ABSTRACT
This chapter attempts to test the theory of social character. The social character is formed by socioeconomic conditions which have existed over centuries and have resulted in the formation of ideologies, customs, and methods of child-rearing. The chapter presents three main types of social character-the productive-hoarding, the unproductive—receptive, and the productive-exploitative-which are adaptations to distinct socioeconomic conditions: that of the free landowner, the landless day laborer, and the new type of entrepreneur. The process of social selection can occur in evolutionary forms or be mediated by political revolutions. Revolutions might accelerate the process of social selection, but they will not lead to lasting changes unless new socioeconomic conditions have developed sufficiently to attract the latent "characterological minorities." The reason for the assumption that the majority shares the typical social character, that only a small minority has a totally different character structure and that a larger majority has different secondary character traits, lies in the very concept of "social character.".
