Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item: https://hdl.handle.net/10419/118105 
Authors: 
Year of Publication: 
2003
Series/Report no.: 
Nota di Lavoro No. 77.2003
Publisher: 
Fondazione Eni Enrico Mattei (FEEM), Milano
Abstract: 
The behaviour of urban populations is compared with the systems directing behaviour in individuals. This is both a metaphor and a mechanistic parallel. The biological model draws upon recent developments in brain research and psychological and cultural anthropology. The development and operation of the personal value-system are seen as constituting Identity in an individual, and Culture in a community. A mechanism is proposed by which social attachments between individuals lead to the adoption of new values into the system. The ability to differentiate own group from other is seen as intrinsic and socially necessary, made peaceful by specific values and adversarial by others. Identity development is such a complex process that it cannot be predicted in detail, but explicated in retrospect. A model may be useful in understanding conflicts of values, and how some are modifiable and others not.
Subjects: 
Identity
Cultural meaning system
Values
Attachment
Social identity theory
JEL: 
Z10
Document Type: 
Working Paper

Files in This Item:
File
Size





Items in EconStor are protected by copyright, with all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.