Everyone is an expert on psychology these days. Oprah and Dr. Phil enter the living rooms and minds of the nation on a daily basis. Most viewers are women, but men are affected as their partners interact with them using the latest information and skills as promulgated by the doyens of pop psychology.
Psychology informs childrearing practices, relationships, education, communication, business (PR, sales, and marketing), and work (hiring and promotion). Indeed, we are inundated by the findings and tenets of psychology. Psychology has codified what was often expressed or understood and communicated through the arts and, in particular, literature. Psychological concepts have been presented to us throughout the ages through fables and stories and the many characters and situations described therein.
Freud and others have freely borrowed from the arts to conceptualize their hypotheses. Greek literature was a popular source and provided the grist for the Oedipal and Electra complexes. Every character, personality trait and dysfunctionality has been expressed and written about by historians, theologians, philosophers, playwrights, and writers well before modern day psychology decided to “prove” through research and the scientific method what many would say is self-evident.
A major contribution to the world by psychology is the realization that not all beliefs that seem self-evident are obvious or true. In fact, some are counterintuitive. Leon Festinger, in 1956, did a study where it was expected that followers of a cult leader would become disenchanted after the leader’s prophecy failed. The opposite occurred and the followers increased their proselytization efforts.
Psychology has made people more aware how powerful biases and prejudices can be in forming belief systems. We have become conscious of the long-term effects of psychological trauma whether from war, physical and sexual abuse, and natural disasters. We now know that saying “forgive and forget” or “get over it” is not helpful but harmful.
Social psychology has informed us on how stereotyping, prejudice and racism occur and even offers some solutions to combat these thinking patterns and behaviours. Behavioural Psychology has created effective programs for dealing with mentally disturbed children. Clinicians have improved the lives of countless numbers of people suffering from anxiety disorders, depression, marital problems, and general problems with living.
Industrial psychologists influence the color of your cereal box to how TV ads are created. Sales copy of telemarketers and ad copy for large corporations has been through the psychologists’ mix-master. The books your children study at school have been perused by psychologists. The tests you took for employment were created by psychologists as were the surveys you filled out from that magazine or website.
Psychology has pervaded every aspect of our lives and this influence was acknowledged when Sigmund Freud was named the most influential person of the past century. This is all well and good but what can you, or I, use on a daily basis that creates results. The real gem from psychology is behaviour change.
Typically, we only change behaviour if we have to (change your behaviour or you will be fired) or if the reward is so large that we see it in our best interest to change (learn to dance and I will marry you). Positive or negative reinforcers are what drive change. Such large inducements are not always available. Yet, we want to change. I want to improve my study habits. I want to eat less and exercise more. I want to take more time with the kids. How do we do this?
Change can be pictorially represented as a pyramid. This Pyramid of Change has as its base Problem Recognition/Awareness. Obviously, unless you think there is a problem – change will not occur. Next, is the Motivation to change. You must believe strongly that change is important. The stronger the motivation the easier it is to change. Then, an examination of your Values and Beliefs is important. You may have beliefs that get in the way of change. For example, you say you want to bring women into the executive team but there never seems to be any women qualified or with enough experience. The unrecognized belief may be that women can’t make tough decisions. This belief will keep the executive stuck and unable to find a suitable candidate. Further up is Skill Acquisition and Practice. For change to occur often new ways of thinking and new skills must be acquired. If I want a better relationship with my wife, I may have to learn how to listen and take her concerns seriously. This takes practice. When all these levels are mastered, the result is Change. You are now on the top of the Pyramid of Change.