4 - Psychologists at work: the start of new professional activities in industry and the army and their expansion in the war economy

Summary

The first profession for psychologists was that of academic researcher and lecturer. Here we are interested in practical psychology as an occupation outside the university. What were the reasons for the employment of expert “psychologists” in various areas of German society? How were corresponding professional roles institutionalized, and what was the demand for psychologists? We will also consider the problem of competition from other professional groups, a point emphasized in the introductory model.

The development of psychology as an occupation cannot necessarily be deduced from the problems considered by psychology as a science. Problems taken up by psychology before Wundt did not simply become fields of applied psychology. Questions concerning the self-image of the citizen, for example, a psychological topic around 1800 (Jaeger and Staeuble 1978), did not find any place in institutionalized psychology. Problems of social integration (see Bruckner 1974, p. 15) were considered only much later; they were left to educational, judicial, and punitive institutions. In applied psychology attention was focused primarily on questions of training and deploying the work force. Pedagogical and industrial psychology were the two central elements. The fact that the originally broader term “applied psychology,” or “psychotechnics” as it was widely known, came to mean “industrial psychology” is a reflection of psychology's selection of problem areas in the twenties. A further selection occurred in the course of transition from a field of scientific reflection to a field of practical professional activity.