Character typing requires a preexisting psychological theory, not just inductive classification.

Evidence

From his -own project on the workers’ authoritarianism, Fromm was able to draw certain methodological conclusions. First was the necessity of treating the totality of answers, rather than isolated ones, as the basis for analysis. The goal, as stated earlier, was the uncovering of the respondents’ underlying character types, which were revealed only through the complete set of their answers and in comparison with other sets. This, however, required something more than inductive generalization. In Fromm’s words, “as much as the formation of types is influenced and should be permanently differentiated by the material of the investigation, the types cannot be exclusively acquired from classification, but presuppose a developed psychological theory.” — Martin Jay, The Dialectical Imagination, 430

Categorization

• XREF: Connects to the later Frankfurt School critique of positivistic/atheoretical American empiricism, and to Adorno’s similar methodological arguments about mediation. — connects to: Categories require an intuitive theory linking features, not just shared similarities — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice: Fifty Years…, 1382

Broader Connections

• Categories require an intuitive theory linking features, not just shared similarities #corroborates (0.90) — John F. Dovidio, Peter Glick, Laurie A. Rudman, On the Nature of Prejudice, 1382