The question of determination (causality) of mental development was originally raised in philosophy. There is a long history of dispute about which factors (driving forces) - biological (internal, natural, related to heredity) or social (external, cultural, environmental) - play the most important role in development.
Traditionally, there are two extreme points of view on the conditionality of development - nature (heredity) or environment (upbringing, training).
Natural...
Abstracting from the content of certain specific behavioral acts, the values and motives that underlie them, we can try to identify the most important factors that determine role behavior in business communication. The cognitive value of this approach is explained by the fact that
That the behavior of any individual is determined not only by a set of personal qualities, the characteristics of a particular situation, but also by the specifics of the social environment within which his business is implemented, which is not always taken into account...
In literary sources, the term “self-determination” is used in various meanings. Thus, they talk about cultural, national, political, religious, economic, etc. self-determination. At the same time, one cannot but agree that personal self-determination determines the development of social and professional self-determination.
Personal self-determination occurs at the level of values. Value is fundamentally timeless; giving a person an idea of the future, it does not correlate it with the time...
When raising the question of human nature, people at all times assumed the existence of something that constituted its essence. Erich Fromm notes in this regard that no one doubted the specific nature of man, but at the same time a variety of opinions were expressed about its content.
Hence the many definitions of man: he is either a “rational being” (animal rationale), then a “social animal” (zoon politikon), then a “skillful man” (homo faber), then a being capable of creating symbols, finally, for everyone...
Jack Engler is an American psychotherapist, supervisory psychologist at Harvard Medical School, Buddhist scholar, and Zen teacher.
In this article from the collection “Buddhism and Psychotherapy,” he writes about why meditation alone is often not enough; about ten unhealthy motivations of Western practitioners; and how practice can transform from a path of liberation to a tool for ego strengthening.
Translation by Anastasia Gosteva and Olga Turukhina
Having gained some practical experience, in particular in...
The study of the characteristics of group and individual behavior cannot be successful without taking into account the general cultural and historical background, called the macroenvironment of the individual.
The study of the macroenvironment of an individual involves the identification and analysis of objective factors that, to one degree or another, determine the behavior of the individual.
It is important to note that determination can be both direct and indirect. However, the effect of certain factors is ambiguous and depends both on the characteristics...
Using the language of synergetics itself, we can say that at least some of the sciences find themselves today at the point of bifurcation, at the point of transition to a new level of development, redefinition of subjects and methods of studying those sectors of “objective reality” that until now seemed such self-evident subjects of research.
When the view of the world order and the mechanisms of the world order changes, it is difficult to expect a calm (evolutionary) development of the sciences. Scientific revolutions are inevitable - at least for...
2.5. Poetae nascuntur, oratores fiunt
(People are born poets, they become speakers)
I graduated from the Military Medical Academy. I did not take a course in pedagogy. However, I was lucky in my life: I saw “how it’s done”, I was lucky enough to listen to the speeches of brilliant teachers. When I studied at the Military Medical Academy, its head was the greatest Soviet physiologist, academician L.A. Orbeli. I will probably never forget his lecture on the adaptive-trophic role of the sympathetic nervous system. For...
The structure of social systems and activities are very different in Eastern and Western countries. One can see how in the history of Europe there was a gradual destabilization of ethno-tribal social systems, which manifested itself in the active mixing of peoples, in migrations and social revolutions.
The external reason for this was the accumulating mismatch between traditional ethno-clan systems and the destructible biosphere environment. This happened especially actively in the regions of the Mediterranean, which attracted masses of people...
Determinism is a concept that proclaims the interconnection of everything with everything. This is a style and philosophy of thinking that asserts that no events are random, but are determined by a set of specific causal (causal) factors.
Determination is the cause of a certain phenomenon and the key category of this vision of the world. The opposite of determinism is indeterminism, which does not accept a causal relationship between phenomena.
Determinism in philosophy is an assertion of the validity and normality of all events, since due to previous events everything happens exactly as it should.
This position is close to science, which claims that if all the factors and causes preceding an event are known, then its occurrence can be accurately predicted; and vice versa, when something happens, it is inevitable. Everything is always determined and certain, and it is possible to establish the laws according to which this or that event develops using the methodology of science.
Now about examples of indeterminism. First, the principle of free will, which places responsibility for conscious behavior on the bearer of this behavior. Indeterminism in philosophy is rather a position of responsibility for one’s existence, which has found expression in religious movements. For example, Christianity preaches the principle of individual responsibility, and all subsequent phenomena (goods or punishments in the next world) stem from a person’s choices.
A vast area for the clash of concepts is human behavior and the idea of free will. Preachers of deterministic views, speaking about the predetermination of certain behavior: knowing everything about a person, the slightest step becomes predictable. Indeterminists do not accept such fatalistic views and proclaim the idea of personal freedom and responsibility.
Impact on psychology
As in any field of knowledge, determinism in psychology conditionally divided this science into two camps. For example, behaviorists based their concepts on absolute determinism - pandeterminism.
The principle of free will and choice formed the basis of existential philosophy and psychology. The current state of psychology is such that the recognition of scientifically based laws of mental life does not prevent psychologists - especially practicing specialists - from abandoning the idea of universal causality.
Mental determinism
It is also worth mentioning here mental determinism, a concept that became central to Freud’s psychoanalysis. The latter believed that there are no random, inconsistent events in mental life. This idea formed the basis of the methodology of classical psychoanalysis, proclaiming the significance of any, even the strangest and most insignificant events, for creating a complete picture of mental life.
Multideterminism
However, the idea of a single cause was later revised, which marked the beginning of the development of multiple determinism or multideterminism. The key idea of this concept is based on the fact that any mental phenomenon or form of behavior is determined by many factors, and moreover, serves more than one purpose.
Freud himself revised his ideas about the causality of mental life. Based on his rich psychoanalytic experience, he introduces the concept of overdetermination, which contains an indication of the interconnectedness of the causes that lead to a complex of symptoms, expressed in dreams (or rather, its elements), behavioral reactions, and any other component of mental reality. At the same time, it cannot be said that this idea was new for science as a whole.
Multideterminism is found in the geometry of flat bodies, namely in the intersection of two lines that form a point at the meeting point. Each of the lines is a cause, and the point is a phenomenon caused by these causes. And an infinite number of lines pass through one point. Thus, the intersection of two lines is a determinant of a point, the intersection of three or more lines is an overdeterminant.
In relation to psychoanalysis, the term multiple determination has taken root, since one phenomenon (point) often presupposes the presence of a minimum range of causes (two lines), but not always more necessary.
Based on this principle, all mental life and phenomena are determined by many reasons. Psychoanalysis here helps to determine how a certain thought or dream images appeared in the psyche. For example, they can either be a consequence of conscious experience or appear at the intersection of many unconscious structures, including repressed desires, various ego defense mechanisms, false experiences determined by transference, etc.
Multiple conditioning is possible because each phenomenon can carry different meanings, so the symptom can be a desire for attention and secondary gain (hysteria), an attempt to satisfy needs, or a craving for submission and punishment (masochism). Each of the meanings has its own path from the unconscious to consciousness and is valuable in itself, however, the multiplicity of meanings and ways to achieve the final goal create a single and unique picture of the movement-symptom.
Mutual determinism
The next important milestone in the development of the ideas of determinism in psychology was the theory of social cognitivism by Albert Bandura. He uses such a concept as reciprocal determinism, which is understood as the interaction of thinking and cognitive abilities, external events and human activity itself, the result of which is the observed human behavior. It can be argued that this position is a distant relative of the idea of gene-environment interaction. Another name for reciprocal determinism is reciprocal.
Soft determinism occupies a separate niche in psychology. A. Adler adhered to the middle position between rigid cause-and-effect relationships and complete indeterminism. According to the author's views - although he did not use this term - behavior is consistent, but can change within the limits of personal creativity.
Other types
Since the idea of conditionality and universal connection penetrated into various fields of knowledge, over time this philosophical concept acquired specific interpretations within the sciences. Let's start with two concepts of psychogenetics and differential psychology.
We are talking about genetic and external environmental determinism. In the first case, the direct responsibility of heredity (genes) for human behavior is declared, and knowledge of the genotype is the ability to accurately predict an individual’s behavior. Speaking about environmental determinism, we are talking about changing behavior only in response to changes in external conditions, regardless of heredity. A similar position is found in Pavlov's teaching.
Today, both of these positions have shown themselves to be untenable, and the source of differences between people lies in the genotype-environment interaction.
Cultural determinism
Another radical attempt to explain human behavior is cultural determinism. Based on this position, it is logical that our behavior and emotional life are determined by culture. It is also an explanation of why social institutions and structures are formed exactly as they are here and now.
The two basic constructs for this vision of the world are religion and race, which determine cultural background. Less radical positions recognize the influence of various geographical and climatic conditions on the formation of culture.
Social determinism
Naturally, from individual and cultural characteristics, the question arises about what laws and reasons society develops. This question has interested many philosophers, and here the idea of determinism played a role.
In particular, the concepts of social determinism arose. Through his prism, many outstanding minds tried to explain the vector of social development. Within the framework of social determinism, several main branches can be distinguished:
In statistics
Finally, the last form of determinism is associated with probability theory and statistics, namely statistical determinism. This concept is purely exploratory in nature, and its idea is to confirm that some form of behavior is achieved under the influence of specific causes with a probability higher than that of a random event. Hypotheses about connections are tested in statistical studies using correlation, dispersion and other methods of data calculation.
Determinism and its categories
- cause – a phenomenon leading to certain changes;
- a consequence is something new that is the result of the interaction of phenomena and is caused by a cause;
- necessity is a consequence that most likely manifests itself under specific conditions;
- an accident is a consequence that may or may not be discovered. It is a form of necessity;
- possibility - something that does not yet exist, but may exist;
- reality is a realized possibility.
Criticism
The problem of determinism and hard pandeterminism is the denial of free will and the ability to arbitrarily change one’s behavior. Man is governed by motives, say determinists, and this is partly true. However, it is not so much by relying on his motives as by relying on his reason that a person decides which motives are appropriate here and now for the development of his activities.
An example is sacrificial behavior during wars. A person, as a living being, has his own life as the highest value, however, in extreme situations, the ultimate goal (for example, the defense of the Motherland) is capable of displacing this fundamental motive from the pedestal and the person voluntarily goes to his death, showing true free will, which is determined by an abstract goal.
Determinism is one of the ways of scientific knowledge of the world, used in many sciences. It originates in the philosophical doctrine developed by Democritus, which was later developed by the great Aristotle. The principle of determinism in psychology assumes that the events occurring around us are not random, but are the result of any one cause or their combination.
Definition of the concept and content of the theory
The meaning of the word determinism translated from the Latin determinare is literally “to determine.” The theory of determinism says that nothing is random, everything is predetermined by external or internal logical connections, and therefore cannot be changed by human efforts. An extreme version of determinism is fatalism or blind faith in fate, evil fate, or the predetermination of fate by higher powers.
In psychology, the concept of determinism speaks of the need to establish a cause-and-effect relationship between a mental phenomenon and the driving factors that caused it. This theory is equally valid for both people and animals.
Also, a series of experiments were conducted by British scientists on a group of students. The fundamental law of psychology states that people’s psyche can change and develop, and behavioral characteristics are determined by the influence of biological, social and natural factors.
Based on the results of the study, it was concluded that the most “lucky” among the subjects were those experimental subjects who quickly and adequately responded to a changing situation; external circumstances seemed to develop favorably for them.
Evolution of the principle
The next stage in the evolution of determinism was determined by the development of biology and was expressed in the division of all matter into living and nonliving. A revolutionary hypothesis was put forward about the existence of an inextricable connection between soul and body, as well as biological and mental elements.
This is how probiological determinism arose, suggesting that the driving factor is not so much external circumstances as an orientation towards the ultimate goal. It was later used as the basis for a theological concept, but was subsequently rejected as untenable.
The theory of determinism acquired a new form in the era of the development of manufacturing production. The so-called mechanical determinism explained all ongoing processes from the point of view of causal-mechanical relationships. In its development it went through several stages:
- Descartes viewed the human body as a mechanism operating in accordance with the principles of rationality. Instead of the soul, the scientist assumed the existence of consciousness as an independent entity. This is how a dualistic, that is, dual picture arose, dividing a person into two halves.
- Spinoza, on the contrary, developed the doctrine of the unity of substance. He highlighted the phenomenon of affect, which could manifest itself in joy or sadness. Spinoza completely denied chance, thereby giving reason to consider his approach fatalistic.
- In the 18th century, French and English scientists considered a person as a bodily machine, organized according to the principle of a hierarchical system with mental properties distinguished by degree of complexity.
- In the last century, scientists began to attach great importance to the biological component. Determinism began to be used in the development of concepts that explain the correlation between occurring phenomena and the structural features of a living organism.
The biological principle of determinism was developed in the 19th century, after Bernard’s theories of physiology and Darwin’s natural selection became widely known. The principle established the relationship between the selection and preservation of life forms most successfully adapted to the external environment, as well as their ability to proactively activate mechanisms that ensure the stability of biological processes. In other words, determination began to be viewed not as a rigid sequence between cause and event, but as a probabilistic value.
This concerned acts of a social nature, such as marriage, divorce, etc. At the same time, the scientist considered a certain average person, from whom other individuals deviate in one direction or another.
Determinism allowed psychology to rise to a new qualitative level. The assumption of the constancy of the average number, that is, the set of characteristics of the average individual, made it possible to prove the existence of a reality comparable to the physical one. In other words, psychology, using mathematical tools, can:
- Predict the likelihood of a particular phenomenon, for example, social unrest, revolutions.
- Analyze the behavior of large groups of people using variation statistics methods.
- Predict the probability of birth of people with abilities.
Application of the principle in psychology
A new round in the development of psychology as a separate branch of knowledge is associated with the identification of mental determinants. It is believed that the action of determinants is objective, aimed at regulating the relationship between the organism and the environment in which it is placed.
Modern determinism in psychology has led to the emergence of movements that deny the dominant role of consciousness in the desire to achieve a goal. For example, psychoanalysis builds the dependence of consciousness on the characteristics of the transformation of an individual’s mental energy.
Proponents of field theory argue that there are unbalanced "stress systems" that are driving forces that influence the psyche. Freudians insist that psychic energy tends to be discharged in one way or another, that is, it cannot accumulate indefinitely and must be spent.
A distinctive feature of this approach is that a person can spend his spiritual strength not only on adaptation to the environment, but also on confrontation. For example, in the Middle Ages, some scientists were expelled or executed by the Inquisition for refusing to recognize their revolutionary discoveries as heresy.
A special place in psychology is occupied by the study of the influence of the principle of determinism on micro- and macro-society. In particular, the study of history, ethnography, and philology of various peoples allowed psychologists to put forward a hypothesis about the social essence of man.
Macro-society is capable of subordinating a person to higher-order determinants that differ from primitive physical and nervous stimuli. These determinants are generated not by nature, but by the interacting people themselves and determine the forms of their existence, the level of cultural development and the level of development of society as a whole.
The influence of determinism on the development of psychology is difficult to overestimate. Thanks to the emergence and development of this theory, psychology became a separate science and acquired mathematical tools. The study of society and the individual has made it possible to identify the laws of development of society and the individual, to develop concepts that explain the logical relationships between events and the reasons that caused them. Author: Ekaterina Volkova
Determinism is a necessary and natural dependence of mental phenomena on the factors that give rise to them. There are several forms of determinism: systemic, feedback, statistical, target and other sets of circumstances that precede the investigation in time.
The development of forms of determinism is associated with the development of scientific knowledge about the psyche. For a long time it was based on mechanical determinants, which were determined by the operation of technical devices. This view is somewhat limited, but, despite this fact, it was it that gave impetus to such psychological teachings as the study of affect, reflexes, associations, and so on.
Darwin's teachings
Biological determinism is the behavior of living systems. This form appeared in the middle of the 19th century. and established a view of the psyche as a necessary function for the survival of all living beings. Mechanical determinism represented the psyche as a side phenomenon. The biological form believed that this was a necessary component of life.
Psychological determinism
Subsequently, when this component acquired independent causal significance, determinism arose in psychology. The introduction of the ideas of natural scientific determinism into psychology led to its separation into a separate field of knowledge, studying processes that are subject to their own laws.
Thanks to this, a new form of determinism was developed, according to which people's activities are based on their lifestyle. This contributed to the emergence of methodological prerequisites for the implementation of human activity at the level of psychosocial organization.
All events happen for a reason. For example, the choice of toys for boys is quite likely associated with a high level of male hormone in their blood. However, this is not the only reason for this behavior. This definition is called psychological determinism. This implies that the psychological factor is due to some causes or previous circumstances. But in many situations it can be difficult to determine what caused a particular phenomenon. Although the fact that first one incident happens, and then another, does not mean at all that the second incident occurred as a result of the first. That is, “after this” is not synonymous with “as a result of this”.
All human actions and thoughts have a reason. Experimental psychologists are engaged in identifying the reasons for our actions and thinking. In most cases, this is a very difficult task, but, nevertheless, this only inspires them to search, just as Galileo was once captivated by the assumption of what causes equal speed when balls of different weights fall to the ground. are based on the postulate that determinism is the discovery of the reasons that lie behind every thought and action of a person.
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