ABSTRACT
"Culture and personality" studies constitute one of the topical areas in social sciences that, early in the twentieth century, developed a considerable mixture of methodologies, and combined qualitative and quantitative data-gathering techniques. The psychologist William Henry was one of the major proponents of the use of projective psychological tests in field studies of cultural groups. A segment on "culture and personality" data was included in Oscar Lewis' comprehensive ethnography of the Mexican town of Tepoztlan, for which he carried out research beginning in 1943–1944. A multi-year series of studies carried out by Clyde Kluckhohn and his associates among the Navajo people had an approach very different from the Tepoztlan study, as it was a longitudinal project, focused on the lives and personalities of young children. The general hypothesis advanced by the research team was quite strongly supported by the data—that the ecological differences between herding lifestyle versus sedentary farming were accompanied by significant differences in attitudes and features of personality.
