Kurt Lewin
Kurt Zadek Lewin (September 9,1890 - February 12,1947), a German-born psychologist, became one of the pioneers of social psychology. Often called "the father of social psychology," and one of the first researchers to study group dynamics and organizational development, he advocated Gestalt psychology.
Lewin became associated with the early Frankfurt School, originated by an influential group of largely Jewish Marxists at the Institute for Social Research in Germany. But when Hitler came to power in Germany in 1933 the Institute members had to disband, moving to England and America. Lewin became influential in the founding of sensitivity training through the Tavistock Clinic in London.
Lewin coined the notion of genidentity (1922), which has gained some importance in various theories of space-time and related fields. He also proposed Herbert Blumer's interactionist perspective of 1937 as an alternative to the nature versus nurture debate, in that he suggested that neither nature (inborn tendencies) nor nurture (how experiences in life shape individuals) alone can account for individuals' behavior and personalities, but rather that both nature and nurture interact to shape each person. Prominent psychologists mentored by Kurt Lewin included Leon Festinger (1919 - 1989), who became known for his cognitive dissonance theory (1956), and environmental psychologist Roger Barker.
Biography
Born in 1890 into a Jewish family in Mogilno, Poland (then in County of Mogilno, province of Posen, Germany), Lewin joined the German armed forces when World War I began. But due to a war wound, he completed his Ph.D., with Carl Stumpf (1848 - 1936) as the supervisor of his doctoral thesis.
Lewin emigrated to the United States in August 1933 and became a naturalized citizen in 1940. He died in Newtonville, Massachusetts of a heart-attack in 1947. He was buried in his home town.
Impact on organizational development
- Action research
- Force field analysis
Bibliography
- Marrow, Alfred J. The Practical Theorist: The Life and Work of Kurt Lewin (1969, 1984) ISBN 0-934698-22-8 (Marrow studied as one of Lewin's students)
- White, Ralph K., and Ronald O. Lippitt, Autocracy and Democracy (1960, 1972) ISBN 0-8371-5710-2 (White and Lippitt carried out the research described here under Lewin as their thesis-advisor; Marrow's book also briefly describes the same work in chapter 12.)
External links
- International Conference on "Kurt Lewin: Contribution to Contemporary Psychology"
- Kurt Lewin at World of Biography
- Kurt Lewin: groups, experiential learning and action research
- Kurt Lewin (biography and overview of theory)
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