 In 1934, Samuel Ramos published one of the most important books on Mexican culture, Perfil del hombre y la cultura en México, an analysis of history, culture, and the Mexican character, which he believed suffered from an inferiority complex. According to Ramos, Mexicans had set goals that were impossible to accomplish, particularly because they had tried to imitate more developed nations, and this had instilled in them a feeling of inferiority that explains their individual and collective behavior, as well as many of the problems of Mexican society and politics. Ramos’s book was very controversial and prompted similar studies of Mexican being, such as Octavio Paz’s El laberinto de la soledad (1950).