Historical Papers Research Archive
Location:- Johannesburg
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