swaddling hypothesis
swaddling hypothesis noun: a contentious theory, first proposed by Geoffrey Gorer, that purported the tight swaddling of Russian (and Eastern European) infants contributed to their supposed submissive and passively obedient nature and sudden emotional outbursts later in life, which made the rise of communist dictatorships in their countries possible.
Noun
swaddling hypothesis (uncountable)
- A contentious theory, first proposed by Geoffrey Gorer, that purported the tight swaddling of Russian (and Eastern European) infants contributed to their supposed submissive and passively obedient nature and sudden emotional outbursts later in life, which made the rise of communist dictatorships in their countries possible.
- Gorer's most provocative interpretations grow out of his "swaddling hypothesis" — his original theory that the Russian practice of tightly swaddling infants has certain lasting and pronounced emotional consequences.1950 November, “The People of Great Russia: A Psychological Study”, in The Atlantic, volume 186, number 5
- It must be emphasized here that the usefulness of the swaddling hypothesis lies in its function in leading to a coherent theory of Russian personality, within which our existing information about Soviet behavior can be ordered and made intelligible.1954 June, Margaret Mead, “The Swaddling Hypothesis: Its Reception”, in Sol Tax, editor, American Anthropologist, volume 56, number 3, Wiley, →DOI, page 403
- Synonyms:
- diaperology
Examples of swaddling hypothesis in a sentence
- Popular success, academic failure, were confirmed because of the 'swaddling hypothesis'.1978, W. J. M. Mackenzie, Political Identity, Manchester University Press, →ISBN, page 46:
- Nevertheless, caricatured as "diaperology" the Russian swaddling hypothesis did much to discredit the culture-and-personality approach in academic circles.1999, Susan Hegeman, Patterns for America: Modernism and the Concept of Culture, Princeton University Press, →ISBN, page 167:
- The theory, which came to be known as the swaddling hypothesis, was roundly and rightfully mocked.2020 May 5, Jennifer Wilson, “The Circle”, in The Nation:
Synonyms of swaddling hypothesis
Origin of swaddling hypothesis
From swaddling + hypothesis.
Questions about swaddling hypothesis
- What does swaddling hypothesis mean?
- Swaddling hypothesis means a contentious theory, first proposed by Geoffrey Gorer, that purported the tight swaddling of Russian (and Eastern European) infants contributed to their supposed submissive and passively obedient nature and sudden emotional outbursts later in life, which made the rise of communist dictatorships in their countries possible.
- How do you use swaddling hypothesis in a sentence?
- Popular success, academic failure, were confirmed because of the 'swaddling hypothesis'.
- What part of speech is swaddling hypothesis?
- Swaddling hypothesis is a noun.
Words near swaddling hypothesis in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: swaddling hypothesis (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “swaddling hypothesis.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/swaddling_hypothesis. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.