The importance of character

[Almanac]

There was a very interesting article in last week's Sunday Times News Review on the importance of character.

Since character is an unfashionable concept, it is important to be clear what it means in this public policy context.

The three key ingredients of a good character are: a sense of personal agency or self-direction; an acceptance of personal responsibility; and effective regulation of one’s own emotions, in particular the ability to resist temptation or at least defer gratification. Progressives are realising that, thus defined, character is intimately linked to many of their social goals- and also that it is unevenly distributed. Indeed, inequality of character may now be as important as inequality of economic resources. The specific concerns of progressives can be divided into three themes: the link between character attributes and life chances; the life chances “penalty” being paid by the children who do not develop a good character; and the growing demand for good character in the labour market.

What's interesting, as noted here, is that the centre-left has come to agree with their ideological opponents on the right on the importance of character. Poverty and even lower intelligence appear to be of less importance as disabling factors in the achieving of a successful life outcome than the formation of a good character.

The article also highlights the fact that the family is the principal "character factory."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4595839.ece

[Helium Three]

Thanks for posting that Almanac. Well worth a read and reflection.

[akanji]

A job seeker came to me for a job what he i said to him was that, get a character references for me from your previous employers or irish people in the country and he fail to turn up again with the character reference letter.

[Almanac]

Thanks for posting that Almanac. Well worth a read and reflection.

No bother.

[Almanac]

A job seeker came to me for a job what he i said to him was that, get a character references for me from your previous employers or irish people in the country and he fail to turn up again with the character reference letter.

Well... I like your signature anyway!

[farnaby]

Overall a good article, though I find the definition of character a bit limited;

The three key ingredients of a good character are: a sense of personal agency or self-direction; an acceptance of personal responsibility; and effective regulation of one’s own emotions, in particular the ability to resist temptation or at least defer gratification.

At worst this fits into the character of a tyrant (or psychopath) - if self-direction becomes zeal, personal responsibility emphasises control and emotional regulation becomes unthinking repression. Good character is a collection of virtues, and IMO at least one more virtue is required in this definition - variously described as fellow-feeling, sympathy or compassion - to create good character rooted in society. Virtue ethics theory lists others that offer a more complete vision of what human character should be (and does not necessitate that everyone should have the same virtues for societies to succeed). But as for the key political point of the article and this thread - that political theory and practice should promote good character - I completely agree.

[Almanac]

Overall a good article, though I find the definition of character a bit limited;

The three key ingredients of a good character are: a sense of personal agency or self-direction; an acceptance of personal responsibility; and effective regulation of one’s own emotions, in particular the ability to resist temptation or at least defer gratification.

At worst this fits into the character of a tyrant (or psychopath) - if self-direction becomes zeal, personal responsibility emphasises control and emotional regulation becomes unthinking repression. Good character is a collection of virtues, and IMO at least one more virtue is required in this definition - variously described as fellow-feeling, sympathy or compassion - to create good character rooted in society. Virtue ethics theory lists others that offer a more complete vision of what human character should be (and does not necessitate that everyone should have the same virtues for societies to succeed). But as for the key political point of the article and this thread - that political theory and practice should promote good character - I completely agree.

Good point. Even from the point of view of public policy compassion or altruistic behaviour would seem to be an important component.

[ibis]

Overall a good article, though I find the definition of character a bit limited;

The three key ingredients of a good character are: a sense of personal agency or self-direction; an acceptance of personal responsibility; and effective regulation of one’s own emotions, in particular the ability to resist temptation or at least defer gratification.

At worst this fits into the character of a tyrant (or psychopath) - if self-direction becomes zeal, personal responsibility emphasises control and emotional regulation becomes unthinking repression. Good character is a collection of virtues, and IMO at least one more virtue is required in this definition - variously described as fellow-feeling, sympathy or compassion - to create good character rooted in society. Virtue ethics theory lists others that offer a more complete vision of what human character should be (and does not necessitate that everyone should have the same virtues for societies to succeed). But as for the key political point of the article and this thread - that political theory and practice should promote good character - I completely agree.

Good point. Even from the point of view of public policy compassion or altruistic behaviour would seem to be an important component.

I appreciate your point that good character is a collection of virtues, and requires additional virtues to those listed, but character itself would seem to be quite completely described by the original list. After all, tyrants (self-made) do tend to be strong characters, if generally bad.

[cyberianpan]

The article also highlights the fact that the family is the principal "character factory."

http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/new...cle4595839.ece

Fact ?

Article is very airy-fairy , also it is splattered all over the net - BBC, Prospect and more ... article seems to be work of a good PR man(Richard Reeves).

The liberal ambivalence about authority is also problematic in the family setting. "One of the key things about a family that works well is the in-built hierarchy," says Julia Margo. "[color=#FF0000]The ideal sort of family for character development is two adult parents and older siblings who are well behaved[/color]. Then there are opportunities for purposeful activities: a family holiday with joint activities, or regularly playing football in the park. Family mealtimes, and having meaningful conversations with parents, are particularly important."

Where is her research to back this up ? I see her some of her previous work gets published directly. Very radical claims ... above paragraph seems to suggest that you need to have at least 2 children and then there's a chance if they are well-behaved that the subsequent children will have good character.

This reminds me of some work done by Frank Sulloway on birth order ... now at least he was published ... Harris and andSulloway had plenty of debates. Overall issue was non conclusive (to my mind) e.g.

CSW

I heard a surprisingly similar complaint about Born to Rebel from Steven Pinker, Sulloway's fellow Darwinian and MIT colleague. Although he praised Born To Rebel in How the Mind Works, Pinker told me that he had doubts about Sulloway's thesis; it seemed too, well, Freudian. Like Freud, Sulloway assumes that "our way of interacting with our family determines how we interact with the outside world," Pinker explained. "That's not obviously true. I'm skeptical of it."

Now Sulloway is a pretty big beast and his work (on how birth order in families affects personalities) had a way narrower scope than Margo.

Here's her bio

IPPR
Before joining ippr Julia worked at The Sunday Times as a commissioning editor of the News Review. Prior to that she worked as a researcher at New Statesman and at Demos, and as a researcher for various MPs.

Julia graduated from the University of Bristol in 2001 with a first class BSc in Politics.

However the "research" by Margo makes even bolder/larger claims than Sulloway ... yet I can't find the backing detail for her amazing insights. She's making very broad and important claims , her language is very categorical and certain. She'd need massive amounts of data to back this up. Possibly she's changed social science for ever and proved that to have "character" you need 2 parents and at least 2 older (well behaved!) siblings ... but I'm skeptical


cYp

[akanji]

A job seeker came to me for a job what he i said to him was that, get a character references for me from your previous employers or irish people in the country and he fail to turn up again with the character reference letter.

Well... I like your signature anyway!

I remember when i use to sign your signature and take your money from the bank estimated around ten billion ? :P

Thats why i made one of your people indib to smoke my pee at the park when you all started the war, so think about it teeth 4 tart in your tribal battle, you people think i dont know you people you look for the trouble and you'll all get it mate i promised.