During the 1950s, American culture was often described as one of:

During the 1950's, American culture was often described as one of conformity.

Explanation:

The era of 1950's for American culture was known as the age of conformity. The reason being that the people were afraid to be considered as communists and were pushed to conform to the ideals of the masses.

So there was a constant struggle between the conformity of the younger rebellions and the elderly generation over this.