Social Psychology in the Soviet Union

Abstract

Excerpts from an interview with the chairman of the first Soviet Department of Social Psychology are presented to demonstrate how rapidly the field has developed there in the last 15 years, how wide a scope the field seems to have, and the role planned for its future.

Russian and Soviet social psychology.

“…It should be recalled that this purpose is the same as that of the Russian Geographical Society 120 years earlier. In 1965 the explicit aims were somewhat more positive, such as to make industrial or sport collectives function better instead of to help manage the masses (Kuz'min, in Strickland, 1980;Strickland, 1981), but it must be recalled that the "betterment of society" has always been a criterion for the establishment of social psychology, regardless of whether one traces the guiding ideas of the discipline to their roots in cultural experience or construes them as the fruits of trees planted more recently by Marx and Lenin.…”

“…This school remained reactionary, linked with the czar and the church. In scientific-ideological opposition was the approach developed by Sechenov, who stressed the importance of "general principles" compatible with a materialistic approach to scientific (still a central preoccupation today -see Strickland, 1987), and who demonstrated that the three principles "of (1) the organism in its environment; (2) the tri-member reflex; (3) the process of inhibition and/or intensification of response, provided a model perfectly adequate to explain all animal and human behaviour" (McLeish, 1975, p. 66-71). This psychology had as its broad purpose not simply the description and analysis of persons or peoples, but of helping to improve them.…”

“…A second feature to be recalled about recent Soviet social psychology is that it has been organized around a number of formal' 'principles of analysis" (Strickland, 1987). These principles echo the priorities of Sechenov and reflect ideas that emerged in the social psychology of the middle 1800s; most were given explicit articulation by Bekhterev, although today they may be associated with other names.…”

“…Two types of research have evolved in modern Soviet social psychology; each is significant, in its own way. The first, applied research, most often designed to help collectives work more successfully, has been wide-spread (Strickland, 1980;. Its products have occasionally been impressive, for example with sports teams or certain scientific groups.…”

Review of Research in Soviet social psychology.

“…Social psychology was seen to be inherently more ideological in nature and content than other fields of psychology. Moreover, according to Moscow State University social psychologist Andreva, the process of adopting a Marxist outlook was slower in Soviet social psychology than in other branches of Soviet psychology (Strickland, 1980). Since its official inception in the early 1960s, the goal of Soviet social psychology has been to create a unified Marxist social psychology.…”