Rethinking the Golden Age of Social Psychology

Öz

It is tragic yet curious to realize that a historical period of great human misery can motivate great scientific endeavour. This paper argues that the “golden age” of social psychology was driven by the traumas of fascism. We first trace the roots of the World War II to modernism. We then compare the social psychological studies conducted before and after the World War II in relation to this historical background and the rationality-irrationality debate. Overall, we present a series of examples which purport to show that the “golden age” of social psychology emerged as a response to humans’ violation of different rationality norms. We conclude with a set of proposals for the amelioration of irrationality derived again from social psychological studies.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Social psychology,golden age,modernism,history of psychology,rationality

Sosyal Psikolojinin Altın Çağını Yeniden Düşünmek

Öz

İnsanlığın büyük acılar çektiği tarihsel bir dönemin önemli bilimsel çalışmalara yol açabildiğinin farkına varmak gerek trajik gerekse ilginçtir. Bu yazı sosyal psikolojinin “altın çağı”nın faşizmin yarattığı travmalardan kaynaklandığını savunmaktadır. İlk olarak, İkinci Dünya Savaşı’nın kökenlerini modernizmle ilişkilendiriyoruz. Daha sonra, İkinci Dünya Savaşı öncesi ve sonrası yapılan sosyal psikolojik çalışmaları bu tarihsel dönemle ve rasyonellik-irrasyonellik tartışmasıyla bağlantılı olarak karşılaştırıyoruz. Genel olarak, bu makalede sosyal psikolojinin “altın çağı”nın insanların farklı tipteki rasyonellik normlarını ihlal etmesine bir tepki olarak ortaya çıktığını gösteren bir dizi örnek sunmaktayız. Son olarak gene sosyal psikolojik araştırmalardan yola çıkarak irrasyonelliğin giderilmesine dair bir takım çözüm yolları öneriyoruz.

Anahtar Kelimeler

• Sosyal psikoloji,altın çağ,modernizm,psikoloji tarihi,rasyonellik

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