The Organization of Sentiments

The student is referred to John A. McDougall's hypothesis of the development of the 'derived' from the 'primary' emotions, and to Shand's treatment of the organization of sentiments. The organization of one's several loyalties is the mark of one's progressive development. If the initial sentiment for the family has been unsatisfactory it is the more important that the school shall provide a corrective background against which the widening organization of sentiments may be successfully accomplished. Contemporary psychology prefers, in this country, the term 'sentiment', thus indicating that a personal rather than an abstract character is really distinctive of the most prevalent and most fundamental interests. All the sentiments are acquired and have sprung from the crude emotional reactions of the child. The individual develops a sentiment for any group to which he is attached by inclination and common purpose.