Kurt Levin is a psychologist whose life and achievement story deserves special attention. This is a man who has put his soul into making the world a little kinder, settling relations that arise in different social groups. He was a true humanist.
Kurt Levin: biography
The future psychologist was born on September 2, 1890 in the city of Mogilno, which was located in the Prussian province of Posen (today it is the territory of Poland). At the birth of the boy, they called 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 his hometown and moved to Berlin. Kurt enters the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Freiburg, attends lectures on biology at the University of Munich.
Scientific activity
With the outbreak of World War I, Levin served in the German army. There he made his first discovery. The future scientist found out that a person’s worldview completely depends on the group and environment with which he is associated. Thus, the researcher knew by his own example that soldiers can consider a dirty ditch a suitable shelter, and a smooth flowering lawn as a territory of death. Thus, Levin was able to prove that the perception of the world of war veterans differs from people's thinking in peacetime. Moreover, changes in consciousness occurred in all representatives of one community.
Levin Kurt, who was injured during the service, was demobilized, which prompted him to continue work on his dissertation at the University of Berlin.
Levin initially delved into behavioral psychology. But over time, his research somewhat changed its direction towards gestalt psychology. This made it possible to work with representatives of this school, such as Max Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler.
In 1933, Levin Kurt left for England, from where he soon moved to the United States. 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 spent six months as a professor at Stanford, after which he went to Cornell University. Soon, Kurt was appointed director of the Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
The year 1946 was crucial 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 psychotherapy." Such achievements have become an important element in the founding of the National Training Laboratory.
At the end of World War II, Kurt was engaged in the psychological rehabilitation of former concentration camp inmates.
Kurt Levin died on February 12, 1947 in the city of Massachusetts. An outstanding scientist is buried in his homeland. His death came in speed after the opening of the center for retraining world leaders. Unfortunately, Kurt did not manage to live up to the moment of the fulfillment of his dream.
Prerequisites for the discovery of "Field Theory"
The formation of field theory was influenced by 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 postwar period was a psychological experiment. Until that time, it was generally accepted that psychology was completely incompatible with this concept, because this science is based on such substances as soul, emotions, character. In a word, it was believed that psychology is closely related to what cannot be studied under a microscope.
Field Theory Kurt Levine (briefly)
However, Levin went in the opposite direction, adopting tricks with a hidden camera. During his experiments, the scientist placed the subject in a room where various objects were: a book, a bell, a pencil and the like. Each person began to make any manipulations with things. But ringing a bell was characteristic for everyone.
The experiments of Kurt Levin led him to the conclusion: a person without a specific goal is influenced by external factors. All subjects were characterized by such actions on which the objects themselves seemed to push them. It followed from this that people knocked out of their familiar environment are fairly easy to manage. After all, no participant in the experiment needed to take a pencil or ring a bell. Thus, objects influenced the needs of a person, which the psychologist interpreted as some kind of energy charges that provoke the subject's stress. This state pushed a person to discharge, which was to satisfy needs.
So, the field theory of Kurt Levin, a brief 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 totality of actions depends entirely on the specific conditions of the existing field.
The specifics of the teachings of Levin Kurt
The psychological study of human behavior came down to a number of features:
- Behavior should be analyzed as part of the overall situation.
- An individual person in a separate situation is represented mathematically.
- Behavior is formed 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 at first glance, the behavior is not always provoked by the same reasons.
Scientists introduced the concept of "tribal identity." Kurt Levin, whose photo you see in the article, believed that personality behavior cannot be determined by a person’s character or his upbringing. However, both of these natures are very 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 leadership style. There are such basic styles:
- Authoritarian. The person feels hostile due to the strong pressure of the group leader.
- The democratic style consists in jointly developing a strategy based on collective processes, taking into account the views of the leader.
- Complete non-interference. The essence of this style is that all decisions are made without the participation of a leader. He participates in the division of labor only if asked about it. Such a leader very rarely praises anyone.
The activities of Kurt Levin in the research center
In 1944, Kurt Levine managed to found the Center for the Study of Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. At the same time, he pursued purely altruistic goals. All his life, the scientist had hoped for a statement in the world of humanism. In his view, all of humanity needs democracy in order to soften its morals. Kurt Levin tried to help the development of humanism with the help of group trainings.
The scientist is convinced that in order to change a social group, it is necessary to go through several stages:
- Defrosting;
- "change";
- "New freeze."
Defrosting is a situation in which a group is deprived of its usual life and value priorities. In such a 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 was Levin who created the new type of communication between the psychologist and his client. Often, such communication is more like a conversation between a doctor and a patient. Kurt completely changed the communication strategy. His communication was like a dialogue between students and a professor.
Psychologist Kurt Levin's experiments
The research center created by Kurt Levin actively conducted trainings for employees of various enterprises. For example, the services of a psychologist were contacted by the Harwood Manufacturing Company with a complaint that with the introduction of any innovations, employees of the enterprise study for a very long time, which leads to a drop in the level of 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 framework of the new process technology.
- The second group was to select several representatives who would be sent to the leadership in order to discuss innovations.
- The third group, consisting of workers and managers, was to conduct a “brainstorm” on the development of 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 management received recommendations from an outstanding psychologist.
Followers of the scientist
Kurt Levin, the achievements of which we examined, is very popular. Scientists from different parts of the world are developing his ideas, developing “Field Theory”. Among the people who continued the work of an outstanding psychologist were the author of the theory of cognitive dissonance Leon Festinger, environmental psychology researcher Roger Barker, as well as the founders of the theory of conflict resolution Morton Deutsch and Bluma Zeigarnik.