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Personality and Social Development

1977; Annual Reviews; Volume: 28; Issue: 1 Linguagem: Inglês

10.1146/annurev.ps.28.020177.001455

1545-2085

Martin L. Hoffman,

Academic and Historical Perspectives in Psychology

Since this is the first chapter in the Annual Review 0/ Psychology to be devoted exclusively to personality and social development, a brief historical note seems appropriate. The general topic has long interested psychologists, although little progress was made in the early years due to its being dominated by grand theorists such as Freud, and the early social interactionists like Cooley and Mead, whose views had appeal because they encompassed so much but which did not lend themselves very well to research. By the early 1950s the need for testable hypotheses of modest scope was recognized, and the stage appeared set for new advances to be made. However, owing perhaps to the national concern about the need for scientific talent which was heightened by Sputnik, the attention to developmental psychology was preempted by the cognitive domain. The interest in cognitive development was additionally reinforced by the War on Poverty and the inauguration of Head Start, and cognitive development continues to be a major focus of research effort. The past few years, however, have seen a rebirth of interest in social development, and here, too, societal rather than purely scientific concerns seem to have provided the major impetus. It is probably more than coincidence that the student activism of the 1960s, the rising crime rate, and such heavily publicized events as Watergate and ·the street murder of Kitty Genovese have their parallels in the intensification of research on internalization of moral norms, a topic of long-standing interest, and in the emergence of new areas of study such as empathy , role-taking, altruism, and the impact of television violence on children. The women's movement has, no doubt, contributed to the renewal of interest in sex role development. And the very recent research on equity and other forms of distributional justice may in part reflect a sensitivity to the rising demands of poor people and poor nations for a greater share of the earth's resources. Each of the above topics is now the object of intensive research that is more or less interrelated and cumulative and guided by theoretical models that are con­ stantly being revised on the basis of the findings. Consequently there is reason to