The hypothesis of The Lonely Crowd is that there has been a change in the character of the American people, that where once men whose character was inner-directed dominated of the other-directed character. The inner directed persons are those who internalize adult authority the pioneers the individualists; the order-directed person are those whose character is formed chiefly by the example of their peers and contemporaries. The substance of the book is concerned with the confluence and consequences of these two types in contemporary American society.