TITLE: The personality of the individual in the process of attaining social status - from social reproduction to identification of the sources for intergenerational upward social mobility. AUTHOR: Tereza Bariekzahyová DEPARTMENT: Department of Psychology SUPERVISOR: Doc. PhDr. Karel Hnilica, CSc. ABSTRACT: The thesis, in which the view through the sociological prism is enhanced by the lens of psychology, theoretically and empirically examines non-cognitive personality traits and characteristics ('Big Five', Self-esteem, Locus of Control, Willpower), within the context of the social and psychological aspects of attaining social status (influences by one's family, peers and teachers, and others), with a specific focus on intergenerational upward mobility and the identification of its sources. Research for this paper was designed as a combination of (primarily) representative questionnaire surveys among the adult population in the Czech Republic, and qualitative interviews with selected individuals who have shown intergenerational upward mobility. The results show that, aside from cognitive skills, the statistically less relevant and hitherto somewhat neglected non-cognitive traits and characteristics of individuals do play a role in the process of attaining social status. The author has been able to...

L’ascension du cardinal de Fleury décrit les mécanismes ayant conduit le rejeton d’une famille de financiers « moyens » du Languedoc à devenir en 1726 le principal ministre de Louis XV. Il faut d’abord compter avec le mouvement d’ensemble de tout un lignage qui plonge ses racines dans la marchandise du lodévois depuis au moins le XVIe siècle. Le passage à la finance s’effectue avec le grand-père du cardinal et se poursuit avec son père Jean et surtout son oncle Pierre-Moïse, trésorier de France au bureau des finances de Montpellier. Ce dernier favorise la montée à Paris du jeune André-Hercule qui embrasse dès lors la carrière ecclésiastique. Les moteurs de l’ascension sont ensuite individuels et reposent sur le jeu des clientèles, avec le cardinal de Bonsy puis le cardinal de Noailles qui obtient d’un Louis XIV réticent l’évêché de Fréjus (1698) pour son protégé. La suite relève davantage de la contingence mais ne peut s’extraire du contexte religieux et, là encore, le système des fidélités. La désignation comme précepteur du futur Louis XV, quelques jours avant la mort du Grand Roi, permet à Fleury de faire sa rentrée à la Cour. L’incontestable habileté de Fleury lui permet de profiter de l’évolution politico-religieuse engagée par le Régent qui, passé une phase initiale de rapprochement avec les adversaires de la bulle Unigenitus, s’en détache bientôt. Fleury incarne un soutien modéré mais ferme. Sa proximité avec le petit roi fait le reste et le positionne en personnalité majeure. Les décès de Dubois puis de Philippe d’Orléans le laissent seul face au duc de Bourbon (1723). Trois ans seulement vont suffire à M. de Fréjus pour éliminer le premier ministre en titre. / The ascent of the cardinal of Fleury describes the mechanisms which have driven the heir of an "average" family of financiers in Languedoc to become Louis XV’s Prime Minister in 1726. It is necessary to underline at first the whole rise of a linage which plunges its roots into the merchandise in the Lodévois for at least the XVIth century. The transition to the finance is made with the cardinal’s grandfather and continues with his father Jean and especially his uncle Pierre-Moses, trésorier de France at the bureau des finances of Montpellier. The latter favors the rise in Paris of the young André-Hercule who embraces from then the ecclesiastical career. The causes of the ascent are individual and are based on the set of the clienteles, with at first the cardinal of Bonsy, then the cardinal of Noailles who obtains from reluctant Louis XIV the bishop's siege of Fréjus ( in 1698 ) for his protégé. The continuation is more a matter of contingency but cannot be extracted from the religious context and, even there, the system of the clienteles. The designation as the private tutor of the future Louis XV, a few days before the death of the Great King, allows Fleury to make his comeback to the Court. The indisputable skill of Fleury allows him to take advantage of the politico-religious evolution led by the Regent who, after an initial phase of proximity with the opponents of the Unigenitus bull, soon gets loose from them. Fleury embodies a moderate support but firm. His closeness with the small king makes of him a major actor. The death of Dubois and of Philippe of Orléans leaves him alone in front of the duke of Bourbon (1723). Three years only will be enough for M. de Fréjus to eliminate the official Prime Minister.