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| - Research is hard. While this is generally true of all science, psychology in particular is vulnerable, as it's a very, very new field still under heavy development. Only recently has psychology emerged as a mature science with robust theories, and supposed "facts" of the past are still in popular culture despite being debunked. Writers fail to recognize this, and the supposed professionals in their stories will quote woefully out-of-date representations of Sigmund Freud's theory of the unconscious, Carl Jung's collective unconscious archetypes, or Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This is the equivalent of a modern physicist discussing luminiferous aether, or a biologist believing Lamarck Was Right.
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| abstract
| - Research is hard. While this is generally true of all science, psychology in particular is vulnerable, as it's a very, very new field still under heavy development. Only recently has psychology emerged as a mature science with robust theories, and supposed "facts" of the past are still in popular culture despite being debunked. Writers fail to recognize this, and the supposed professionals in their stories will quote woefully out-of-date representations of Sigmund Freud's theory of the unconscious, Carl Jung's collective unconscious archetypes, or Abraham Maslow's hierarchy of needs. This is the equivalent of a modern physicist discussing luminiferous aether, or a biologist believing Lamarck Was Right. Further complicating things is the Rule of Cool: if there are multiple versions of a disorder, a writer will tend toward the most interesting, dramatic, or visible of them. Thus, in fiction, all dyslexics can't read anything past a fourth grade level, all people with Tourette's compulsively swear, and all people with schizophrenia think demons are out to cover up the truth of global warming. Many people, overexposed to the fictional versions, are surprised to discover that not only are there milder versions of all these disorders, but the milder versions account for anywhere from 90% to 99.9% of the people diagnosed with them. Naturally, there is some Truth in Television. Freud is still relevant, he is simply not the state of the art, but rather, one of the beginnings (similar to the way Newton's Laws are still used alongside Einstein's). While many or even most of the theories of Freud, Jung, and other early psychoanalysts have been refuted scientifically, their work shaped and continues to shape psychology and the popular mind. Concepts like projection, defense mechanisms, and the like are still used in therapy... simply not in their antique form. For instance, Hollywood is woefully unaware of the refinements suggested by Anna Freud (Sigmund's daughter) and his other students. One big area where Hollywood really missed the boat is that from the 30s well into the 60s, radical behaviorism dominated psychological research. Researchers attempted to stamp out "mentalism" (that is, the study of consciousness itself) in favor of quantifying behavior. Psychology was ghetto-ized, and in the US, survived in the shadow of psychiatry (a medical field, ironically enough). This may partially explain the powerful, anachronistic hold Freud has over Hollywood. The Freud of Hollywood is psychoanalysis of the 60s, flanderized and spun for drama.
* All Psychology Is Freudian
* Armchair Psychology
* Attention Deficit Ooh Shiny
* Bedlam House
* Brainwashed and Crazy
* Comic Role Play
* Critical Psychoanalysis Failure
* Easy Amnesia
* Epiphany Therapy
* Five Stages of Grief
* Freudian Couch
* Freudian Excuse
* Freudian Slip
* Freud Was Right
* Mommy Issues
* Funny Schizophrenia
* Inkblot Test
* Insane Equals Violent
* L Is for Dyslexia
* Laser-Guided Amnesia
* 90% of Your Brain
* Psycho Psychologist
* The Rainman
* The Schizophrenia Conspiracy
* Shell-Shocked Veteran
* Single-Issue Psychology
* Split Personality
* Stockholm Syndrome
* Lima Syndrome
* Super OCD
* There Are No Therapists
* Tourettes Shitcock Syndrome
* Word Association Test
* Why Did It Have to Be Snakes? See also Emotion Tropes, Intelligence Tropes, Madness Tropes, and Parental Issues. Examples of Hollywood Psych include:
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