Kurt Lewin Final

SCHOOLS OF PSYCHOLOGY APSY102

Raumish Masud Khan Page 1 Assistant professor Department of Applied Psychology Kinnard College for Women university

KURT LEWINBiography

Born on 9th September, 1890 in Prussia.

Study medicine in start.

Transfers his university to study biology.

Earned his PhD in the experimental study of associative learning.

Recognized as founder of social psychology.

Died in 1947.

Works:

Conducted many Action Field Research studies to understand social problems. His concept of Field Theory developed from this approach with its assertion that human

interactions are driven by both the people involved and their environment. Lewin began

with behavior and what produces it, and then moved on to the problems of how people

perceived their own and others' behavior.

Focused particularly on the interactions among races and the influences that affect inter-group and intra-group relations.

Wanted to identify the factors that could make diverse communities function without prejudice and discrimination.

FIELD THEORY:

Field theory, in psychology, conceptual model of human behavior developed by

German American psychologist Kurt Lewin, who was closely, allied with the Gestalt

psychologists. Lewins work went far beyond the orthodox Gestalt concerns of perception and learning; his theory emphasized an individuals needs, personality, and motivating forces. Gestalt psychology borrowed the concept of field theory from physics. In its simple form one can think

of a magnet that generates a magnetic field. A field can be defined as a dynamic, interrelated

system, where one part influences other parts in system. So field theory in Gestalt psychology

assumes that behavior and cognitive processes are part of a field that affects each other. These

processes can be memories, beliefs, perceptions, physiology etc. Any change in one process

changes the whole pattern. World looks different on an upset stomach or a sad memory. A field

can exist at many levels. Perceived environment can be a field. All people in the environment

can be another field etc. According to Lewin, Field theory is a psychological theory which

examines patterns of interaction between the individual and the total field, or environment. Field

theory holds that behavior must be derived from a totality of coexisting facts. These coexisting

facts make up a "dynamic field", which means that the state of any part of the field depends on

every other part of it. Behavior depends on the present field rather than on the past or the future.

The field is the life space, which contains the person and his or her psychological (or behavioral)



environment. The psychological environment is the environment as the person perceives and

understands it.

He also postulated that persons strive to maintain equilibrium with their environment; a

tension (need) will stimulate locomotion (activity) to reinstate the equilibrium. Lewin adapted

his field theory to the area of social psychology through his theory of group dynamics.

Theory of human motivation Kurt Lewin formed a theory of human motivation which was built around field theory. Human

behavior, he suggested, at any given time is determined by total number of psychological facts

(field). A psychological fact is anything a person is conscious of including being hungry, being

in a physical location or having money, or being conscious of some memory. All conscious

psychological facts make our life space which continuously changes. Some facts exert positive

influence on us, while others have a negative effect. Interaction of these facts determines

behavior. He believed behavior was purposeful and visualized the individual as existing in a field

of forces which included positive valence forces which attract people, and negative valence

forces which repel people.



TENSION SYSTEMS:

A need is Lewin's basic motivational concept. It may arise from a physiological condition

like hunger or may be a desire or intention to do something. Needs release energy, increase

tension, and determine the strength of vectors and valences.

A system (region) in the person is said to be in a state of tension whenever a need or intention exists. A positive or negative valence is the attraction or repulsion that a region

in the psychological environment has for someone.

A positive valence exists when the person thinks the region will reduce tension by meeting present needs, while a negative valence exists when the person thinks the region

will increase tension or threatens injury.

A vector is a force that arises from a need that acts on the person and determines the direction in which he or she moves through the psychological environment. For every

region with a positive valence, a vector pushes the person in its direction. With a negative

valence, a vector pushes the person away from it.

Often two or more vectors act on the person at the same time, and then the locomotion is some kind of a "resultant."

THE ZEIGARNIK EFFECT

Lewin often met with his students in a cafe across the street from the University of Berlin.

The custom there was that orders were not written down; the waiter or waitress kept them in their

head and added additional items to them as they were ordered until the customers left. Lewin

noted something quite interesting: The servers had an almost perfect memory for items that had

been ordered until the bill was paid, and then a couple of minutes later could hardly recall

anything about what was ordered. His student Bluma Zeigarnik carried out an experimental study

of this phenomenon, finding that it had widespread validity, and it became known as the

Zeigarnik effect. In psychology, the Zeigarnik effect states that people remember uncompleted or

interrupted tasks better than completed tasks.

GROUP DYNAMICS

Group dynamics is the scientific study of groups; also the actions, processes, and changes

that occur in social groups. It is a study of these forces: what gives rise to them, what conditions

modify them, what consequences they have, etc. Lewin was the first psychologist to write about

group dynamics and the importance of the group in shaping the behavior of its members.

Six major program areas were developed:

1. Group productivity: why was it that groups are so ineffective in getting things done? 2. Communication: how influence is spread throughout a group? 3. Social perception: how a person's group affected the way they perceived social events. 4. Intergroup relations:



5. Group membership: how individuals adjust to these conditions. 6. Training leaders: improving the function of groups (T-groups).

Lewin's group dynamics has been utilized in such areas as educational facilities, industrial

settings, and communities. Great improvements have been made in these areas of interest

throughout the twentieth century.

The T-group was a great training innovation, which provided the base for what we now

know about team building. This was a new method that would help leaders and managers create

a more humanistic, people serving system and allow leaders and managers to see how their

behavior actually affected others.

Objectives of T-Group Learning:

The T-Group is intended to provide you the opportunity to:

Increase your understanding of group development and dynamics Gaining a better understanding of the underlying social processes at work within a group Increase your skill in facilitating group effectiveness Increase interpersonal skills Experiment with changes in your behavior Increase your awareness of your own feelings in the moment; and offer you the

opportunity to accept responsibility for your feelings

Increase your understanding of the impact of your behavior on others Increase your sensitivity to others' feelings Increase your ability to give and receive feedback Increase your ability to learn from your own and a group's experience Increase your ability to manage and utilize conflict



CHANGE THEORY:

Lewin interest in groups led to research focusing on factors that influence people to

change, and three stages needed to make change successful. Kurt Lewin proposed a three stage

theory of change commonly referred to as Unfreeze, Change, Freeze (or Refreeze).

Stage 1: Unfreezing

The Unfreezing stage is probably one of the more important stages to understand in the

world of change we live in today. This stage is about getting ready to change. It involves getting

to a point of understanding that change is necessary and getting ready to move away from our

current comfort zone. This first stage is about preparing ourselves, or others, before the change

(and ideally creating a situation in which we want the change).

Unfreezing and getting motivated for the change is all about weighing up the 'pro's' and

'con's' and deciding if the 'pro's' outnumber the 'con's' before you take any action. This is the

basis of what Kurt Lewin called the Force Field Analysis.

Force Field Analysis is a fancy way of saying that there are lots of different factors

(forces) for and against making change that we need to be aware of (analysis). If the factors for

change outweigh the factors against change we'll make the change. If not, then there's low

motivation to change - and if we feel pushed to change we're likely to get grumpy and dig in our

heels.

This first 'Unfreezing' stage involves moving ourselves, or a department, or an entire

business towards motivation for change. The Kurt Lewin Force Field Analysis is a useful way to

understand this process and there are plenty of ideas of how this can be done.

Stage 2: Change - or Transition

Kurt Lewin was aware that change is not an event, but rather a process. He called that

process a transition. Transition is the inner movement or journey we make in reaction to a

change. This second stage occurs as we make the changes that are needed. People are 'unfrozen'

and moving towards a new way of being.

This is not an easy time as people are learning about the changes and need to be given

time to understand and work with them. Support is really important here and can be in the form

of training, coaching, and expecting mistakes as part of the process.

Using role models and allowing people to develop their own solutions also help to make

the changes. It's also really useful to keep communicating a clear picture of the desired change

and the benefits to people so they don't lose sight of where they are heading.



Stage 3: Freezing (or Refreezing)

Kurt Lewin refers to this stage as freezing although a lot of people refer to it as

'refreezing'. As the name suggests this stage is about establishing stability once the changes have

been made. The changes are accepted and become the new norm. People form new relationships

and become comfortable with their routines. This can take time.

In todays world of change the next new change could happen in weeks or less. There is just no time to settle into comfortable routines. This rigidity of freezing does not fit with modern

thinking about change being a continuous, sometimes chaotic process in which great flexibility is

demanded.

Lewin's concern is about reinforcing the change and ensuring that the desired change is

accepted and maintained into the future. Without this people tend to go back to doing what they

are used to doing. This is probably what Kurt Lewin meant by freezing - supporting the desired

change to make sure it continues and is not lost.

ACTION RESEARCH

Kurt Lewin is also generally credited as the person who coined the term action research. The research needed for social practice can best be characterized as research for social

management or social engineering. It is a type of action-research, a comparative research on the

conditions and effects of various forms of social action, and research leading to social action.

KINDS OF CONFLICTS

Lewin is a prominent Gestalt psychologist for his contribution in discovering the kinds of mental

conflicts that result in frustration and are responsible for a number of problems in peoples lives. He proposed three kinds of conflicts that a person may be faced with:

i. The approach-approach conflict

The approach-approach conflict is a sort of conflict in which an individual is faced with the

challenge of liking between two things. He may only be able to approach one at time and the

choice creates the conflict. While choosing one of the options he foregoes the other one and the

approach-approach conflict comes up.

ii. Approach-avoidance conflict

The approach-avoidance conflict refers to when the individual is faced with the choice of

avoiding something or approaching something. This is the simplest of the three conflicts and the

most common one, where something attractive might have to be avoided because of an ethical

reason. For example making money through gambling is although attractive but avoiding it or

approaching it presents a conflict to the mind, since it is not ethically correct in our society to

make money through gambling.



iii. Avoidance-avoidance conflict

Avoidance-avoidance conflict refers to the conflict which arises because the individual faces the

challenge of which thing to avoid out of the options which all need to be avoided. For example,

if a sick person has to take bitter medicine, he would certainly want to avoid it. But on the other

hand, he is left with the other choice of accepting the sickness, which he would again want to

avoid. Therefore, the avoidance-avoidance conflict refers to the condition in which the mind has

a conflict because of two things which need to be avoided.

THEORY OF LEADERSHIP

The other important contribution that came out of Lewins work at University of Iowa is his theory of leadership; and the measurement of leadership phenomenon. He recognized three

different styles of leaders:

i. Authoritarian

As the name implies, an authoritarian leader is the one who intends to make use of his authority

to carry out the decision making process. He likes little sharing of his power and depends more

on his own instincts and thoughts.

ii. Democratic

A democratic leader is the one who believes in considering the thoughts and opinions of others

for decision making. He lets others share their thoughts and make decisions based upon

consensus.

iii. Laissez-faire

A laissez-faire leader is the one who is willing to delegate power and authority to others for

making decisions. He lets other decide on some matters and leads more from the back seat.

Although Lewin started as a Gestalt psychologist in Germany but after migrating to the USA he

became more involved in group dynamics and there he set up a center which provided some very

important contributions in the field of group dynamics. Group dynamics is the study of behavior

of individuals in groups and the behavior of groups as a whole.

Kurt Lewin Final

Documents

Transcript of Kurt Lewin Final