The Concept of Personality in Vytautas Kavolis' National Character Studies
The article deals with the concept of personality developed in Lithuanian-American sociologist Vytautas Kavolis' National Character Studies. It is argued that it is necessary to distinguish two different elements in Kavolis' concept of personality. The first element consists of a general definition of personality, while the second one includes an approach to the relationship between personality and culture. It is stated that the first element remained unchanged in all Kavolis' works on national character. Meanwhile, the second element changed throughout the sociologist's studies. To reconstruct Kavolis' concept of personality and explain why the approach towards personality and culture changed, the views of the Lithuanian-American scientist are compared with the ideas of the American sociologists Talcott Parsons and Alex Inkeles, and the British anthropologist Geoffrey Gorer.
Key Words: Vytautas Kavolis, Talcott Parsons, personality, culture, National Character Studies
