Barry Schwartz

1 week ago | behavioralscientist.org | Barry Schwartz |Evan Nesterak

Years of research in psychology have taught us how important it is for well-being to live in a world in which we can predict and control the things that matter. As Martin Seligman, among others, has shown, lack of predictability produces anxiety, and lack of control produces helplessness. Being able to control events in our lives means we can predict them (if you do X, Y will happen; if you flip the switch, the light will go on).

Aug 22, 2024 | behavioralscientist.org | Barry Schwartz

In 1973, almost a half century ago, distinguished psychologist Kenneth Gergen published an extremely significant and highly controversial article in the prestigious Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. The paper was called “Social Psychology as History,” and in it, Gergen suggested that the aim of modeling psychological science after the natural sciences was deeply mistaken.