Feist−Feist: Theories of
Personality, Seventh
EditionII. Psychodynamic
Theories- Fromm: Humanistic
Psychoanalysis
© The McGraw−Hill^213
Companies, 2009Estrangement From Culture and Well-Being
Recall that the central theme to Erich Fromm’s theory of personality involves estrange-
ment and alienation: Humans have become removed from the natural environment they
were designed to inhabit and distanced from one another. Furthermore, according to
Fromm, the material wealth created by capitalism has created so much freedom that
quite frankly we do not know what to do with ourselves. Anxiety and isolation, ironi-
cally, result from too much freedom. Mark Bernard and colleagues (2006) sought to test
these central components of Fromm’s theory through the use of self-report measures in
a sample of undergraduate students in Great Britain. Specifically, the researchers
wanted to test whether or not discrepancies between a person’s own beliefs and the way
the person perceived the beliefs of his or her society led to feelings of estrangement.
Seventy-two participants completed a questionnaire consisting of several values
that had been identified by previous research as being present in many different cul-
tures (such as the importance of freedom, wealth, spirituality, etc.). First, participants
rated each value for how much it was a guiding principle in their lives, and then they
rated the same values on how much each was a guiding principle for their society. Ad-
ministering the questionnaire in this manner allowed the researchers to compute the
extent to which each participant held values that were different from their society in
general. Second, estrangement was assessed by having participants complete a ques-
tionnaire with items that asked them how much they felt different from their society
and the extent to which they felt they were not “normal” in their culture.
The findings of the study were as predicted. The more a person reported that
his or her values were discrepant from society in general, the more likely he or she
was to have a strong feeling of estrangement (Bernard, Gebauer, & Maio, 2006).
This is not surprising. Basically, if your values are different from those of your so-
ciety or culture, you feel as though you are different and not normal. This is also pre-
cisely what Fromm’s theory predicts. The more distant people feel from those around
them in their community, the more people are likely to feel isolated.
To further test Fromm’s ideas, Bernard and colleagues (2006) next examined
whether having a feeling of estrangement from one’s culture was related to increased
feelings of anxiety and depression. The same participants who completed the self-
report measures of values discrepancies and estrangement also completed a measure
of anxiety and depression. Just as the researchers predicted, and as Fromm’s theory
contends, the more estranged from society people felt in general, the more anxious
and depressed they were. Although estrangement from society in general was detri-
mental to well-being, there was a specific type of estrangement that was bad for peo-
ple. Those who felt a sense of estrangement from their friends reported increased
feelings of anxiety and depression. This finding suggests that feeling estranged from
society in general may make people more susceptible to feelings of depression, but
these feelings can be lessened if a person can find a group of people who share their
beliefs, even if those are not the beliefs of the society in general. It is particularly
harmful, however, if people feel estranged not only from society in general, but also
from those closest to them.
Taken together, these findings clearly support the ideas of Erich Fromm. The
modern society in which we live provides us with innumerable conveniences and
benefits. But those conveniences do come at a cost. Personal freedom and a sense of
Chapter 7 Fromm: Humanistic Psychoanalysis 207