description Cora Du Bois Overview
Cora Du Bois was an American cultural anthropologist whose work significantly advanced the field of culture-and-personality studies. Her 1944 ethnography, The People of Alor, utilized psychological data to analyze the personality structures of individuals in an Indonesian society. During World War II, she served in the Office of Strategic Services as an expert on Southeast Asia. She later became the first female tenured professor in Harvard University's anthropology department.
help Cora Du Bois FAQ
What is Cora Du Bois best known for?
She is best known for The People of Alor, a 1944 study of an Indonesian island society. The book used psychological and life-history data to examine how culture and child-rearing shaped personality.
Where did Cora Du Bois conduct the research behind The People of Alor?
She carried out fieldwork among the Abui people on Alor, an island in what was then the Dutch East Indies and is now Indonesia. Her fieldwork took place from 1937 to 1939 and informed the 1944 publication.
How did The People of Alor connect anthropology with psychology?
Du Bois combined ethnographic observation, life histories, case studies, and personality testing. The approach treated individual personality as related to socialization and cultural patterns rather than as a purely biological trait.
What anthropological school is associated with Cora Du Bois’s work?
Her research is strongly associated with the culture-and-personality tradition in American anthropology. The People of Alor is a clear example because it links social structure, child-rearing, and psychological development in one ethnography.
explore Explore More
Reviews & Comments
Write a Review
Be the first to review
Share your thoughts with the community and help others make better decisions.
