The formation and consolidation of scientific paradigm in American psychology after World War Ⅱ: Analysis based on social character

doi:10.3724/SP.J.1041.2023.01729

Abstract

Abstract:

A series of social changes in American society after World War II shaped its post-war social character through the inherent “pragmatism” and “individualism” characteristics of American culture. This social character is characterized by “one-dimensionalization, pursuing of instrumental rationality, and individual priority”, which correspond to the main characteristics of scientific psychology. The expectation of psychology in this social character is “the disenchantment of the spiritual world by scientism”, that is, “the secularization of the psyche”. In this sense, it further promoted the formation and consolidation of the post-war American psychological scientism paradigm, and then contributed to the dominance of scientific psychology in the United States and even the world today. The vigorous development of scientific psychology in the United States in turn has consolidated its social character, demonstrating the function of American scientific psychology as an integral part of its ideology to maintain the efficient operation of American society.

Key words: history of psychology, Psychology in America, social character, social change, World War II

LIU Wenxin, YANG Ling, SHU Yueyu. (2023). The formation and consolidation of scientific paradigm in American psychology after World War Ⅱ: Analysis based on social character. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 55(10), 1729-1744.

Figures/Tables 3

Figure 1. A model of the dynamic relationship between social environment, social character and thought.

Table 1 Several indicators reflect the development rate of psychology in the United States after World War II (Gilgen, 1982/1992, p. 26)

	Mid-1940s	Mid-1970s	change%
Population (million)	140	220	+57
APA Member	4200	40000	+850
APA Branches	19	36	+89
APA Journal	7	17	+142
Psychological Abstracts items	3600	25000	+592

Figure 2. The dynamic process of the formation and consolidation of the paradigm of psychological scientism in the United States after World War II.

References 55

[1]	Arblaster A. (2004). The rise and decline of western liberalism (H. J. Cao et al., Trans.). Changchun: Jilin People’s Press. (Original work published 1984)
[2]	Bai Y. (2012). A brief analysis of the development of American entertainment industry after World War II and the impact on society. Journal of HuBei Adult Education Institute, 18(2), 81-81.
[3]	Barron D., Khatib N. A. M., Zahari H. S., & Lin E. T. K. (2020). Psychology in the Philippines:An overview of the state of the discipline emphasising sociocultural, clinical, and health perspectives. In G. J.Rich, J. L. S.Jaafar, & D.Barron (Eds.), Psychology in Southeast Asia: Sociocultural, clinical, and health perspectives (pp. 15-32). New York: Routledge.
[4]	Bettelheim B. (1943). Individual and mass behavior in extreme situations. The Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 38(4), 417-452.
[5]	Cai H., Kwan V. S., & Sedikides C. (2012). A sociocultural approach to narcissism: The case of modern China. European Journal of Personality, 26(5), 529-535. doi: 10.1002/per.852 URL
[6]	Chang Z. (2016). Sorrow of the big winners: America and the postwar international order. Beijing: China Renmin University Press.
[7]	Che W. B. (1998). History of western psychology. Hangzhou: Zhejiang Education Publishing House.
[8]	Che W. B. (2007). Perspective of western psychology. Beijing: Beijing Normal University Publishing House.
[9]	Chen J. M. (2006). Fifteen lectures on modernity and postmodernity. Beijing: Peking University Press.
[10]	Cunningham S. (1985, May). Humanists celebrate gains, goals. APA Monitor, 16, 18.
[11]	Dewey J. (1971). Reconstruction in philosophy (No. 48). Beacon Press.
[12]	Flanagan J. C. (1952). Psychology in the world emergency. Pittsburg: University of Pittsburgh Press.
[13]	Fromm E. (1988). Man for himself: An inquiry into the psychology of ethics. (Y. Y. Sun, Trans.). Beijing: SDX Joint Publishing Company. (Original work published 1947)
[14]	Fromm E. (2015). Escape from freedom (L. H. Liu, Trans.). Shanghai: Shanghai Translation Publishing House. (Original work published 1941)
[15]	Gao F. Q. (2009). The dissolution of reason: postmodern psychology. Jinan: Shandong Education Press.
[16]	Gao S. C. (2011). On the phenomenological turn in William James’s psychology and its theoretical significance. Journal of Psychological Science, 34(4), 1006-1011.
[17]	Gao X, M. (2012). Mind and body: The exploration for new dualism in philosophy of mind. Beijing: The Commercial Press.
[18]	Gergen K. J. (1985). The social constructionist movement in modern psychology. American Psychologist, 40(3), 266-275. doi: 10.1037/0003-066X.40.3.266 URL
[19]	Gergen K. J. (1990). Toward a postmodern psychology. The Humanistic Psychologist, 18(1), 23-34. doi: 10.1080/08873267.1990.9976874 URL
[20]	Gilgen A. R. (1992). Contemporary American psychology (L. Liu et al., Trans.). Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press. (Original work published 1982)
[21]	Gordon R. J. (2018). The rise and fall of American growth (L. S. Zhang et al., Trans.). Beijing: CITIC Press. (Original work published 2016)
[22]	Guo B. Y., Fang S. H., & Yan Y. W. (2013). The history of western psychology. Beijing: People's Medical Publishing House.
[23]	Guo B. Y., Wang L. J. (2016). Where’s Freud? ——Analysis based on domestic literatures in recent decade. Journal of Shanxi University (Philosophy & Social Science), 39(6), 104-110.
[24]	Guo Y. Y. (2022). Enlightenment values of Erich Fromm's humanistic psychoanalysis. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 54(2), 205-218. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2022.00205 URL
[25]	Han B. C. (2019a). Psychopolitik (Y. H. Guan, Trans.). Beijing: CITIC Press. (Original work published 2014)
[26]	Han B. C. (2019b). Die austreibung des anderen (Q. Wu, Trans.). Beijing: CITIC Press. (Original work published 2017)
[27]	Henrich J., Heine S. J., & Norenzayan A. (2010). The weirdest people in the world? Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 61-83. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X0999152X pmid: 20550733
[28]	Husserl E. G. A. (2001). The crisis of European science and transcendental phenomenology (B. W. Wang, Trans.). Beijing: The Commercial Press. (Original work published 1976)
[29]	Jin G. T. (2010). On the origin of modern society. Beijing: Social Sciences Academic Press.
[30]	Keehn J. D. (1955). The expressed social attitudes of leading psychologists. American Psychologist, 10(5), 208-210. doi: 10.1037/h0048884 URL
[31]	Koch S., & Leary D. E. (1992). A century of psychology as science. American Psychological Association.
[32]	Kousholt K., & Thomsen R. (2013). Dialectical approaches in recent Danish critical psychology. Annual Review of Critical Psychology, 10(1), 359-390.
[33]	Leahey T. H. (2013). A history of psychology: Main currents in psychological thought (6th ed.) (K. Jiang et al., Trans.). Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House. (Original work published 2004)
[34]	Li Z. H. (2016). A theory of anthropo-historical ontology. Qingdao: Qingdao Publishing House.
[35]	Liu L. (2011). On the decline of American civil society after World War II. Journal of Chifeng University (Philosophy and Social Science Chinese Edition), 32(1), 64-66.
[36]	Liu W. L. (2015). The impact of the technological revolution on the United States. Historical Records of Heilongjiang, (1), 134.
[37]	Marcuse H. (2015). One-dimensional man: Studies in the ideology of advanced industrial society (J. Liu, Trans.). Taibei: Cite Publishing Ltd. (Original work published 1964)
[38]	Markus H., & Kitayama S. (2010). Cultures and selves: A cycle of mutual constitution. Perspectives on Psychological Science, 5(4), 420-430. doi: 10.1177/1745691610375557 pmid: 26162188
[39]	Maryanski A. (2010). WEIRD societies may be more compatible with human nature. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 103-104. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X10000191 pmid: 20546656
[40]	Maslow A. (2012). Motivation and personality (3rd ed.) (J. S. Xu et al., Trans.). Beijing: China Renmin University Press. (Original work published 1987)
[41]	Mayer C. H., & Kovary Z. (Eds.). (2019). New trends in psychobiography. Cham: Springer.
[42]	Rand A. (2013). The Fountainhead (X. Q. Gao, Y. Q. Zhao, & Y. Yang, Trans.). Chongqing: Chongqing Press. (Original work published 1993)
[43]	Ricoeur P. (2012). Hermeneutics and the human sciences (M. A. Kong, J. Zhang, & X. X. Li, Trans.). Beijing: China Renmin University Press. (Original work published 1981)
[44]	Roudinesco E. (2020). Jacques Lacan: Esquisse d'une vie, histoire d'un système de pensée (C. Y. Wang, Trans.). Beijing: Beijing United Publishing Co., Ltd. (Original work published 1993)
[45]	Rozin P. (2010). The weirdest people in the world are a harbinger of the future of the world. Behavioral and Brain Sciences, 33(2-3), 108-109. doi: 10.1017/S0140525X10000312 pmid: 20546650
[46]	Shi G. Y. (2018). On post-industrial economy in New York after World War Ⅱ. Seeking Truth, 45(5), 155-163.
[47]	Shu Y. Y., Shi Y. B., & Yuan Y. (2019). An “operational definition” and a “falsifiability criterion” are not sufficient to lay the foundation for scientific psychology. Acta Psychologica Sinica, 51(9), 1068-1078. doi: 10.3724/SP.J.1041.2019.01068
[48]	Vanier A. (2019). Lacan. (R. C. Wang, Trans.). Fuzhou: Fujian Education Press. (Original work published 2003)
[49]	Weber M. (2017). The protestant ethic and the spirit of capitalism (K. W. Yan, Trans.). Shanghai: Shanghai People's Publishing House. (Original work published 1998)
[50]	Wu G. S. (2004). Rethinking science. Beijing: New World Press.
[51]	Ye H. S., & Yang L. P. (2009). The history of psychology. Shanghai: East China Normal University Press.
[52]	Zhan C. (2008). Analysis on the factors of further diversification of post-war American culture and its impact on the development of American society. Communication of Vocational Education, 23(12), 109-111.
[53]	Zhao L. (2021). Lectures on the history of western philosophy. Shanghai: Shanghai SDX Joint Publishing Company.
[54]	Zhang R. L. (2020). Modern western philosophy. Beijing: CITIC Press.
[55]	Zhi Y. (2013). American advertising in the context of post-World War II consumer society. Literature & Art Studies, (11), 165-166.