One part of this review of research contains summaries of studies offering sociogenic or psychogenic explanations for the behavior of members of different social classes. The former position, which deemphasizes the importance of child rearing practices in the socialization process, maintains that the adult personality modal to a particular class is made up of behaviors necessary for performing the role of a member of that class; in contrast, the latter position posits that class differences in child rearing practices produce modal personality characteristics which have a constraining influence on other behavior. Another section includes reviews of studies of social class differences in child rearing practices of families in Chicago, Boston, Detroit, and Eugene (Oregon). Also reviewed are studies which stress the continuing nature of socialization through the adult years as part of a life cycle and place less emphasis on childhood socialization. These studies explain social class differences by either a social-economic-ecological, a genetic, or a developmental interpretation. Developmentalists attempt to understand the effects of the sociological variable of social class membership in terms of the psychological variable of personal development level. (EF)