Tamotsu Shibutani

Being an "interactionist" approach to social psychology, Society and Personality deals with people, not as isolated individuals, but as participants in groups. The aim of the book is to help the reader develop an orderly perspective—a consistent point of view from which to see his (or her) own conduct and that of his (or her) fellows. Propositions about behavior seen from the viewpoint are presented, and relevant evidence, both descriptive and experimental, is examined and evaluated. The author draws upon the two great intellectual traditions of pragmatism and psychoanalysis, and attempts to integrate them into a single, consistent approach. All concepts are reduced to behavioristic terms—defined always in terms of what people do. In this way, it is possible to draw freely on these two schools, and at the same time, avoid much of the jargon of both. Other approaches to the study of human behavior are frequently mentioned and sometimes discussed, but the objective is to give the reader one perspective rather than confuse him with many. Of course, this standpoint is presented as only one of many possible ways of looking at people. Although the book's basic ideas are drawn from two main schools of psychological thought, relevant material has been gathered from other sources as well—sociology, ethnography, linguistics, experimental psychology, and clinical data from psychiatry. One very important extra feature is the List of Personal Documents, compiled by the author to guide interested readers to first-person accounts—biographies, diaries, clinical records—each of which provides a valuable record of human experience.

Interactionist Approach to Social Psychology

Society and Personality

An Introduction to Sociology

Social Processes

Herbert Blumer

Tamotsu Shibutani is professor of sociology at the University of California, Santa Barbara. He is the author of Social Processes: An Introduction to Sociology and Improvised News: A Sociological Study of Rumor.

Papers in Honor of Herbert Blumer

Human Nature and Collective Behavior

Society and Personality is the most reliable single guide available to formative theorists of social psychology, and no less, to the social psychologists now in formation. Shibutani declares that his approches are tentative and the studies cited are illustrative. This extraordinary volume provides that familiarity in such scope and depth that it traverses time span since its first appearance with east.

Tamotsu Shibutani

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