Psychology

Habits of the heart revisited: Autonomy, community, and divinity in adults' moral language

Document Type

Article

Abstract

The intent of this article is to raise anew the question of the extent to which individualism prevails in the moral vocabulary of Americans. The present study affirms the observation of Bellah and his colleagues that a language of individualism is common among middle-class Americans. However, it departs from their conclusion that this language has become preponderant. Analyses of thirty in-depth interviews about a variety of moral issues revealed that the moral language of young middle-class adults indeed centered on the rights, interests, and feelings of the individual. However, this was not the language of midlife and older adults. They spoke of community and divinity considerations as much as individualistic considerations. © 1995 Human Sciences Press, Inc.

Publication Title

Qualitative Sociology

Publication Date

1995

Volume

18

Issue

1

First Page

71

Last Page

86

ISSN

0162-0436

DOI

10.1007/BF02393196

Keywords

incest, individualism, moral discourse, suicide

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