Changing Patterns of Other-Directedness: A Content Analysis of Women's Magazines

Abstract

Riesman, Denny, and Glazer (1950) hypothesized that social character in the United States has changed over the last century from inner- to other-directedness. Numerous tests of this hypothesis using data over a few decades have yielded varied and sometimes conflicting results. In the present study, a content analysis of American advertising that appeared in female-oriented publications over a period of 95 years provides strong evidence to support the theory of Riesman et al. An analysis of 20,428 ads appearing in Ladies' Home Journal, McCall's, and Good Housekeeping indicates that the incidence of other-directed appeals has increased dramatically in this century.