Völkerpsychologie
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Völkerpsychologie is a method of psychology that was founded in the nineteenth century by the famous psychologist,[1] Wilhelm Wundt. However, the term was first coined by post-Hegelian social philosophers Heymann Steinthal and Moritz Lazarus.[2]
Wundt is widely known for his work with experimental psychology. Up until this time in history, psychology was almost exclusively using psychological experiments as a source of gathering information. Wundt believed that the very structure of psychological experiments leaves them severely lacking in their ability to investigate internal mental processes, such as consciousness and language. In an effort to build a method of psychological study which would allow for investigation of these processes, Wundt argued that science needed a deeper means of accessing the inner minds of its subjects. He cultivated a new branch of psychology known as Völkerpsychologie, which was distinct in its use of historical and comparative methods, rather than simply laboratory experimentation.
As Wundt believed that experiments can only access the outcomes of processes rather than the processes themselves, he argued that deeply ingrained mental processes should instead be accessed via other methods which can study the process itself. Wundt argued that Völkerpsychologie was particularly useful for the study of mental processes such as language - something which Wundt found particularly tricky. He believed that language was distinct among the collective human processes and, since it seemed to be crucial to the entire upper mental functions, those functions were concluded as exempt to experimental research.
Völkerpsychologie comes from the German culture. To this day, there is no clear English word that is similar to it. The derivative Volk, a German word, refers to “people, nation, tribe, or race”. Wundt simply wanted to create a new way to complete research without the use of experiments. This led him to discovering a new type of psychology which dealt with the communal and cultural products of human nature, which includes religions, languages, and mythologies.[3]