Soviet Attitudes Toward Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Problems of Soviet Character
AuthorMargaret Mead
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
SubjectSoviet Union
PublisherRAND Corporation
Publication date
1951
Pages148

Soviet Attitudes Toward Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Problems of Soviet Character is a 1951 nonfiction book written by the anthropologist Margaret Mead and eight other specialists. It is published by the RAND Corporation.[1]

It is a preliminary report on approved and disapproved attitudes toward authority in the Soviet Union. In its last three pages, the book attempts to create a hypothesis on the Soviet Union in the next 5 to 10 years.[2][3]

Meed posits that the traditional Russian character structure "developed individuals prone to extreme swings in mood from exhilaration to depression, hating confinement and authority, and yet feeling that strong external authority was necessary to keep their own violent impulses in check".[4]

Critical response

One reviewer stated, "This is a coldly objective, well-documented study. It is also remarkably boring. And it does little to indicate what makes the Soviet system of authority so attractive to some and so objectionable to others that they are willing to give their lives either to promote or to destroy it."[5]

Notes

  1. ↑ Siegel, Irving H. (April 1952). "Soviet Attitudes Toward Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach to Problems of Soviet Character. Margaret Mead". Journal of Political Economy. 60 (2): 183–184. doi:10.1086/257205.
  2. ↑ Army Library (1959). Soviet Military Power. Department of the Army Headquarters. OCLC 14163050.
  3. ↑ Dicks, H. V. (1957). "Soviet Attitudes toward Authority". Mental Health. 16 (2): 74–75. PMC 5077473.
  4. ↑ Petro, Nicolai N. (1995). The Rebirth of Russian Democracy: An Interpretation of Political Culture. Harvard University Press. ISBN 978-0-674-75001-2.
  5. ↑ Carpenter, Edmund S. (25 June 2016). "Book Review: Soviet Attitudes toward Authority: An Interdisciplinary Approach in Problems of Soviet Character". International Journal: Canada's Journal of Global Policy Analysis. 7 (4): 318–319. doi:10.1177/002070205200700420. S2CID 152209905.
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