Social order has long been conceived as an organization or mechanism which exists as a part of the cosmos and operates through large-scale forces acting at a distance. Social theory has taught man that he must learn to submit to these assumed forces and accept this cosmic organization as necessary to social order, while social research has attempted to measure these assumed forces. Recent studies of culture and personality indicate that social order is not given but historically developed ideas, beliefs, and patterns of conduct and of feeling which each culture has evolved as the guides to human conduct and the management of group activities. Moreover, recent studies indicate that social disorders and conflicts arise from the distorted personalites fostered by those cultural traditions. This newer conception of social order offers an escape from the defeatist beliefs so long accepted and suggests a reformulation of the tasks of social order and of the problems of social research.