A society is a certain number of individuals who adhere to specific rules and live in a territory that has borders. But that's not all. Few people think that there is a social typology - a consequence of life in society. That is, it is the ability of the human psyche to adapt to society, its norms and rules, to be safe among their own kind. So, there are social types of personality, the modal type is one of them.
Society and personality type
To study a modal personality is a task of sociology, for which it is important to generalize a person’s behavior for specific signs. Society itself is interested in having people with that type of personality that fully corresponds to this society in a specific period of time. If you omit all these complex turns and say in simple human language, it is important for bourgeois society that there are more people of a normative type in society, that is, those whose behavior fully complies with all norms and rules.
But for a modern society, that is, an industrial society, it would be better if the vast majority of modal personalities are in society. This will mean that people in a particular society tend to follow fashion trends. For a modern society that constantly introduces something new, such people are the main support and support. But is that right?
Start of research
The concept of a modal personality became an object of study only in the 30s of the last century, when the first serious studies of the relationship between personality and culture began. Ethnopsychologist Margaret Mead was one of the founders of a new scientific field that studied the relationship between society and man. It was her group of researchers who first suggested that in each cultural environment there is a dominant personality type - the basic personality.
Cardiner said that in every society there is a dominant personality type, that is, the main personality structure, which is formed under the influence of a particular culture. This is a basic or normative person. People of this type of character are characterized by maximum susceptibility to a particular cultural environment.
From generation to generation
In the course of research, it was proved that the main characteristics of a normative personality are transmitted from generation to generation. Simply put, education determines the fate of the people, and if the social organization changes, the basic personality type changes. This happens when new technologies appear in society or a connection is established with other nations.
So they thought until the beginning of the 50s of the last century. Soon, it became clear to scientists that if you study modern complex cultures based on the basic type of personality, it is difficult to get real results, because this concept is too abstract. So, the definition of “modal personality” appears - a statistical segment of the study of the typology of society.
Modal personality type
If the concept of a basic personality is perfect for studying the cultural environment of primitive communities and simple societies that are guided by simple laws and rules, then for a modern society where it is difficult to trace certain standards, a modal personality is taken as the unit of research. This concept helps to determine which type of personality in society is the most common, that is, it occurs most often.
Simply put, this paradigm proves that not all, not even the vast majority of individuals have the same personality structure. Each person is a unique and inimitable personality, therefore, studying the modal type, you can collect some data about individual individuals.
Characterization of concepts
The first to describe the concepts of "normative personality" and "modal personality" social anthropologist R. Linton. In his studies, he said that a normative (basic) personality is a type of personality that is accepted by the culture of a particular society and most reflects its features.
A modal personality is a manifestation derived from the word “fashion”. This type of personality characterizes a person who shares those patterns of behavior that most members of society, however, never correspond to a normative personality, although he strives for this, in every way smoothing out inaccuracies.
The modal personality is most often found in adult members of society. It is society, not the cultural environment. The most accessible way to explain this phenomenon is through examples.
Examples
A modal personality is considered to be the most common type of personality on a particular territory in a specific period of time. This type of personality reflects the current position of a person in society. For example, if we consider the end of the twentieth century on the territory of Russia, we can see that the most common type of personality was a sample of a trading person whose activities were focused solely on making a profit.
At the time when the USSR collapsed, the mafia type of personality was widespread, then everyone tried to grab more money and did not always act legally.
There are many similar examples of a modal personality, but it is worth noting that in society there can be several types of modal personality. This mainly depends on the number and diversity of social groups.
Features
What else is worth knowing about a modal personality is that it never complies with the normative. Only occasionally can one meet some coincidences. Nevertheless, if the deviations from the normative type of personality are too obvious, then the individual may face opposition from the society, which will insist on the implementation of generally accepted rules and norms. In addition, the normative personality is considered to be a constant phenomenon, while the modal personality is subject to dynamics. After all, if the conditions of life change, a person has to adapt to the new rules of the game. For example, in a democratic society, a politically active personality type will be welcomed, and in an anti-democratic society there will be good conformists, that is, those who obey the rules.
What do social anthropologists say?
Depending on how society and culture are changing, personality types are changing. Once in a new social environment, a person willingly or not takes over new norms and rules. Culture, although it depends on society, but in general is a process different from the development of society. If culture changes, the normative type of personality undergoes changes. And if the socio-economic structure is transformed, new modal types appear.
A normative personality is formed through education, that is, in the process of socialization, and only on its basis can a modal type be created that adapts to today's society.