Historical Time and Social Trend of Kurt Lewin - Research Paper Example

? Historical Time and Social Trend of Kurt Lewin Task: Social Psychology has over the past been a topic studied in philosophy. However, philosophers only had the theoretical aspect and did particularly little research on the topic. Various pearlier psychologists have been on the forefront in their relentless study to decipher various forms of human behavior, put under different conditions. Such include Wundt, Hall, and James among others. Out of all these, Kurt Lewin is the only one whom psychology scholars believe to be the father of modern social psychology, due to his relentless study in this field, mainly on human behavior. Lewin carried out various experiments in a bid to decipher the human behaviorism, under different conditions. Moreover, Lewin formulated various theories that explained these aspects of human behavior. Some of these theories include the field theory and the group dynamics theory, among others. These human factors, together with the theories have elucidations in the document. Historical Time and Social Trend of Kurt Lewin Introduction Social Psychology emerged through linking sociology and psychology. In it, experts analyzed the way in which individuals, groups and environment affect the behavior patterns of other individuals or groups. Additionally, it is clear that social psychology uses a scientific approach in explaining the rationale behind an individual’s thinking, feeling and behavior, how one acquires influence from actual, anticipated or implied the existence of other individuals. Before the 19th century, the human aspects of behavior used to have an emphasis in philosophy classes. Moreover, it was not until the early 19th century that social psychology came into existence. In the current settings, the contemporary social psychologists put more emphasis on laboratory based empirical studies, founded on scientific evidence, rather than ideological assumptions that were common in philosophical studies. Social psychology puts into consideration human aspects, including human thinking, biases, psychological conditions, lifestyles and sentiments. In this view, earlier psychologists, including Norman Triplett argued that an individual could have a better performance in his or her obligations, while in the presence of other individuals. However, Ringlemann showed that individuals employed little effort when they worked in a group. Later, social psychology divided itself from the general psychology, due to conflicts over the exact causes of behavior where social psychology highlighted the significance of thoughts, feelings and behavior. As a result, this document will critically analyze the history of social psychology, its trends and the time and influence of Kurt Lewin’s studies. A brief history of the life of Kurt Lewin Kurt Lewin is world-renowned professor, whom psychology scholars believe to be the founder of modern social psychology and group dynamism. Lewin spent much of his early life in Posen in a village known as Moglino, where he was born in 1890 (Ramage & Shipp, 2011). Lewin started pursuing his Psychology Ph. D in 1914, just after the start of the First World War. In his study, Lewin took a keen interest in Gestalt psychology (Malone, 2009). He joined the German army in the same year. However, Lewin had an injury in the army and quit the profession. In 1916, he was honored with a Ph. D. Later, Kurt Lewin lectured at the Psychology Institute in Berlin University. Kurt Lewin later moved to the US, in the year 1932, where he later taught in the University of Iowa. Lewin taught in the university until 1944. In his work as a lecturer, Lewin highlighted the significance of theories and most importantly, their practicality. Moreover, he linked the human predicaments with his theories. He later quit teaching and joined the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), where he and other psychology experts keenly studied the dynamism of human behavior (Hothersall, 2003). However, it was not until his publication of various books and other psychology resource when other psychology experts came to converse with him in regards to his social psychology experiences. Unfortunately, Lewin died in 1947, after having studied the human social psychology. As a result, scholars branded him the inventor of social psychology. Kurt Lewin’s Major Theories One of the key theories that Kurt Lewin introduced was the field theory (anchored in gestalt theory). In this theory, Lewin highlighted the value of personality, interpersonal variance and situation variables (Wepman, & Heine, 2008). In addition, this theory suggested that a man’s behavior is a resultant of his or her interaction with his immediate environment. Moreover, Lewin suggested that a man’s psychological activities came because of a certain psychological field (life space), concerned with the precedent, current and the outlook aspects that shape people’s lives. Lewin explicitly elaborated that humans were not just beings that acted on internal instincts but as individuals, whose actions base their roots from their immediate environment. In this theory, Lewin highlighted the importance of group dynamism, which has a significant impact in respect to an individual’s behavior. Lewin argued that when people were together in a group, an individual ought to change his or her attitude and behavior, either by self-will, or unconsciously (Forsyth, 2009). Furthermore, Lewin set up a center for group dynamism in MIT. Additionally, Lewin came up with a theory in relation to leadership. He gave highlight on the influence of different types of leadership on individuals’ performance. In one instance, after careful experiments on authoritarian leadership, he came back with a conclusion that individuals were less satisfied and resorted to aggressiveness and indifferent nature (Lunenburg & Ornstein, 2011). On the other hand, when the group of individuals was in an environment with a democratic form of governance, they responded by cooperating, took pleasure in this form of governance, and were more productive. In addition, when the same group was in a laissez faire governance, the group did not demonstrate any apparent dissatisfaction with this ruling. However, they also demonstrated less productivity. Conversely, when leaders changed their ruling system, their leadership approaches did not change significantly. Psychologists’ Primary Contribution The first part of social psychology dates back in the early part of the 19th century, where scientists, including Wundt, Hall, James and Cattell among others played a vital role in developing social psychology. The end of the 19th century saw the end the philosophical explanation of human behavior to social, psychological explanation. Moreover, social psychology saw its principal developments during the First World War (Benjamin, 2007). Moreover, the onset of Nazism saw the rise of many psychological problems and social psychology set in to help solve the various human predicaments that many individuals experienced because of the war. The war prompted many Europeans settle into North America. As a result, the problem of prejudice against various individuals set in and there was a need to solve this predicament. Social psychology assisted tremendously in finding solutions to such predicaments, and this boosted its growth. Moreover, during this war, soldier recruits had to undergo intelligence tests before they could be taken in for the war. Later, this practice continued in schools. After the World War 2, Lewin researched on the influence of the US citizens’ dietary change on behalf of the US government, towards the ostracized meat cuts. He discovered that the group had a significant impact on the decision making of an individual. Additionally, individuals could make decisions, based on their group’s preferences (Wepman, & Heine, 2008). Moreover, Lewin concluded that the human conduct had an inclination toward goal achievement. He believed that most human actions were goal-oriented. Moreover, on the onset of World War 2, where Lewin used social psychology to solve problems emanating from politics. Furthermore, many psychological clinicians shifted their services from children hospitals to the army hospitals where they treated various adults. As a result, the American Psychological Association (APA) established separate divisions for clinical and school psychological centers. Between the 1956 and 1960, the number of psychological institutions had increased by around 900%. This saw the introduction of the first school psychological journals in the US. This trend continued until the 1970s when the demand for psychological schools and testing reduced. In addition, the 1970 saw the incorporation of cognitive views with psychological behaviorisms. As a result, the psychological training in schools emphasized more on organization development, group and family therapy, consult-sessions and professional counseling. Earlier, around the 1890s, another psychologist, Gustave Le Bon had done his independent research and came up with another theory. It stated that when a person was in a crowd, he or she was more likely to be emotional ad act irrationally, and was prone to extremely perilous conduct. These feelings had stimulations from the group leaders in a short time duration. The Impact of Kurt Lewin Theoretical Perspectives in the 21st Century Many scholars in the field of social psychology will term Kurt Lewin as the father of modern psychology (Benjamin, 2007). Through Gestalt psychology, Lewin is popular for his development of the field theory, where he suggested that an individual’s behavior and conduct occurs due to his interaction with the environment. Moreover, Lewin pioneered in the methodical test of human behavior under different situations. Lewin also separated social psychology from its former philosophical affiliation by employing scientific approaches and methodologies in studying the course. Kurt Lewin’s teaching of social psychology was that of solving societal problems. Kurt Lewin also used social psychology in solving social predicaments such as racial prejudice. During the time of Kurt Lewin, racism was constantly high, especially against the African Americans. Lewin used a theory that he had invented (action research) in trying to decipher why humans reacted differently against the minority. Lewin argued that this might have resulted from the group dynamism, where people reacted differently against a race, based on their group’s beliefs. Presently, the problem of racism has always been a key setback towards social integration across many social settings. In a recent article, in the New York Times titled ‘Social Scientists See Bias Within’, the writer explains that even some of the social psychologists still possess some aspects of social prejudice in their meetings against some of their members (Tierney, 2011). This was a discovery of Jonathan Haidt, a social psychologist from Virginia University (Tierney, 2011). In his study, Haidt uncovered the fact even today; at least 40% of Americans are still conservatives, whereas only 20% were liberals. After his survey, Haidt concluded that most of the American social psychologists showed tribal aspects, explaining that they formed a tribal-inclined society, citing their unity on ‘sacred values’ (group dynamics), thereby impeding their valued research and thus having a negative impact on their integrity (Tierney, 2011). Additionally, he explained that there was prejudice even among the elites at the university level, where the ratio of democrats against the republicans was alarmingly high. Additionally in another article in NY Times, Charles Blow portray America as “a Nation of Cowards” who have always kept silence over the issue of racial discrimination in the US. Moreover, in the article Blow show how a recent poll illustrates that Black Americans still believe that there is racial bias (Blow, 2009). On the other hand, the White Americans deem Blacks to have attained their equality in terms of racial balance. In addition, at least one Black American feel racially discriminated against at least once daily. This explains the aspect of group dynamism that Kurt Lewin put forward years back. The explanation behind this scenario is that few Whites still hold some form of racial discrimination, which they may be consciously or unconsciously knowing. According to Professor Brian Nosek from Virginia University, the human minds form some associations, anchored in the received information involuntarily (Blow, 2009). Moreover, Nosek explained that a study done on some doctors showed that White doctors proved to have unconscious racial bias against the blacks, while the blacks, showed no such signs (Blow, 2009). This leads to the question as to whether racism can totally wear down. Blow gives a suggestion that Whites can eliminate racial bias against the Blacks if they distinguish individual Blacks from groups. Conclusion Before the 19th century, human behavior was a topic of the philosophical scholars. However, these philosophy experts had no apparent explication of the rationale behind the human behavior- acting and thinking. Fortunately, some psychological experts devoted their efforts in studying the aspects of the human behavior on a practical, rather than the theoretical approach. Kurt Lewin is one of these psychologists who devoted his life to studying social psychology. Lewin used scientific methodologies in his experiment on human behavior. As a result, he explicitly explained the human behavior under different situations. Moreover, he came up with several theories that he linked with their practicalities. Some of these theories include, the field theory, in which he explained that the nature of a man’s behaviorism was as a result of his interaction with his immediate environment. Additionally, Lewin explained that an individual’s actions had predetermination from his environment and that societal beliefs strongly affected their conduct. Lewin also came up with the group dynamic theory, where he cited that the behavior of an individual acquires its effects from the group in which an individual has affiliations. It explains that when an individual is in a group, his behavior will have extreme emotions and may act more violently than when he or she is alone. References Benjamin, L. (2007). A Brief History of Modern Psychology. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishers. Blow, C., (2009 Feb. 20). A Nation of Cowards? The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2009/02/21/opinion/21blow.html on 18th Oct. 2011. Forsyth, D., (2009). Group Dynamics. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Hothersall, D. (2003). History of psychology. Philadelphia: Philadelphia Publishers. Lunenburg, F., & Ornstein A. (2011). Educational Administration: Concepts and Practices. Belmont, CA: Wadsworth Cengage Learning. Malone, J., (2009). Psychology: Pythagoras to Present. Cambridge, MA: MIT Publishers Press. Ramage, M., & Shipp, K. (2011). Systems Thinkers. London, LDN: Springer Publishers. Richards, G., (2002). Putting Psychology in Its Place: A Critical Historical Overview. New York, NY: Routledge Publishers. Tierney, J. (2011, Feb 7). Social Scientist Sees Bias. The New York Times. Retrieved from http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/08/science/08tier.html Wepman, J., & Heine, R. (2008). Concepts of Personality. New Brunswick, NJ: Transaction Publishers.       Read More