Details

Autor(en) / Beteiligte

• Kunkel, John H.

Titel

Values and Behavior in Economic Development

Ist Teil von

• Economic development and cultural change, 1965-04, Vol.13 (3), p.257-277

Ort / Verlag

Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Erscheinungsjahr

1965

Quelle

Business Source Ultimate

Beschreibungen/Notizen

• The determinants of HB, & the relationship between the individual & the societal context are studied, in order to deal with recent theories of econ development (ED) & soc change in which prominent roles have been assigned to individuals as savers of capital, entrepreneurs, & consumers. It is held that values, att's, personality, & the process of internalization are terms whose major function is to communicate probabilities & descriptions of behavior. In behavioral terms, any diff's among these concepts are essentially diff's in the abstractions made in the point of view of the 0, & in the temporal context of the behavior may be used; however, if any causal analysis is undertaken, it is not necessary that these concepts be considered part of any causal nexus. It is stated that the psychol'al & soc prerequisites of ED cannot be established by changing the values, att's, or personalities of people in underdeveloped countries, as has been argued. Changes in character, rather than being the prerequisite of ED, are to be considered as concomitants & consequences, insofar as ED means, for the average individual, changed reinforcers, changed schedules, & new behavior patterns, newly reinforced, under new circumstance. Analytical emphasis on the role of econ & industr elites in underdeveloped countries rests on the fact that the necessary changes in the soc environment would be difficult to produce for the pop as a whole but are, in effect, produced by the soc structure itself for a small number of persons. In examining the difficulties encountered when values, att's, & personalities are considered as causal factors, the advantages of considering these concepts from the behavioral point of view are discussed in the case of values & ED in India, Argentina, & the Peruvian Andes. Achievement motivation for ED is studied as well as the implications of the behavioral model. It is concluded that the behavioral model of man may be considered not only as a tool for the alteration of behavior, but also as part of the explanation of communities' resistance to change. No foundation, on theoretical grounds, is found for the pessimistic outlook re the capacity of underdeveloped countries to industr'ize in a short period of time. C. Akin.