两次世界大战之间美国科学与教育语境中“人格”概念的兴起

The Rise of “Personality” in Scientific and Educational Contexts in Interwar U.S.

由于心理科学的发展与心理卫生运动的影响,人格发展在两次世界大战之间成为美国学术研究与学校改革中的新话题,本文探讨这一时期美国科学界与教育界人格概念的兴起与发展。在当时的教育界主要存在两种考查学生人格发展的倾向:一种试图量化人格概念,将其分解为可测量的外部行为特征,从而对学生的人格调适与行为问题进行标准化测验,这种方式脱胎于大众化教育时代学校应对个体差异的需求,也满足了学校对管理效率的追求,在更大范围的实践中得到应用;另一种方式将人格发展视为独特而动态的过程,试图通过个案史分析来阐释个体的整全人格,它在更小范围内为一些进步教育改革者和社会科学家所推崇,但对当时学校实践的影响甚小。

During the interwar years,the concept of personality became a new focus in scientific research and school reform in the United States.Psychological sciences and the mental hygiene movement gave rise to the prominence of personality.This paper examines how interwar scientists and educators understood personality,how they used personality as a new theoretical framework in the interpretation of individual differences as well as school problems,and how they regarded personality development as a new function of schooling.At least two major tendencies of understanding personality coexisted during this period:one sought to quantify personality and apply standardized tests to the measurement and control of children\s behavior;the other treated personality as a dynamic and unique process and used case histories to analyze the whole personality.The difference in personality evaluation by school reformers reflected the tension between social control and individual development.