Psychology’s Entrepreneurs and the Marketing of Industrial Psychology

Psychology Testing Technology vs. Scientific Management

After reading about psychology entrepreneurs and the marketing of industrial psychology, it is evident that psychology testing technology was largely embraced in society while scientific management was extensively ridiculed (Van de Water, 1997). This disparity in acceptability is attributable to both parties’ ages. Psychological testing is one of the oldest branches of psychology, and it has also been widely applied in the discipline.

Obstacles Faced by Psychology Testing Technology and Scientific Management

As a result, the obstacles involved with the creation, and indeed the foundation of the field’s technology, had been tried and certified in the past. On the other hand, the scientific management was relatively a new concept in the field and had little research and studies performed about it and this raised the criticism that are observed. This goes on to show that society is inclined to fight and criticize a new idea or concept, but as time goes by, the aggression in the fight reduces and at some point, the concept is accepted and adopted (Ludy, 2006).

The Zeitgeist and Society’s Perception of New Ideas

The zeitgeist of the time that resulted in these two different outcomes is that societies were much more skeptical of new ideas and concepts and treated them as intrusions that it does now. The modern society is much more liberal today and outward looking. It seeks to adopt new ideas from outside rapidly into its fold with little skepticism and suspicion than before. Hence, if both these concepts of psychology were to be introduced as brand new tomorrow, the outcome would be very different - they would both be accepted and experimented upon. The modern society is filled with curiosity about new technologies than that of the past.

References

Ludy, B. T. (2006). Hugo Munsterberg’s Attack on the Application of Scientific Psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology , 91 (2), 414-425.

Thomas, Van de Water. (1997). Psychology’s Entrepreneurs and the Marketing of Industrial Psychology. Journal of Applied Psychology , 82 (4), 486-499.