Modern day psychologists know Kurt Lewin as the father of social psychology. Social psychology is a branch of psychology that studies how social interactions affect the individual. Lewin was born in Germany in 1890. He received all of his education in Germany including his doctorate which he received from the University of Berlin (Lewin, American social). Lewin served in World War 1 and worked in a psychoanalytic institute in Berlin before moving to the United States in 1933 (Wheeler, 2008). Around the rise of Nazi’s, many people, including Lewin, moved to America to escape watching or receiving any harm. Lewin founded the Research Center for Group Dynamics in Massachusetts in 1945. In his research center, he studied how groups of people affect the individual mind and how that alters behavior of an individual. Lewin was one of the few that theorized about and tested social psychology.
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One of his students described him as a problem solver (Frank, 1978). Many psychiatrists used Lewin’s research and studies to learn how to help behavioral psychology patients. Lewin helped psychologists realize that groups of people effect how people think and act. This idea was proven in a study created to show people’s eating habits with and without being in a group (Frank, 1978). It was discovered that people are more likely to agree with a statement that know is not true rather than be different from the social ‘norm’ (Frank, 1978). His formula, B=F(p,e), helped many social and behavioral psychologists view a patients reason for the way the act differently. His approach and avoidance theory has been tested and proved many times. Psychologists see that many people will run from something they are afraid of rather than going after something they want because fear drives out desire (Frank, 1978). This helped guide psychologists to help patients and clients with their
One of his students described him as a problem solver (Frank, 1978). Many psychiatrists used Lewin’s research and studies to learn how to help behavioral psychology patients. Lewin helped psychologists realize that groups of people effect how people think and act. This idea was proven in a study created to show people’s eating habits with and without being in a group (Frank, 1978). It was discovered that people are more likely to agree with a statement that know is not true rather than be different from the social ‘norm’ (Frank, 1978). His formula, B=F(p,e), helped many social and behavioral psychologists view a patients reason for the way the act differently. His approach and avoidance theory has been tested and proved many times. Psychologists see that many people will run from something they are afraid of rather than going after something they want because fear drives out desire (Frank, 1978). This helped guide psychologists to help patients and clients with their