Skip to main content

Critical Mindfulness of Psychology’s Mindlessness

  • Chapter
  • First Online:
Critical Mindfulness
  • 1622 Accesses

Abstract

This chapter argues that mainstream psychology has mainly acted from the perspective of the observer and not the perspective of the actor and this has largely silenced the reality of the actor. Psychology’s infatuation with precision, objectivity, universality, refutability, and verifiability brought about a focus on the legitimacy of the perspective of the knower namely the expert who, at the center of discourse of power, could collect and analyze the data and then embark on generalizing the information for the sake of generative theories. The chapter calls for questioning the unquestionability of the perspective of the observer and indicates how the process of questioning may help us understand the often concealed-to-oblivion dimensions of the actors.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this chapter

Chapter
USD 29.95
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
eBook
USD 39.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Available as EPUB and PDF
  • Read on any device
  • Instant download
  • Own it forever
Softcover Book
USD 54.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Compact, lightweight edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info
Hardcover Book
USD 79.99
Price excludes VAT (USA)
  • Durable hardcover edition
  • Dispatched in 3 to 5 business days
  • Free shipping worldwide - see info

Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout

Purchases are for personal use only

Institutional subscriptions

References

  • Abu-Rabi, I. M. (1996). Intellectual origins of Islamic resurgence in the modern Arab world. Albany, NY: State University.

    Google Scholar 

  • Albee, G. W. (1981). Politics, power, prevention, and social change. In J. M. Joffee & G. W. Albee (Eds.), Prevention through political action and social change (pp. 5–25). Hanover, NH: University Press of New England.

    Google Scholar 

  • Andreski, S. (1972). Social sciences and sorcery. London, England: Deutsch.

    Google Scholar 

  • Arthur, A. Z. (1966). A decision-making approach to psychological assessment in the clinic. Journal of Consulting Psychology, 30, 433–438.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bakan, D. (1966). The duality of human existence. Boston: Beacon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakan, D. (1967). Idolatry in religion and science. In D. Bakan (Ed.), On method: Toward a reconstruction of psychological investigation (pp. 150–159). San Francisco: Jossey-Bass (Original work published 1961).

    Google Scholar 

  • Bakan, D. (1996). The crisis in psychology. Journal of Social Distress and the Homeless, 5(4), 335–342.

    Google Scholar 

  • Berg, B. L. (2009). Qualitative research methods for the social sciences. Boston, MA: Pearson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernal, J. D. (1939). The social function of science. London, England: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bhatia, S. (2002). Orientalism in Euro-American and Indian psychology: Historical representations of “natives” in colonial and postcolonial contexts. History of Psychology, 5, 376–398.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Brigham, C. C. (1923). A study of American intelligence. Princeton, NJ: Prince.

    Google Scholar 

  • Broca, P. (1864). On the phenomena of hybridity in the genus homo. London: Longman, Green, Longman, & Roberts, Paternoster Row.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bronowski, J. (1956). Science and human values. London, England: Penguin.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bryant, C. G. A. (1985). Positivism in social theory and research. London, England: Macmillan.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Chomsky, N. (Ed.). (1996). The humanities in the USA during the cold war. New York, NY: Simon & Schuster.

    Google Scholar 

  • Clark, K. B. (1965). Dark ghetto: Dilemmas of social power. New York, NY: Harper Torch Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Code, H. (1995). How do we know? Questions of method in feminist practice. In S. Burt & L. Code (Eds.), Changing methods: Feminists transforming practice (pp. 13–43). Peterborough, England: Broadview Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Danziger, K. (1990). Constructing the subject: Historical origins of psychological research. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Delby, R. G. A. (1996). Uncertain knowledge. London, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Derrida, J. (1976). Of grammatology. Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fatemi, S. M. (2008). Questioning the mastery of signs/celebrating the mystery of symbols. Educational Insights, 12(1), 1–17.

    Google Scholar 

  • Faure, G. O. (2000). Negotiations to set up joint ventures in China. International Negotiation, 5(1), 157–189.

    Google Scholar 

  • Feigl, H. (1969). The origin and spirit of logical positivism. In P. Achinstein & S. F. Baker (Eds.), The legacy of logical positivism (pp. 3–24). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M. (1992). Disruptive voices: The possibilities of feminist research. Ann Arbor: University of Michigan Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M. (1994). Dis-stance and other stances: Negotiations of power inside feminist research. In A. Gitlin (Ed.), Power and method: Political activism and educational research (pp. 13–35). New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fine, M. (2002). Carolyn Sherif award address: The presence of an absence. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 26, 9–24.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gadamer, H. G. (1988). Truth and method. New York, NY: Crossroad.

    Google Scholar 

  • Gergen, K. J. (1990). Towards a postmodern psychology. Humanistic Psychologist, 18(1), 23–34.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ginges, J., Atran, S., Sachdeva, A., & Medin, D. (2011). Psychology out of the laboratory: The challenge of violent extremism. American Psychologist, 66, 507–519.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Gould, S. J. (1996). The mismeasure of man. New York: Norton. (Revised and expanded).

    Google Scholar 

  • Grosse, P. (1997). Psychologische Menschenführung und die deutsche Kolonialpolitik, 1900–1940 (Psychological guidance and German colonial politics, 1900–1940). In P. Mecheril & T. Teo (Eds.), Psychologie und Rassismus (Psychology and racism) (pp. 19–41). Reinbek, Germany: Rowohlt.

    Google Scholar 

  • Grove, W. M., Zald, D. H., Lebow, B. S., Snitz, B. E., & Nelson, C. (2000). Clinical versus mechanical prediction: A meta-analysis. Psychological Assessment, 12, 19–30.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1989). Fourth generation evaluation. Newbury Park, CA: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Guba, E. G., & Lincoln, Y. S. (1994). Competing paradigms in qualitative research. In N. K. Denzin & Y. S. Lincoln (Eds.), Handbook of qualitative research (pp. 105–117). London, England: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1972). Knowledge and human interests (J. J. Shapiro, Trans.). Boston, MA: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1968).

    Google Scholar 

  • Habermas, J. (1975). Legitimation crisis. Boston, MA: Beacon Press. (Original work published 1973).

    Google Scholar 

  • Ha’iri Yazdi, M. (1992). The principles of epistemology in Islamic philosophy. New York: State University of New York Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, K. R., Hursch, C. J., & Todd, F. J. (1964). Analyzing the components of clinical influence. Psychological Review, 71, 438–456.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hare, R., & Secord, P. F. (1972). The explanation of social behavior. Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell.

    Google Scholar 

  • Herda, E. A. (1999). Research conversations and narrative. A critical hermeneutic orientation in participatory inquiry. Santa Barbara, CA: Praeger.

    Google Scholar 

  • Hessen, B. (1971). The social and economic roots of Newton’s Principia. New York, NY: Howard Fertig.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holton, G. (1993). Science and anti-science. London, England: Harvard University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Holzkamp, K. (1991). Experience of self and scientific objectivity. In C. W. Tolman & W. Maiers (Eds.), Critical psychology: Contributions to an historical science of the subject (pp. 65–80). New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Horkheimer, M. (1992). Traditional and critical theory. In D. Ingram & J. SimonIngram (Eds.), Critical theory: The essential readings (pp. 239–254). New York, NY: Paragon House. (Original work published 1937)

    Google Scholar 

  • Houtman, G. (2006). Double or quits. Anthropology Today, 22(6), 1–3.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jaspers, K. (1997). General psychopathology (J. Hoenig & M. W. Hamilton, Trans.). Baltimore, MD: Johns Hopkins University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Katz, C. (1992). All the world is staged: Intellectuals and the projects of ethnography. Environment and Planning D: Society and Space, 10, 495–510.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kierkegaard, S. (1992). Concluding unscientific postscript (H. V. Hong & E. H. Hong, Trans.). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. (Original work published 1846)

    Google Scholar 

  • Kremenyuk, V. A. (Ed.). (2002). International negotiation: Analysis, approaches, issues. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kuhn, T. (1970). The structure of scientific revolutions (2nd ed.). Chicago, IL: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Landesman, C. (1997). An introduction to epistemology. Oxford, England: Blackwell Science.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J. (1975). The illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 32, 311–328.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J. (2005). On becoming an artist: Reinventing yourself through mindful creativity. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J. (2009). Counterclockwise: Mindful health and the power of possibility. New York, NY: Ballantine Books.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J. (1989). Mindfulness. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J. (1997). The power of mindful learning. Reading, MA: Addison-Wesley.

    Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J., & Abelson, R. P. (1974). A patient by any other name: Clinician group difference in labeling bias. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 42, 4–9.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J., Bashner, R., & Chanowitz, B. (1985). Decreasing prejudice by increasing discrimination. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49, 113–120.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Langer, E. J., Blank, A., & Chanowitz, B. (1978). The mindlessness of ostensibly thoughtful action: The role of “placebic” information in interpersonal interaction. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 36(6), 635–642. doi:10.1037/00223514.36.6.635

  • Langer, E. J., Carson, S., & Shih, M. (in press). Sit still and pay attention? Journal of Adult Development.

    Google Scholar 

  • Lanyon, R. I. (1972). Technological approach to the improvement of decision making in mental health services. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 39, 43–48.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lather, P. (1991). Getting smart: Feminist research and pedagogy with/in the postmodern. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Latour, B. (2004). How to talk about the body? The normative dimension of science studies. Body and Society, 10, 205–229. doi:10.1177/1357034X04042943.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Leggo, C. (1999). Teaching to wonder, responding to poetry in the secondary classroom. Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada: Pacific Educational Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Levy, B., & Langer, E. (1994). Aging free from negative stereotypes: Successful memory in China and among the American deaf. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 66, 989–997.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Lotringer, S. (Ed.). (1996). Foucault live: Michael Foucault: Collected interviews, 1961–1984 (L. Hochroth & J. Johnson, Trans.). New York, NY: Semiotext(e).

    Google Scholar 

  • Lyotard, J.-F. (1984). The postmodern condition: A report on knowledge (G. Bennington & B. Massumi, Trans.). Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press. (Original work published 1979).

    Google Scholar 

  • Maher, M. (1999). Relationship-based change: A feminist qualitative research case. In M. Kopala & L. A. Suzuki (Eds.), Using qualitative methods in psychology (pp. 187–198). Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • McLellan, B. (1999). The prostitution of psychotherapy: A feminist critique. British Journal of Guidance and Counseling, 27, 325–337.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Merryfield, M. M. (2009). Moving the center of global education: From imperial world views that divide the world to double consciousness, contrapuntal pedagogy, hybridity, and cross-cultural competence. In J. L. Tucker (Eds.), Visions in global education. The globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools: Perspectives from Canada, Russia, and the United States (pp. 219–223). New York, NY: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minh-Ha, T. T. (1986–1987). Difference: A Special Third World Women Issue. In She, the Inappropriate/ D Other, T. T. Minh-Ha (Ed.), Discourse 8.

    Google Scholar 

  • Minh-Ha, T. T. (1989). Woman, Native, Other: Writing Postcolonialitv and Feminism. Bloomington: Indiana University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nader, L. (Ed.). (1996). Naked science: Anthropological inquiry into boundaries, power and knowledge. New York, NY: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nader, L. (2000). Naked science. Oxford, England: Pergamon Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelson, G., & Prilleltensky, I. (2005). Community psychology: In pursuit of liberation and wellbeing. New York, NY: Palgrave Macmillan.

    Google Scholar 

  • Osunde, E., Tlou, J., & Brown, N. (1996). Persisting and common stereotypes in U.S. students’ knowledge of Africa: A study of pervasive social studies teachers. Social Studies, 87, 119–124.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pinxten, R. (2009). Universalism and relativism of knowledge dissipate: The intercultural perspective. In N. Note (Ed.), Worldviews and cultures: Philosophical reflections from an intercultural perspective (pp. 191–200). Berlin, Germany: Springer Verlag.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Popper, K. (1959). The logic of scientific discovery. London, England: Hutchinson.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reinharz, S. (1992). Feminist methods in social science research. New York, NY: Oxford University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ricoeur, P. (1982). Hermeneutics and human sciences. New York, NY: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Rosenhan, D., & Seligman, M. E. P. (1995). Abnormal psychology. New York, NY: W. W. Norton.

    Google Scholar 

  • Said, E. W. (1978). Orientalism. New York, NY: Random House.

    Google Scholar 

  • Scruton, R. (2009). Confronting biology. In C. S. Titus (Ed.), Philosophical psychology: Psychology, emotion and freedom (pp. 68–107). Arlington, VA: Institute for the Psychological Sciences Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Slife, B. D., & Gnatt, E. E. (1999). Methodological pluralism: A framework for psychotherapy research. Journal of Clinical Psychology, 55, 1453–1465.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Spariosu, M. I. (2004). Global intelligence and human development: Toward an ecology of global learning. Cambridge: MIT Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sternberg, R. J. (1997). Successful intelligence. New York: Plume.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sue, S., & Zane, N. (1995). The role of culture and cultural techniques in psychotherapy: A critique and reformulation. In N. R. Goldberger & J. B. Veroff (Eds.), The culture and psychology reader (pp. 767–788). New York, NY: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sundararajan, L. (2005). Happiness donut: A Confucian critique of positive psychology. Journal of Theoretical and Philosophical Psychology, 25, 35–60.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Teo, T. (2005). The critique of psychology: From Kant to postcolonial theory. New York, NY: Springer.

    Google Scholar 

  • Titus, C. S. (Ed.). (2009). Philosophical psychology: Psychology, emotions, and freedom. Arlington, VA: Institute for the Psychological Sciences Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Tolman, C. W. (1994). Psychology, society, and subjectivity: An introduction to German Critical Psychology. London, England: Routledge.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Tucker, J. L. (2009). Visions in global education: The globalization of curriculum and pedagogy in teacher education and schools: Perspectives from Canada, Russia, and the United States. New York, NY: Peter Lang.

    Google Scholar 

  • Walsh-Bowers, R. W. (2005). Expanding the terrain of constructing the subject. In M. C. Chung (Ed.), Rediscovering the history of psychology: Essays inspired by the work of Kurt Danziger (pp. 97–118). Dordrecht, Netherlands: Kluwer Academic.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Whaley, D. L., & Surratt, S. L. (1967). Attitudes of science (3rd ed.). Kalamazoo, MI: Behaviordelia.

    Google Scholar 

  • Winston, A. (2001). Cause into function: Ernst Mach and the reconstruction of explanation in psychology. In C. D. Green, M. Shore & T. Teo (Eds.), The transformation of psychology: Influences of 19th-century philosophy, technology, and natural science (pp. 107–131). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. doi:10.1037/10416-006

  • Wittgenstein, L. (1968). Philosophical investigations (G. E. M. Anscombe, Trans.) (3rd ed.). Oxford, England: Basil Blackwell. (Original work published 1953)

    Google Scholar 

  • Ziman, J. M. (1991). Reliable knowledge: An exploration of the grounds for belief in science. Cambridge, England: Cambridge University Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

Authors

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Sayyed Mohsen Fatemi .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

Copyright information

© 2016 Springer International Publishing Switzerland

About this chapter

Cite this chapter

Fatemi, S.M. (2016). Critical Mindfulness of Psychology’s Mindlessness. In: Fatemi, S. (eds) Critical Mindfulness. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-30782-4_1

Download citation

Publish with us

Policies and ethics