Abstract:

We thus set out to find a panel of Self Determined Men in the U.K. whose life style, leisure activities, interests, values, attitudes, opinions, self-image, shopping, media habits and personality type we could study. Getting to know the personality, values and interests of this sample was particularly relevant since the creative team had already idealised their Self Determined Man. He was to them a combination of an assertive, successful, secure dominate pragmatist and the Existential Man - self aware, adventurous, philosophical, aesthetic, sensitive and intuitive attracted to the unknown the unorganised and the unexplored, whether nysticism or self analysis, and actively searching out all of his various selves - ideal, future, social past and present. With all due respect to Maslow, with rare exceptions these two sets of qualities are contradictory, although they represent a current ideal type and perhaps the self image of creative people. The second task involved setting up a diary study with a panel of Self Determined Men in order to monitor the purchasing patterns and frequencies across a range of relevant product categories and to build a profile of work and leisure activities.