The 1950 work by Riesman, Glazer, and Denney was an attempt to predict what effects post-war industrialization and automation would have on the American character. They posited that since the end of World War II, there has been a shift from the once-dominant “inner-directed” to the “other-directed” type of individual. As the term suggests, those who are “inner-directed” tend to let their personal beliefs and experiences shape their decisions and behavior, while “other-directed” individuals tend to base their behavior and performance on established norms––in other words, they do what they believe authority and other figures expect of them. The Lonely Crowd’s main focus, then, is the way in which these two individual types will influence and shape the American character. It, along with Goodman’s, Growing Up Absurd, and Mill’s, The Power Elite, is considered an important piece of sociological analysis.
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