Research in Fromm’s Theory

Although Fromm affirmed the use of the case study as a research method, we do not have many records to verify Fromm’s clinical observations. Fromm did admit that his results could not be tested by experimental or correlational methods, but could be tested by repeated analyses. A number of research studies support Fromm’s contention that relatedness is a basic human need and that this is a requisite for subjective well-being. Fromm, (later in his career); found some evidence for the productive orientation and for some of his personal characteristics, such as receptive, hoarding, exploitative, and productive. One study of 76 college students who maintained daily diaries to record their social activities and their feelings of well-being showed that “talking about meaningful matters and feeling understood and appreciated were strongly related to daily relatedness.” Also, a high degree of relatedness was associated with high subjective well-being (Reis, Sheldon, Gable, Roscoe, & Ryan, 2000).

Social Character in a Mexican Village
Late in his career, Fromm and his colleagues undertook a multidisciplinary study to test his idea of social character (Fromm & Maccoby, 1970). Over several years, psychologists, anthropologists, physicians, statisticians, and other specialists visited an isolated village in Mexico to analyze its history, its economic and social structure, and the health, attitudes, and dreams of its inhabitants. The investigators lived among the villagers and came to be accepted by them.

Social Character in American Business
Michael Maccoby, an anthropologist and psychiatrist who was coauthor of the Mexican village study, conducted research on Fromm’s character types in American business. One study involved interviews with 250 male managers in 12 large U.S. corporations (Maccoby, 1976). Maccoby identified a personality type analogous to the marketing orientation.
A later study of corporate leaders suggested to Maccoby another character type, the self orientation (Maccoby, 1981). Studies of more than 800 research participants ages 17 to 69 supported Fromm’s description of the marketing type.