ABSTRACT

This chapter discusses what to some social scientists are very vital distinctions, and refer to the sociocultural system as a single entity. Neither the personal nor the sociocultural system is undifferentiated. One way of describing the differentiation of the sociocultural system is relatively conventional and concrete. This analysis identifies the familiar categories of institution cited in all standard sociological texts: the political system, the religious system, and so on. Joint relevance to both the personal and the sociocultural system is a quality manifested by most acts, which enormously complicates any analysis of the interrelations of personality and social structure. The issue seems to be vital to almost everyone except the man who attempts a scientific study of the interaction of personality and social structure. The basic social fact with which David McClelland begins is the differential economic development of nations.