Page:American Journal of Sociology Volume 9.djvu/138

 INFLUENCE OF THE FORM OF SOCIAL CHANGE UPON THE EMOTIONAL LIFE OF A PEOPLE.

ONE of the most important problems in social psychology is that of the relation of the mental characteristics of a people to the form of their social evolution. Intellectual and emotional elements are not to be regarded simply from the standpoint of their being the causes of social change. Neither are they there- fore only the epiphenomena of a deeper series of changes. They are rather specializations occurring within a larger process, bear- ing a definite relation both to the onward movement of the process and to its historical aspects. In this larger whole are the habits and beliefs of generations, environing conditions both physical and social, and the ideas and feelings that arise from time to time for effecting readjustments.

If mental elements have a functional significance in the his- tory of any people, they manifestly must be stated in terms of the conditions out of which they arose and with reference to what they accomplish. The genealogy of any idea or sentiment does not, however, consist simply in previous ideas or sentiments, but in the entire preceding social situation. The particular psychical characteristics of any people then bear an intimate relation to the manner of their social development. It is per- haps commonplace enough to hold that the characteristics of today are the outcome of those of yesterday. But our point is more than this. It is to be shown that the manner of the change from one period to another, not simply its mere fact, exerts a determining influence on the mental life that is involved. If then we find a certain people distinguished by strong intellectual or emotional tendencies, we should look for explanation to the form of their development, the way in which change has been wrought among them, as well as to the less tangible qualities of racial temperament and environmental conditions. In other words, it is the manner in which these forces exert their influence that is the important point. There is no such thing as mere influence of surroundings and of social temperament in general.

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