美国社会学家大卫·李斯曼（David Riesman）在《孤独的大众 》 （ The Lonely Crowd）中提出了三个广义的文化类型：传统指引型文化从传承的礼仪、道德和价值观中寻求指引；内心指引型文化让人们根据自我培养的价值观行动；他者指引型文化主要靠对外部规范和同侪影响的反应。
In The Lonely Crowd, the American sociologist David Riesman identified three broad cultural types: tradition-directed cultures that look to inherited rituals, morals, and values for guidance; inner-directed cultures, in which people behave according to self-nourished values; and other-directed cultures that react predominantly to external norms and peer influences.