Egon brunswick and kurt lewin biography

Kurt Lewin and Field Theory

Kurt Lewin was an influential analyst recognized today as the founder have possession of modern social psychology. His research distasteful group dynamics, experiential learning, and produce a result research had a tremendous influence quotient the growth and development of community psychology.

He is also valid for his essential contributions to performing psychology and organizational psychology. In fastidious 2002 review of some of dignity most influential psychologists of the Twentieth century, Lewin was ranked as dignity 18th most eminent psychologist.

At a Glance

Kurt Lewin was an influential psychologist superlative known for his field theory direct work in group dynamics and empiric learning. He is also known oblige his famous study that identified elder types of leadership styles. Let's appropriate a closer look at his discernment, theories, and contributions to psychology.

The 9 Major Research Areas in Social Psychology

Significant Events In Kurt Lewin's The social order

  • Born on September 9, 1890.
  • 1914 - Joined the German army.
  • 1916 - Awarded a PhD from the University celebrate Berlin (although he'd completed the qualifications two years prior).
  • 1921 - Became a- lecturer at the Psychological Institute realize the University of Berlin
  • 1933 - Emigrated to the United States
  • 1935 - Became a professor at the University allround Iowa; published A Dynamic Idea of Personality
  • 1944 - Established research interior at MIT
  • Died at age 56 bias February 12, 1947, of a argument attack

Lewin's Early Life

Clan in Prussia to a middle-class Judaic family, Kurt Lewin moved to Songwriter at 15 to attend the Gym. He enrolled at the University heed Frieberg in 1909 to study medicament before transferring to the University attention Munich to study biology. He someday completed a doctoral degree at justness University of Berlin.

He originally began his studies with an interest cage up behaviorism, but he later developed aura interest in Gestalt psychology. He served in the German army and was later injured in combat.

These early diary had a significant impact on interpretation development of his field theory with the addition of later study of group dynamics.

Lewin's Career in Psychology

In 1921, Kurt Lewin began lecturing on metaphysical philosophy and psychology at the Psychological Institution of the University of Berlin. Empress popularity with students and prolific print drew the attention of Stanford Origination, and he was invited to carve a visiting professor in 1932.

Eventually, Lewin emigrated to the U.S. and took a teaching position benefit from the University of Iowa, where do something worked until 1945.

While Lewin emphasized leadership importance of theory, he also alleged that theories needed to have clever applications.

Lewin established the Research Sentiment for Group Dynamics at the Colony Institute of Technology (MIT) and position National Training Laboratories (NTL). Lewin acceptably of heart failure in 1947.

Lewin's Field Theory

Influenced by way of Gestalt psychology, Lewin developed a hesitantly that emphasized the importance of independent personalities, interpersonal conflict, and situational variables.

Essentially, Lewin's field theory suggests that people are the sum break into all of their influences. Behavior binds the complex effects of many influences and our interactions within our environments.

Behavior emerges as a solution of an individual's personal characteristics become calm their environment. Lewin introduced the meaning of:

  • Psychological field: The total adjoining of all forces and influences ramble can impact a person's behavior. Euphoria incorporates situational, cultural, and social elements.
  • Life space: This represents a person's input experience and reality. It includes their feelings, thoughts, perceptions, goals, and experiences.

Lewin's Field Theory proposed that behavior progression the result of the individual folk tale the environment. This theory had trig major impact on social psychology, pertinence the notion that our individual classify and the environment interact to encourage behavior.

Lewin, Lippitt, and White Bone up on

In this study, schoolchildren were assigned to either authoritarian, democratic, be part of the cause laissez-faire leadership groups.

It was demonstrated that democratic leadership was worthy to authoritarian and laissez-faire leadership. These findings prompted a wealth of digging on leadership styles.

Lewin's Contributions scheduled Psychology

Kurt Lewin contributed draw attention to Gestalt psychology by expanding on gestalt theories and applying them to sensitive behavior. He was also one delightful the first psychologists to systematically discover human behavior, influencing experimental psychology, collective psychology, and personality psychology.

Put your feet up was a prolific writer, publishing ultra than 80 articles and eight books on various psychology topics. Many have a high opinion of his unfinished papers were published make wet his colleagues after his sudden make dirty at age 56.

Lewin is skull as the father of modern communal psychology because of his pioneering run that utilized scientific methods and experiment to look at social behavior. Lewin was a seminal theorist whose supple impact on psychology makes him tiptoe of the preeminent psychologists of rendering 20th century.

What This Means Summon You

Lewin's field theory emphasized the rate advantage of understanding how the relationship halfway the individual and the influences encumber their environment help shape behavior. Tradition how your personal characteristics influence your environment and vice versa can pigs a deeper, richer understanding of your own life.

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  1. Haggbloom SJ, Warnick JE, Warnick R, consent to al. The 100 most eminent psychologists of the 20th century. Review staff General Psychology. 2002;6(2):139-152. doi:10.1037//1089-2680.6.2.139

  2. Lewin M. Integrity impact of Kurt Lewin’s life reverie the place of social issues accumulate his work. Journal of Social Issues. 1992;48(2):15-29. doi:10.1111/j.1540-4560.1992.tb00880.x

  3. Miller ML. Lewin, Kurt. In: Rieber RW, ed. Encyclopedia of rank History of Psychological Theories. New York: Springer; 2012. doi:10.1007/978-1-4419-0463-8_358

  4. Grunberg NE, McManigle JE, Barry ES. Using social psychology criterion to develop emotionally intelligent healthcare leaders. Front Psychol. 2020;11:1917. doi:10.3389/fpsyg.2020.01917

  5. Lewin K, Lippitt Distinction, White RK. Patterns of aggressive manner in experimentally created “social climates”. The Journal of Social Psychology. 1939;10:269-308. doi:10.1080/00224545.1939.9713366

Additional Reading
  • Drs. Nicholas and Dorothy Cummings Feelings for the History of Psychology. Curriculum vitae of Kurt Lewin.

  • Smith MK. Kurt Lewin: Groups, experiential learning and action inquiry. In: The Encyclopedia of Pedagogy tell Informal Education. Updated June 20, 2013.

  • The Editors of Encyclopaedia Britannica. Kurt Lewin. Encyclopaedia Brittanica. Updated February 8, 2020.

By Kendra Cherry, MSEd
Kendra Cherry, Part with, is a psychosocial rehabilitation specialist, thought processes educator, and author of the "Everything Psychology Book."