Skip to main content
SpringerLink
Log in

Rethinking Generalization with Kurt Lewin and Action Research

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Subjectivity and Knowledge

Part of the book series: Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences ((THHSS))

Abstract

Kurt Lewin is one of the most well-known psychologists in history. He is the founder of topological psychology, closely related to the Gestalt psychologists, and the originator of the Action Research concept. Less well-known, however, is the extent to which he saw a political agenda connected to his work. Equally so, with very few exceptions, little light has been shed on his reflections in the philosophy of science. This chapter attempts to bring both these valuable aspects of Lewin’s career into the discussion. This shows, I argue, how Kurt Lewin’s work can contribute to an alternative concept of generalization in the social sciences.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Log in via an institution
Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 84.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Hardcover Book
USD 109.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

Notes

  1. 1.

    For details about the rejection and eventual acceptance of Lewin’s Habilitationsschrift, see Métraux (1983).

  2. 2.

    See Adams interviewed by Marrow, specifically the creation of the term “valence” which translated the German “Aufforderungscharacter” and quickly became adopted by Tolman as a replacement for his concept of “demand value” and later even translated back to German as “Valenz” (Marrow 1969: 56–57). The “affordance” concept as discussed today in technology studies and first introduced by Gibson also draws on Lewin’s Aufforderungscharakter (Gibson 1977, 2015).

  3. 3.

    The faith of psychology at Hebrew University took a different turn after negotiations with Lewin had failed: In 1939 Joseph Bonaventura was appointed Professor of Psychology at Hebrew University. However, according to the university archives he did not teach in psychology and focused on education instead. Only in 1941, psychology was approved as a secondary field of specialization for BA students. No experimental psychology existed at the university until the end of World War II (Bargal 1998: 65). A psychology department was not established until 1957, 10 years after Lewin’s untimely death.

  4. 4.

    A good illustration of the way in which group dynamics were approached at the Center can be found in (Lewin 1947a, b). An extended list of the publications during Lewin’s time at MIT can be found in Marrow (1969: 277–284).

  5. 5.

    Cassirer’s philosophy provides the grounds for Lewin’s reflections in many ways; Cassirerian philosophy shines through in many places and is explicitly mentioned several times throughout Lewin’s writings (Lewin 1931b, 1947a, b).

References

  • Ash, M. G. K. (1992). Cultural contexts and scientific change in psychology. American Psychologist, 47(2), 198–207.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargal, D. (1998). Kurt Lewin and the first attempts to establish a department of psychology at the Hebrew University. Minerva, 36(1), 49–68.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bargal, D. (2006). Personal and intellectual influences leading to Lewin’s paradigm of action research: Towards the 60th anniversary of Lewin’s ‘action research and minority problems’ (1946). Action Research, 4(4), 367–388.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Beckstead, Z., Cabell, K. R., & Valsiner, J. (2009). Generalizing through conditional analysis: Systemic causality in the world of eternal becoming. Humana. Mente, 3(11), 65–80.

    Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. F. (1929). The methods of professor Lewin in the psychology of action and affection. Psychological Review, 36, 200–221.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Brown, J. F. (1935). Towards a theory of social dynamics. Journal of Social Psychology, 6(2), 182–213.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cassirer, E. (1910). Substanzbegriff und Funktionsbegriff. Untersuchungen über die Grundlagen der Erkenntniskritik. Berlin: Bruno Cassirer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cassirer, E. (1923). Substance and function and Einstein’s theory of relativity (W. Curtis Swabey & M. Collins Swabey, Trans.). Chicago: Open Court.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cherry, F., & Borshuk, C. (1998). Social action research and the commission on community Interrelations. Journal of Social Issues, 54(1), 119–142.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Danziger, K. (1994). Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • De Rivera, J. (1976). Field theory as human-science: Contributions of Lewin’s Berlin group. New York: Gardener Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dege, M. (2011). Kurt Lewins Action-Research-Konzept als empirische Grundlage einer historischen, konkreten Psychologie. (German). Erwägen Wissen Ethik, 22(1), 24–27.

    Google Scholar 

  • Frommer, M. (1978). The American Jewish congress: A history 1914–1950. Columbus, OH: Ohio State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J. J. (1977). The theory of affordances. In R. Shaw & J. Bransford (Eds.), Perceiving, acting and knowing (pp. 67–82). Hillsdale: Lawrence Erlbaum.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gibson, J. J. (2015). The ecological approach to visual perception. New York: Psychology Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Henle, M. (1984). Robert M. Ogden and Gestalt psychology in America. Journal of the History of the Behavioral Sciences, 20(1), 9–19.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Interrelations, C. O. C. (Ed.). (1945). Proposed CCI Manual.

    Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, W. A. (1994). Gunnar Myrdal and America’s conscience: Social engineering and racial liberalism, 1938–1987. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1916). Die psychische Tätigkeit bei der Hemmung von Willensvorgängen und das Grundgesetz der Assoziation. Leipzig: J. A. Barth.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1917). Kriegslandschaft. Zeitschrift für angewandte Psychologie, 12, 440–447.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1920). Die Sozialisierung des Taylorsystems. Eine grundsätzliche Untersuchung zur Arbeits- und Berufs-Psychologie. Praktischer Sozialismus, 4.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1921). Der Begriff der Genese in Physik, Biologie und Entwicklungsgeschichte. Berlin: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1922a). Das Problem der Willensmessung und das Grundgesetz der Assoziation I. Psychologische Forschung, 1, 191–302.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1922b). Das Problem der Willensmessung und das Grundgesetz der Assoziation, II. Psychologische Forschung, 2(1), 65–140. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02412947.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1927). Gesetz und Experiment in der Psychologie Symposion. Philosophische Zeitschrift für Forschung und Aussprache, 4(1), 375–421.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1931a). Der Übergang von der aristotelischen zur galileischen Denkweise in Biologie und Psychologie. Erkenntnis, 1, 421–466.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1931b). The conflict between Aristotelian and Galileian modes of thought in contemporary psychology. Journal of General Psychology, 5, 141–177.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1935a). Project for a Department of Psychology and a Psychological Laboratory in the Hebrew University in Jerusalem, Palestine.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1935b). Research problems for a Psychological Institute at the University of Jerusalem.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1935c). Psycho-sociological problems of a minority group. Character and Personality, 3(3), 175–187. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1935.tb01996.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1936a). Principles of topological psychology. New York: McGraw-Hill.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1936b). Some social-psychological differences between the United States and Germany. Character and Personality, 4(4), 265–293. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-6494.1936.tb02034.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1938). The conceptual representation and the measurement of psychological forces. Contributions to Psychological Theory, 1(4), 247.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1939a). Experiments in social space. Harvard Educational Review, 9(1), 21–32.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1939b). Field theory and experiment in social psychology: Concepts and methods. The American Journal of Sociology, 44(6), 868–896. https://doi.org/10.2307/2769418.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1940). Formalization and progress in psychology. University of Iowa Studies in Child Welfare, 16(3), 7–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1943a). Cultural reconstruction. Journal of Abnormal and Social Psychology, 38(2), 166–173.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1943b). Forces behind food habits and methods of change. In C. E. Guthe & M. Mead (Eds.), The problem of changing food habits: Report of the committee on food habits 1941–1943 (pp. 35–65). Washington, DC: National Research Council of the National Academy of Sciences.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1945a). The Research Center for Group Dynamics at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Sociometry, 8(2), 126–136. https://doi.org/10.2307/2785233.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1945b). An action program. Congress Weekly, 4–5.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1945c). A new approach to old problems. Congress Weekly, 6–7.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1946). Action research and minority problems. Journal of Social Issues, 2(4), 34–46.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1947a). Frontiers in group dynamics: Concept, method and reality in social science; social equilibria and social change. Human Relations, 1(1), 5–41. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872674700100103.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1947b). Frontiers in group dynamics: II. Channels of group life; social planning and action research. Human Relations, 1(2), 143–153. https://doi.org/10.1177/001872674700100201.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1949). Cassirer’s philosophy of science and the social sciences. In P. A. Schilpp (Ed.), The philosophy of Ernst Cassirer (pp. 269–288). Evanston: Library of Living Philosophers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1981). Kein Ort, an dem man aufrecht leben kann. Psychologie heute, 8(6), 50–56.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1986). “Everything within me rebels”: A letter from Kurt Lewin to Wolfgang Köhler, 1933. Journal of Social Issues, 42(4), 39–47. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1986.tb00868.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, M. (1992). The impact of Kurt Lewin’s life on the place of social issues in his work. Journal of Social Issues, 48(2), 15–29. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1540-4560.1992.tb00880.x.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1997a). Problems of research in social psychology. In Resolving social conflicts: Field theory in social science, Originally published as “Constructs in Psychology and Psychological Ecology,” University of Iowa Studies in Child Welfare, 1944, 20:23-27; reprinted as “Problems of Research in Social Psychology,” in Dorwin Cartwright, ed., Field Theory in Social Science: Selected Theoretical Papers (New York: Harper and Row, 1951), pp. 155-169 (pp. 279–288). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1997b). When Facing Danger. In Resolving social conflicts: Field theory in social science, originally published in Jewish Frontier, 1939 (pp. 116–121). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K. (1999). Cassirer’s Philosophy of Science and the Social Sciences. In M. Gold (Ed.), The complete social scientist: A Kurt Lewin Reader (pp. 23–36). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association (APA).

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K., & Korsch, K. (1939). Mathematical constructs in psychology and sociology. Erkenntnis, 8(1), 397–403. https://doi.org/10.1007/BF00176045.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K., & Rupp, H. (1928a). Untersuchungen zur Textilindustrie I. Psychotechnische Zeitschrift, 3(1), 8–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K., & Rupp, H. (1928b). Untersuchungen zur Textilindustrie II. Psychotechnische Zeitschrift, 3(2), 51–63.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lewin, K., Lippitt, R., & White, R. K. (1939). Patterns of aggressive behavior in experimentally created “social climates”. The Journal of Social Psychology, 10, 271–299.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lippitt, R. (1940). An experimental study of the effect of democratic and authoritarian group atmospheres. University of Iowa Studies in Child Welfare, 16(3), 7–42.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lück, H. (2001). Kurt Lewin—Eine Einführung in sein Werk. Beltz: Weinheim.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lück, H. E. (2009). Geschichte der Psychologie Strömungen, Schulen, Entwicklungen. Stuttgart: Kohlhammer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Marrow, A. J. (1969). The practical theorist: The life and work of Kurt Lewin. New York: Basic Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • McLean, H. V. (1946). Psychodynamic factors in racial relations. The Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, 244, 159–166. https://doi.org/10.2307/1024578.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Métraux, A. (1983). Zur Einführung in diesen Band. In C.-F. Graumann & A. Métraux (Eds.), Wissenschaftstheorie II, Kurt Lewin Werke (Vol. 2, pp. 11–46). Bern and Stuttgart.

    Google Scholar 

  • Métraux, A. (1992). Kurt Lewin im philosophisch-psychologischen Rollenkonflikt. In W. Schönpflug (Ed.), Kurt Lewin—Person, Werk, Umfeld: historische Rekonstruktionen und aktuelle Wertungen aus Anlaß seines hundertsten Geburtstags (pp. 29–38). Frankfurt am Main: Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Michell, J. (1999). Measurement in psychology: A critical history of a methodological concept. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Myrdal, G., Sterner, R. M. E., & Rose, A. M. (1944). An American dilemma: The Negro problem and modern democracy. New York: Harper & Brothers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schilpp, P. A. (Ed.). (1949). The philosophy of Ernst Cassirer. Evanston: Library of Living Philosophers.

    Google Scholar 

  • Schönpflug, W. (1992). Kurt Lewin—Person, Werk, Umfeld: historische Rekonstruktionen und aktuelle Wertungen aus Anlaß seines hundertsten Geburtstags. Frankfurt am Main: Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tateo, L. (2013). Generalization as creative and reflective act: Revisiting Lewin’s conflict between Aristotelian and Galileian modes of thought in psychology. Theory & Psychology, 23(4), 518–536.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • van Elteren, M. (1993). Discontinuities in Kurt Lewin’s psychology of work: Conceptual and cultural shifts between his German and American research. Sociétés Contemporaines, 13(1), 71–93.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wertheimer, M. (1922). Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt. I. Psychological Research, 1(1), 47–58.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wertheimer, M. (1923). Untersuchungen zur Lehre von der Gestalt. II. Psychologische Forschung, 4(1), 301–350.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Wertheimer, M. (1925). Über Gestalttheorie Symposion. Philosophische Zeitschrift für Forschung und Aussprache, 1(1), 39–60.

    Google Scholar 

  • White, R. K., & Lippitt, R. (1960). Autocracy and democracy: An experimental inquiry. New York: Harper.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, The American University of Paris, Paris, France

    Martin Dege

Authors
  1. Martin Dege
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Martin Dege .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Social Psychology of Everyday Life, Department of People and Technology, Roskilde University, Roskilde, Denmark

    Charlotte Højholt  & Ernst Schraube  & 

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2019 Springer Nature Switzerland AG

About this chapter

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this chapter

Dege, M. (2019). Rethinking Generalization with Kurt Lewin and Action Research. In: Højholt, C., Schraube, E. (eds) Subjectivity and Knowledge. Theory and History in the Human and Social Sciences. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-29977-4_3

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics

Search

Navigation