Kurt Lewin

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Kurt Zadek Lewin (September 9,1890 – February 12,1947) was a German psychologist and one of the pioneers of social psychology. Often called the father of social psychology, he was one of the first researchers to study group dynamics and organizational development, and was a proponent of Gestalt psychology. He was associated with the Frankfurt school of thinking, originated by an influential group of largely Jewish Marxists who formed at the Institute for Social Research in Germany, but were forced to disband when Hitler came to power in 1933, moving to England and America. Lewin was influential in the founding of Sensitivity training through the Tavistock Clinic in London.

Lewin coined the notion of "genidentity", which has gained some importance in various theories of space-time and related fields. He also proposed the interactionist perspective as an alternative to the Nature versus nurture debate, in that he suggested that neither nature (inborn tendencies) nor nurture (how we are shaped by experiences in life) alone can account for individuals' behavior and personalities, but rather that both nature and nurture interact to shape each person. Prominent psychologist mentored by Kurt Lewin included Leon Festinger, known for his cognitive dissonance theory.

Lewin was born to a Jewish family in Mogilno, Poland (then in County of Mogilno, province of Posen, Germany). He joined the German Armed Forces when World War I began, during which he could (due to a war wound) complete his Ph.D. with Carl Stumpf as doctoral thesis supervisor. He emigrated to the United States in August 1933 and became a naturalized citizen in 1940. He died in Newtonville, Massachusetts of a heart attack.

Impact on organizational development

Bibliography

Marrow, Alfred J. The Practical Theorist: The Life and Work of Kurt Lewin (1969, 1984) ISBN 0934698228 (Marrow was one of Lewin's students)
White, Ralph K., and Ronald O. Lippitt, Autocracy and Democracy (1960, 1972) ISBN 0837157102 (the research described here was carried out when Lewin was White & Lippitt's thesis advisor; it is also briefly described in chapter 12 of Marrow's book.)

External links

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