Early movements in the history of American psychology can explain the importance our culture places on the field at large.
Rise of psychology in the United States Beginning late in the 19th century, and largely influenced by German scholar
Wilhelm Wundt, Americans including
James Mckeen Cattell,
G. Stanley Hall,
William James, and others helped to formalize psychology as an academic discipline in the United States. Popularity in psychology grew as the public became more aware of the field. In 1890, James published
The Principles of Psychology, which produced a surge of public interest. In 1892, James wrote
Psychology: The Briefer Course as an opportunity for the public to read and understand psychological literature. In a similar attempt in 1895,
E. W. Scripture, another American psychologist, published a book, called
Thinking, Feeling, Doing, that was adapted for the average reader.
Popular misconceptions and the effort to counteract Despite the various publications, the general public had minimal understanding of what psychologists did and what psychology was all about. Many believed psychology was "mind reading and spiritualism" and that it had no real application in everyday life, whereas in reality, psychology was more about studying normal human behaviors and experiences that could very well have strong applications to everyday life. Thus, regardless of the mass interest in psychology, an accurate account of psychology for the
layman was rare. Many psychologists became concerned that their profession was failing appropriately to reach the public. In 1893,
Joseph Jastrow and
Hugo Münsterberg led a public exhibit on psychology in the
World's Columbian Exposition in Chicago as an effort to celebrate psychology, offer information to the public, and correct popular misconceptions. The exhibit provided catalogs of information on equipment, research topics, and purposes of psychology. In a similar attempt to inform the public, the 1904
Louisiana Purchase Exposition in St. Louis included (among others) presentations from G. Stanley Hall,
Edward B. Titchener,
Mary Whiton Calkins,
John B. Watson, and
Adolph Meyer. The exhibits also included public testing and experimentation. Although admirable, the attempt to seek public approval failed to make a significant impact and psychologists became more concerned about their public image. In 1900, Jastrow wrote a book entitled
Fact and Fable in Psychology that aimed to resolve popular psychological misconceptions by clearly discerning fact from fable. In preface to his book, Jastrow states, "It is a matter of serious concern that the methods of genuine psychology, that the conditions of advance in psychology, that the scope and nature of its problems should be properly understood." (vii)
Popularization of psychology It was not until the more powerful movement of
applied psychology that popularity in psychology grew to affect people's everyday lives. The work of G. Stanley Hall in
educational psychology led changes in the approaches of teaching and the Child-Study movement, supported in experimental psychology, and guided
educational reform. Several
critics warned that applying experimental psychology to education may be problematic. In 1898, Münsterberg wrote a controversial article entitled "The Danger from Experimental Psychology" in which he claims the impossible transfer of experimental results into successful teaching practices. Despite the disagreements,
popular culture grasped onto the implications in the field of applied psychology with the hope that the research could improve their lives. Early applications included
clinical psychology,
business,
industrial psychology, and the psychology of
advertising. Furthermore, the onset of
World War I led to advances in psychology brought about by its application in
military psychology. The
media provided the public more accessible psychological information through the publication of countless books and popular magazines including
Harpers,
Forum,
Atlantic Monthly, and
Colliers. After WWI, demand grew for a more frequent source of popular psychology and newspapers became a primary source of public information. In fact, newspaper columns were so well-received that professional psychologist Jastrow had a column entitled
Keeping Mentally Fit that appeared in more than 150 newspapers in the 1920s. Others authored similar cautions to the public and, among the most recursive, was that of
Grace Adams (psychologist) who, in her 1928 article, wrote a vociferous attack on applied psychology [and] argued that psychology had forsaken its scientific roots so that individual psychologists might achieve popularity and prosperity. After the
Depression hit in 1929, popular literature began to decline while scientific publications in periodicals increased. This discrepancy between the public sector and academia supported the popular belief that professional psychologists were not interested in solving America's problems. The lack of professional participation provided
pseudoscientific and unprofessional psychological literature to become very popular. In the 1930s, self-help books and the publication of three magazines (
Modern Psychologist,
Practical Psychology Monthly, and
Psychology Digest) became part of a popular psychology movement. Current events influence the popularity of areas in psychology. During 2020 and 2021 many of the most popular psychology articles were about COVID-19 and even Zoom fatigue. The APA's most downloaded journal articles frequently include research about social media. Social media frequently spreads misinformation about health, and this could extend to mental health misinformation.
Psychobabble can be used on social media to spread this misinformation. However, social media can be a place where pop psychology is used to spread mental health awareness.
Limits and criticism A June 2023 article by
Vox Media explored the limits of pop psychology terms ("therapy speak") saying "people become attached to terms that encapsulate certain events and people, to varying degrees, in order to bolster an argument or justify an experience. Having common language to describe a difficult situation can help people more effectively communicate their concerns and garner support, but these terms can just as easily be weaponized." == See also==