Unit-

2
• Traditional theoretical perspectives:
• Field theory,
• Cognitive-Dissonance,
• Sociobiology, Psychodynamic Approaches,
• Social-Cognition. Social perception [Communication, Attributions];
• Attitude and its change within cultural context; Prosocial behavior.
Kurt Lewin (1890-1947
• Kurt Lewin (1890-1947) was a famous, charismatic psychologist who
is now viewed as the father of social psychology.
• Born in Germany, Lewin emigrated to the USA as a result of
World War II.
• Lewin viewed the social environment as a dynamic field
which impacted in an interactive way with human consciousness.
• In turn, the person's psychological state influences the social field or
milieu.
"life space" and "field theory".
• Lewin was well known for his terms "life space" and "field theory".

• He was perhaps even better known for practical use of his theories in
studying group dynamics, solving social problems related to
prejudice, and group therapy (t-groups).

• Lewin sought to not only describe group life, but to investigate the
conditions and forces which bring about change or resist change in
groups.
Kurt-lewin
• KurtLewin was born in Germany in 1890. He originally wanted
pursue behaviorism, but later found an interest in Gestalt
to
psychology while volunteering in the German army in 1914.
• He went on to work at the Psychological Institute in the University of
Berlin after World War 1.
• There he worked with two of the founders of gestalt psychology, Max
Wertheimer and Wolfgang Köhler.[1]
• When Lewin moved to the USA, he had become more involved with
real world issues and the need to understand and change human
behavior.
• Kurt Lewin was a multidisciplinary researcher, concerned with
various social sciences, ranging from psychology to
organizational behavior.
• This open-mindedness has allowed Lewin to leave a rich legacy to the
socio-economic theories and practices (Tapp, 1984).
• Among Lewin’s most appreciated contributions are the “Field
Theory”, the “Action Research” and the “3-Stage Change Model”,
all of which have had an impact on how changes can be
managed in modern societies.
Kurt-Lewin
• His desire and personal involvement with gestalt psychology led to
the development of his field theory.[1]
• Lewin's field theory emphasized interpersonalconflict,
individual personalities, and situational variables.
• He proposed that behavior is the result of the individual and
their environment.[3]
• Inviewing a person's social environment and its effect on
dynamic field, Lewin also found that a person's psychological state
their
influences their social field.[4]
23-08
• Kurt Lewin was a prominent figure who had a major contribution in
broadening Gestalt psychology.
• Lewin described his field theory as a topographical and vector
psychology. He had borrowed both these terms- ‘topography’
and ‘vector’ from Mathematics.
• In this section, we will discuss Lewin’s topographical or structural
concepts.
• The previously existing systems placed a lot of emphasis on traits,
predispositions, intrapsychic processes and thus were
individualistic in nature.
FIELD THEORY
• Field theory is a psychological theory (more precisely: Topological and
vector psychology) which examines patterns of interaction between
the individual and the total field, or environment.
• The concept first made its appearance in psychology with roots
to the holistic perspective of Gestalt theories.
• It was developed by Kurt Lewin, a Gestalt psychologist, in the 1940.
• Kurt Lewin that the field in which a person's behavior
takes place is an intricate set of symbolic interactions and forces
postulated
which, depending on their valence (strength), can either reinforce or
change their behavior.
fiel
d
• Central toLewin’s theory is the term field, which he has adapted
from physics.
• With reference to Einstein (1933), he defines a field as “a totality of
coexisting facts which are conceived of as mutually interdependent”
(Lewin, 1946, p. 792).
• In psychology, this means to perceive the life space (LSp) as one field.
• The life space comprises everything in the perceived
external environment (like other persons or things) and in
• the internal environment (needs, values, thoughts, feelings) that the
individual is aware of at a given time, called as psychological facts (Lewin,
1943)
fiel
d
• However for Lewin, the features in a field, crucially, included other
individuals in human groups and the interactions of these individuals.
These all are parts of the social system of a group and are clearly‘social’.

• When Lewin proposed the concept of group dynamics it was explicitly

formulated to include the ways in which humans, and the groups to which
they belong, respond to their environments.

• He saw individual and group attributes and processes were a part of the
dynamics of (human) social group.
FIELD THEORY
field
• Lewin formulated the notion of a field as a set of
interdependent features integral to all social contexts containing
humans.
• More importantly, he saw the field as having forces acting on
people that drove, inpart, their behaviors.
• Among the features of a field were the motives of people, their goals,
their needs,their anxieties and beliefs.
• These are all concepts operating at the individual level and
are
‘psychological’.
• Field theory is the most common name for his theory, although other
terms such as topological psychology, dynamic theory, and vector
psychology are common (Lück, 2007).
• Nowadays, Lewin is often referred to as the founder of social
psychology
Roots in gestalt theory
• To begin it is important to recognize its roots in Gestalt theory.
gestalt is a coherent whole. It has its own laws, and is a construct of
(A
the individual mind rather than ‘reality’).
• For Kurt Lewin behaviour was determined by totality of
an
individual’s
• In situation.
his field theory, a ‘field’ is defined as ‘the totality of coexisting
facts which are conceived of as mutually interdependent’ (Lewin
1951: 240).
• Individuals were seen to behave differently according to the way in
which tensions between perceptions of the self and of the
environment were worked through.
• The whole psychological field, or ‘lifespace’, within which people
had to be viewed, in order to understand behaviour.
acted
• Within this individuals and groups could be seen in topological terms (using
map-like representations).
• Individuals participate in a series of life spaces (such as the family,
work, school and church), and these were constructed under the
influence of various force vectors (Lewin 1952).
• Lewin's field theory also emphasizes the significance of the "life space" or
"psychological space," which includes all the factors influencing
an
individual's behavior at any given moment, thus offering a comprehensive
approach to studying cognitive processes, learning, and development
within groups
Field
theory
• Lewin developed his field theory as a dynamic model to analyze
individual and social behaviors and combined a holistic character
with dynamic interrelations of perception, experience, and
behavior (Schulze, 2009).
• The holistic approach is visible in the explanation of behavior:
• Behavior (B) is “a function (F) of the person (P) and of
his environment (E),
• B = F (P, E)” (Lewin, 1946, p. 791).
• This formula claims that behavior depends on the person and his or
her environment.
B=f( p,e)
• Both the person and his or her environment “have to be
as one constellation of interdependent factors” (Lewin, 1946, p. 792).
considered
• Lewin called the totality of these factors the life space of
an individual (LSp) resulting in the following formula to explain
• behavior:
B = F (P, E) = F (LSp).
• Thus, explaining behavior means
• “(1) finding a scientific representation of the life space (LSp) and
• (2) determining the function (F) which links the behavior to the
life
space” (Lewin, 1946, p. 792).
B=f
(p,e)
•Lewin, on the other hand, emphasized the interdependence of
the
person and the environment.

• He believed that behaviour is a function of person and

the environment, and gave his characteristic formula.
•, B = f (p, e).
• In order to develop a holistic psychology, it is important to
acknowledge the full scope of forces that have a role to play in human
life, and that includes his psychological environment as well.
Important concepts in field
theory
Concepts in Lewin’s Theory

1.Life Space-Life space are all the events in

totality that influence the behavior and life of an individual.
In Lewin’s words “the person and his environment as one constellation
of independent factors”.
According to him all the people have their own psychological space
which is called their life space.
Life space is actually an interaction between the person and the
environment.
• B= f (Lsp)
• Where,
• B= Behavior, f= Function of, Lsp= Life Space
PERSON IN LIFE
SPACE
PERCEPTUAL-MOTOR REGION
VS INNER PERSONAL REGION
• person is not only differentiated from the environment but has also
separated him/her from within.
• Person has been divided into two regions- the perceptual-motor region
and the inner-personal region (Singh, 2011).
• The perceptual region is the one that lies on the periphery of the
circle labelled P and controls the perceptual and motoric function of
an individual.
• The inner personal region is the core or the central part of the circle that
is surrounded by the perceptual motor region, and controls motivational
aspects of the individual.
• This inner region is not in direct contact with the environment. Lewin
believed that other psychologists previously had ignored the role of
motivation and other social forces and thus, included them in his system.
Life space
LIFE
SPACE
Life space
LIFE-SPACE
23-08-24( life space)
• Lewin started his system the description and analysis of life
space.
with
• It consists of various psychological facts that are influential and have
a role to play in the life time of an individual at a given time.
• Life space consists of physical events, personal and biological facts,
and social facts.
• Lewin believed that education has an important role to play in
extending the life space of a child which is otherwise limited (both
spatially and temporally).
FOREIGN-HULL
Foreign hull
• Another term that has been explained by Lewin is Foreign Hull. The
external environment that is outside the life space of an individual is called
as foreign hull.
• These are physical and social facts in the background and not a part
of the life space.
• He described the boundary between foreign hull and psychological
environment to be permeable and thus, a two-way exchange between
these is possible.
• Through this it can be concluded that, psychological environment can bring
about changes in the physical world and the events happening in the
physical world are capable of influencing the psychological environment
and the individual by extension
Foreign hull
•Everything outside of the life space is a foreign hull – the
nonpsychological environment.
• The life space is divided into different regions symbolizing the person
and the psychological environment.
• The person is a region within the life space definite to the
psychological environment.
• The act of a person’s changing regions is called locomotion, but the
possibilities of locomotion are dependent upon the structure of
the life space at a given time (Lewin, 1946).
locomotion
• The act of a person’s changing regions is called locomotion, but the
possibilities of locomotion are dependent
•upon the structure of the life space at a given time (Lewin, 1946).
• In accordance to Gestalt psychology,
• as the life space contains interdependent parts, a change in one part
of the field results in a change in the total field, although the general
form is maintained.

• Central to Lewin’s theory is the construct of tension (energy),

which he did not conceptualize in the context of emotions.
tensions
• Lewin (1940) defined tensions as a disposition for action created by
needs toward attaining a goal.

• Every region holds positive or negative valences, meaning their attractive

or repulsive character.
•
• However, every person has needs, causing tension, and thus hindering
balance.
• Lewin differentiated between biological needs such as hunger and
pain and quasi needs, based on intent or purpose. Only the needs
that exist at a given time are important (Lewin, 1940
valence
• Every region holds positive or negative valences, meaning their
attractive or repulsive character.
• A region with a positive valence contains a goal that will reduce
the tension,
• whereas barriers between a need and the goal will increase the
tension
valence
• The positive and negative features of objects in the life space are
called as valences in Lewin’s system.
• Positive valence refers to the desirable and attractive qualities in an
object, whereas negative valence includes the unattractive or
repulsive qualities of the object.
• Itis important to note here the valence may change with the
need
that of the individual.
• For instance, food as an object will have positive valence for a hungry
child, but once fed, its valence may reduce and then
perhaps Television set or some toy may have a higher positive
valence (King, Woody, & Viney, 2015)
Valences,vectors
• )The needs determine the strength of forces and valences.
• Lewin (1946, p. 808f) distinguished different types of forces in a person’s
life space.
• There are driving forces, “toward a positive, or away from a negative,
valence” (Lewin, 1946, p. 808), causing locomotion and restraining forces,
associated with barriers and themselves not leading to locomotion but
affecting the driving forces.
• These forces, resulting from valences, make the dynamic character of
Lewin’s theory visible.
• Forces have direction and strength, which are visually represented as
vectors. This system of forces leads to conflict situations.
VECTORS
VALENCES
Conflict ,Situations and
Barriers
• “A conflict situation can be defined as a situation where forces
on the person are opposite in direction and about equal in strength”
acting
(Lewin, 1946, p. 809).
• Following Lewin, forces regularly acting in opposition to one another
within the life space lead to the assumption that “no person is
ever free of conflict” (Levinger, 1957, p. 331).
• Having knowledge about these conflicts is important both
for researchers and practitioners, as conflicts impinge on
behavior.
• Lewin describes three different cases of conflicts.
CONFLICTS
THREE TYPES OF CONFLICTS
Approach-approach
• In a plus–plus conflict (Fig. 1a), a person (P) is “located between
positive valences” (Lewin, 1946, p. 809). He or she has to decide
two
between one of two equally attractive objects.
• Levinger (1957, p. 332) describes the conflict as a “conceptual
simplification of the usual situation where attaining either of the
two goals also has its negative attributes–attaining one goal
entails sacrificing the other”.
• Figure 1b includes these negative aspects, called the complex plus–
plus conflict.
• In a minus–minus conflict, a person is “located […] between two
negative valences” (Lewin, 1946, p. 809). Resolving this conflict
depends upon the situation.
• As visible in figure 2a, the person can exit the two negative valences
impinging on him or her. However, locomotion can be hindered
by barriers (Fig. 2b), which can be physical (to be locked
in) or psychological (prohibitions) (Schulze, 2002). In this case,
leaving the region is not possible. If the negative valences are
strong, a person “will turn against the barriers in his attempts to
escape” (Levinger, 1957, p. 333).