Kurt Lewin is a psychologist whose life story and achievements deserve special attention. This is a person who put his soul into making the world a little kinder, to regulate the relations that arise in different social groups. He was a true humanitarian.
Kurt Lewin: biography
The future psychologist was born on September 2, 1890 in the city of Mogilno, which was located on the territory of the Prussian province of Posen (today it is the territory of Poland). At birth, the boy was named Zadek. But such a name in Prussia did not bode well. For this reason, the boy was given a middle name - Kurt.
The young man could hardly hope for a happy future in a remote province. However, in 1905 his family left their native city and moved to Berlin. Kurt enters the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg, attends lectures in biology at the University of Munich.
Scientific activity
With the outbreak of the First World War, Levin served in the German army. There he made his first discovery. The future scientist found out that the worldviewa person is completely dependent on the group and environment with which he is associated. Thus, the researcher knew by his own example that soldiers can consider a muddy ditch a suitable shelter, and a flat flowering lawn a territory of death. Thus, Levin was able to prove that the perception of the world around the front-line soldiers is different from the thinking of people in peacetime. Moreover, changes in consciousness occurred in all representatives of one community.
Wounded while serving, Levin Kurt was demobilized, prompting him to continue working on his dissertation at the University of Berlin.
Initially, Levin delved into behavioral psychology. But over time, his research somewhat changed its direction towards Gest alt psychology. This made it possible to work with such representatives of this school as Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler.
In 1933, Levin Kurt went to England, from where he soon moved to the USA. At the same time, the scientist met with Eric Trist, who was impressed by Kurt's research while serving in the army.
Prior to this, Levin held a professorship at Stanford for six months, after which he went to Cornell University. Soon Kurt was appointed director of the Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
1946 was a fateful year for Levin. He was asked to find a method that could overcome religious and racial prejudice. Kurt embarked on an experiment that would later become known as "group therapy." Such achievements have become an important element infounding of the National Teaching Laboratory.
After the end of World War II, Kurt was engaged in the psychological rehabilitation of former prisoners of concentration camps.
Kurt Lewin died on February 12, 1947 in Massachusetts. An outstanding scientist was buried in his homeland. His death came quickly after the opening of a center for the retraining of world leaders. Unfortunately, Kurt did not live to see his dream come true.
Prerequisites for the discovery of "Field Theory"
The field theory was formed under the influence of the achievements of the exact sciences, in particular physics and mathematics. At the same time, Levin was fascinated by psychology, in which he also sought to introduce some accuracy. Thus, the main discovery of Levin in the post-war period was a psychological experiment. Until that time, it was generally accepted that psychology is completely incompatible with this concept, because this science is based on such substances as the soul, emotions, character. In short, it was believed that psychology is closely related to what cannot be studied under a microscope.
Kurt Lewin Field Theory (briefly)
However, Levin went in the opposite direction, adopting tricks with a hidden camera. In the course of his experiments, the scientist placed the subject in a room where there were various objects: a book, a bell, a pencil, and the like. Each person began to make any manipulations with things. But ringing the bell was typical for everyone.
Kurt Lewin's experiments led him to the conclusion: a person withouta certain goal is influenced by external factors. All the subjects were characterized by such actions to which they were prompted, as it were, by the objects themselves. From this it followed that people knocked out of their usual environment are quite easy to manage. After all, not a single participant in the experiment had the need to take a pencil or ring a bell. Thus, the objects influenced the needs of the person, which the psychologist interpreted as some kind of energy charges that provoke the stress of the subject. Such a state pushed a person to discharge, which consisted in satisfying needs.
Thus, Kurt Lewin's field theory, a summary of which is presented to your attention in the article, has become an original interpretation of human behavior. Thanks to her, it was proved that the set of actions depends entirely on the specific conditions of the existing field.
Specificity of Levin Kurt's teachings
Psychological study of human behavior was reduced to a number of features:
- Behavior should be analyzed within the overall situation.
- An individual in a particular situation is represented mathematically.
- Behavior is shaped only by real events. What happened in the past or will happen in the future only slightly changes the composition of the field.
- The same behavior does not always provoke the same reasons.
Scientists introduced the concept of "generic identity". Kurt Lewin, whose photo you see in the article, believed that the behavior of the individual is notmay be due to the nature of the person or his upbringing. However, both of these natures are significant. It follows from this that behavior is the result of the interaction of the individual and the situation.
Basic Management Methods
Levin Kurt, among other things, studied organizational management methods in groups. According to the scientist, they can be classified based on the style of leadership. There are these basic styles:
- Authoritarian. The person feels hostile due to the strong pressure of the group leader.
- Democratic style is about joint strategy development based on collective processes, taking into account the opinion of the leader.
- Complete non-intervention. The essence of this style is that all decisions are made without the participation of the leader. He participates in the division of labor only if he is asked to do so. Such a leader very rarely praises anyone.
Kurt Lewin Activities at the Research Center
In 1944, Kurt Lewin managed to found the Center for the Study of Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. In doing so, he pursued purely altruistic goals. The scientist all his life hoped for the approval of humanism in the world. In his opinion, all mankind needs democracy in order to soften their morals. Kurt Lewin tried to help the development of humanism through group trainings.
The scientist is convinced that in order to change a social group needs to go through severalstages:
- "defrost";
- "change";
- "new freeze".
"Defrosting" is a situation where a group is deprived of their usual life and value priorities. During this period, she is completely at a loss. At the next stage, she is offered a new value and motivation system, after which the state of the group should be “frozen” again.
By the way, it is Levin who created a new type of communication between a psychologist and his client. Often such communication is more like a conversation between a doctor and a patient. Kurt completely changed the strategy of building communication. His communication was like a dialogue between students and a professor.
Experiments of psychologist Kurt Lewin
The research center created by Kurt Lewin actively conducted trainings for employees of various enterprises. For example, the Harwood Manufacturing Company approached a psychologist with a complaint that when introducing any innovations, employees of the enterprise take a very long time to learn, which leads to a drop in productivity.
To solve the problem Levin Kurt took three groups of employees and gave them tasks:
- The first group decided how best to work within the new process.
- The second group had to choose a few representatives who would be sent to the leadership in order to discuss innovations.
- The third group, made up of workers and managers, was to brainstorm onlearning new technology.
As a result of the experiment, it turned out that the best results were demonstrated by the last group. After that, the company's management received recommendations from an outstanding psychologist.
Followers of the scientist
Kurt Lewin, whose achievements we reviewed, is very popular. Scientists from different parts of the world develop his ideas, develop the "Field Theory". Among the people who continued the work of an outstanding psychologist are the author of the theory of cognitive dissonance Leon Festinger, researcher of environmental psychology Roger Barker, as well as the founders of the theory of conflict resolution Morton Deutsch and Bluma Zeigarnik.
