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Ideological Themes Expressed by Individualist and Collectivist Newspaper Letter Writers |
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Here's the abstract and table of contents of my dissertation, which I completed at Michigan State University for my doctorate in social psychology. It was a qualitative interview study--an effort to do the required empirical research, but in my own way, on topics of interest to me. It took forever. Back in the early 1980s, qualitative research was still suspect. My dissertation committee was not too pleased, but they let me do it (partly, I think, out of deference to my dissertation chair, Charles Wrigley). I don't think I did it all that well, but I found it interesting enough to keep at it. I never got it published, but I did present some of the material at a couple of conferences. One of the conference papers was placed in the ERIC database: "Personal Autonomy, Psychological Sense of Community, and Political Ideology." [ERIC Clearinghouse on Counseling and Personnel Services, Document Reproduction Service No. ED 266 398]
I did insert into the dissertation, as a separate chapter, my already-published article Psychology, Ideology, Utopia, and the Commons. It sort of fit.
My reluctance to spend my time on empirical research is not that I think empirical research is always useless, but that I don't think everyone needs to do it. In much of my other work since 1985 I've tried to raise issues in ways that time spent on mainstream research would have interfered with. |
Debates over potential solutions to societal problems often mask differences in underlying assumptions about "natural" behaviors and "appropriate" values. This study examined the relationship between political ideologies and basic assumptions, in the hope of aiding the search for comprehensive solutions.
Seven men and three women (including undergraduates, graduate students, and nonstudents) who had written letters to newspapers from nonmainstream perspectives (ranging from right-wing libertarian to left-wing revolutionary communist) participated in three or four intensive, openended, semistructured interviews directed by a flexible interview guide. Each series of interviews, which ranged from four and a half to seven and a half hours, included such topics as perceptions of widespread problems, views of human nature and utopia, political ideologies, and personal goals. Participants were encouraged to raise topics important to them. The interviews were taped, transcribed, coded, and analyzed through a qualitative content analysis.
Five general themes were identified: the Difficulty of Political Self-Definition; the Importance of Looking at Issues in Context; the Rejection of Mainstream Assumptions; the Belief That the United States is a Sick Society; and the Desire to Influence Others. Three additional themes differentiated between two subgroups: Individualism versus Collectivism; Personal Consequences of the Sick Society (Personal Immunity versus Personal Susceptibility); and the Prospect of Technological Solutions (Technological Enthusiasm versus Technological Caution). Individualists and Collectivists were not diametric opposites; Individualists placed primary personal and political emphasis on values associated with personal autonomy, while Collectivists simultaneously emphasized both personal autonomy and a psychological sense of community. Although Individualists were generally more optimistic and enthusiastic than Collectivists, participants routinely displayed idiosyncratic patterns that require any categorization and generalization to be done cautiously.
Although this nonquantitative, nonexperimental approach goes against the grain of mainstream social-psychological research, a thematic content analysis allows increased understanding of the way the world looks to individuals. Such phenomenological understanding complements the traditional positivist emphasis on determining causality. Institutional change within the field of psychology is recommended so that studies using qualitative methods, as well as studies of important but controversial political topics, are more likely to be undertaken.
Participants Generally Supportive of the Major Aspects of Capitalism
Participants Generally Opposed to the Major Aspects of Capitalism
General Theme 1: The Difficulty of Political Self-Definition
General Theme 2: The Importance of Looking at Issues in Context
General Theme 3: The Rejection of Mainstream Assumptions
General Theme 4: The Belief That the United States is a Sick Society
General Theme 5: The Desire to Influence Others
Differentiating Theme 1: Individualism versus Collectivism
Differentiating Theme 2: Personal Consequences of the Sick Society
Differentiating Theme 3: The Prospect of Technological Solutions
A Comment on Political Psychology
Personal Autonomy, Psychological Sense of Community, and Political Values
Cautions in Categorizing Individuals
Directions for Future Research
Implications For Qualitative Methodology
Implications For Political Psychology and Political Change
Personal Autonomy, Psychological Sense of Community, and Political Ideology
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personal/political observations |
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some political, most not |
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updated
September 30, 2007
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