Lewin, << luh VEEN >> , Kurt (1890-1947), a German-born American psychologist, is recognized as the founder of social psychology. In this field, Lewin applied concepts of psychology to social issues of interest to both the public and the military and emphasized the importance of controlled laboratory studies of behavior. He made contributions to the study of group dynamics (the forces that work on any group of people and determine what it does). Lewin also contributed to the development of sensitivity training, a learning process designed to develop self-awareness and sensitivity to other people.
Kurt Zadek Lewin was born on Sept. 9, 1890, in Mogilno, Prussia (near what is now Inowroclaw, Poland). He studied psychology and received his Ph.D. from the University of Berlin in 1916. As a Jew, Lewin suffered persecution from the Nazis in Germany and immigrated to the United States in 1932. He became a U.S. citizen in 1940. Lewin taught at Stanford and Cornell universities and at the University of Iowa. He co-founded the Research Center for Group Dynamics at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 1944 and became its director in 1945. Lewin’s major books include A Dynamic Theory of Personality (1935), Principles of Topological Psychology (1936), and Frontiers in Group Dynamics (1947). He died in Newtonville, Massachusetts, on Feb. 12, 1947.
See also Group dynamics ; Sensitivity training .
