Social psychology the psychology of political domination / Carl Murchison.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Murchison, Carl, 1887-1961, author.

Series:

International university series in psychology.

International university series in psychology

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Social psychology.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (x, 210 pages).

Other Title:

Social psychology

Place of Publication:

Worcester, Mass : Clark University Press, 1929.

Summary:

Political domination is so obvious a phenomenon in every walk of daily life and on every page of history that it must have a biological and psychological basis. Social institutions and particular forms of social behavior are but trivial and incidental consequences brought about by the ever present and irresistible influence of those persons or communities that dominate others. The field of social psychology will cease to exist even by the end of this generation unless its subject matter can consist of more important things than hypotheses concerning natural behavior or of mere verbal definitions. If the psychologist is unable to keep possession of this field, it will rapidly become occupied by the historian, the sociologist, the economist, and the educationalist. In accordance with the principles of this book, the field of social psychology will eventually be occupied by those most competent to survive under the conditions of that subject-matter. It is my hope that these more competent individuals will be psychologists, though there is no guarantee that such will be the case. Psychology in this field is poverty-stricken and has escaped a death notice chiefly because no one has called in the coroner. This need not continue to be the case. In the field of social psychology, as in psychology in general, we need ideas more than we need anything else. There are hundreds of men who are either brilliantly equipped or fairly well equipped to do experimental work if they only knew what to work at.

Contents:

What is social psychology?

Control over the labor of others

Birth control

International relations

Community justice

The admirable life-achievement

Moral life-achievement

Human rights

The Platonic dream and disillusionment

The Christian interpretation of political life

Machiavelli and human nature

The theory of social contract

Socialism

Anarchy

Democracy

The political theories of Bodin and Montesquieu

Some traditional causes of social behavior: Social forces

Some traditional causes of social behavior: Instincts

The hypothetical nature of the individual

The illusory nature of group existence

The formation of social behavior-patterns

The formation of social behavior-patterns (continued)

The problem of drives

Radicalism and social control

Social cohesion and disintegration.

Notes:

Description based on publisher supplied metadata and other sources.