Can we say that scholars, scientists, and other intellectuals are free—apart from ideological and motivational constraints—to choose their professional and personal Weltanschauungen? This essay claims we cannot—that intellectuals are also and powerfully constrained by their particular cognitive styles. The analysis of this cognitive constraint comes under the heading of psychology of knowledge. The paper illustrates such an analysis at the level of speculation. Drawing upon the Rorschach movement and creativity literatures, and literatures outside psychology, it hypothesizes differential susceptibility to competing Weltanschauungen within specific disciplines (including psychology and sociology). The main theme is that a random sample of intellectuals subjected from birth to identical ideological and motivational influences will not respond identically to specific intellectual stimuli—that within individual disciplines they will tend to divide into the two cultures that C. P. Snow describes between disciplines.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
AndersenI.MunroeR.Personality factors involved in student concentration on creative painting and commercial art. Rorschach Res. Exch., 1948, 12, 141–154.
2.
AndersonH. (Ed.) Creativity and its cultivation. New York: Harper, 1959.
3.
ArnheimR.Perceptual and aesthetic aspects of the movement response. J. Pers., 1951, 19, 265–281.
BarronF.Originality in relation to personality and intellect. J. Pers., 1957, 25, 730–742.
6.
BieriJ.BlackerE.External and internal stimulus factors in Rorschach performance. J. consult. Psychol., 1956, 20, 1–7.
7.
BoringE. G.The problem of originality in science. Amer. J. Psychol., 1927, 39, 70–90.
8.
BoringE. G.Human nature vs sensation: William James and the psychology of the present. Amer. J. Psychol., 1942, 55, 310–327.
9.
BoringE. G.Cognitive dissonance: Its use in science. Science, 1964, 145, 680–685.
10.
BrittainW. L.BeittelK. R.Analyses of levels of creative performances in the visual arts. J. Aesthet. Art Crit., 1960, 19, 83–90.
11.
BrunerJ. S.On knowing. Cambridge: Harvard, 1962.
12.
BrunerJ. S.The process of education. Cambridge: Harvard, 1963.
13.
BuelW. D.BachnerV. M.The assessment of creativity in a research setting. J. appl. Psychol., 1961, 45, 353–358.
14.
CampbellD. T.Blind variation and selective retention in creative thought as in other knowledge processes. Psychol. Rev., 1960, 67, 380–400.
15.
ChambersJ. A.Relating personality and biographical factors to scientific creativity. Psychol. Monogr., 1964, 78, No. 7 (Whole No. 584).
16.
ClarkK.The blot and the diagram. Encounter, 1963, 20, 28–36.
17.
CoanR.A factor analysis of Rorschach determinants. J. proj. Tech., 1956, 20, 280–287.
18.
ConsalviC.CanterA.Rorschach scores as functions of four factors. J. consult. Psychol., 1957, 21, 47–51.
19.
CrutchfieldR. S.Conformity and creative thinking. In GruberH. E.TerrellG.WertheimerM. (Eds.), Contemporary approaches to creative thinking. New York: Atherton, 1962. Pp. 120–140.
20.
DunnetteM. D.Vocational interest differences among engineers employed in different functions. J. appl. Psychol., 1957, 41, 273–278.
21.
DunnetteM. D.WernimontP.AbrahamsN.Further research on vocational interest differences among several types of engineers. Personnel & Guid. J., 1964, 42, 484–493.
22.
EastonD.Introduction: The current meaning of “behavioralism” in political science. In CharlesworthJ. C. (Ed.), The limits of behavioralism in political science. Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1962. Pp. 1–25.
23.
GetzelsJ. W.JacksonP. W.Creativity and intelligence. New York: Wiley, 1962.
24.
GolannS. E.The creativity motive. J. Pers., 1962, 30, 588–600.
25.
GordonW. J. J.Synectics. New York: Harper, 1961.
26.
GouldnerA. W.Organizational analysis. In MertonR. K.BroomL.CottrellL. S. (Eds.), Sociology today. New York: Basic Books, 1959. Pp. 400–428.
27.
GouldnerA. W.Anti-Minotaur: The myth of a value-free sociology. In SteinM.VidichA. (Eds.), Sociology on trial. Englewood Cliffs: Spectrum, 1963. Pp. 35–52.
28.
GuilfordJ. P.Traits of creativity. In AndersonH. H. (Ed.), Creativity and its cultivation. New York: Harper, 1959. Pp. 142–161.
29.
HallmanR. J.The necessary and sufficient conditions of creativity. J. human. Psychol., 1963, 3, 14–27.
30.
HarrisD.The development and validation of a test of creativity in engineering. J. appl. Psychol., 1960, 44, 254–257.
31.
HenleM.The birth and death of ideas. In GruberH. E.TerrellG.WertheimerM. (Eds.), Contemporary approaches to creative thinking. New York: Atherton, 1962. Pp. 31–62.
32.
HerschC.The cognitive functioning of the creative person: A developmental analysis. J. proj. Tech., 1962, 26, 193–200.
33.
HinkleR. C.Jr.HinkleG. J.The development of modern sociology. New York: Random House, 1962.
34.
HoustonJ. P.MednickS. A.Creativity and the need for novelty. J. abnorm. soc. Psychol., 1963, 66, 137–141.
35.
HymanR.On prior information and creativity. Psychol. Rep., 1961, 9, 151–161.
36.
JamesW.The varieties of religious experience. New York: Mentor, 1960.
37.
KirkR.Segments of political science not amenable to behavioristic treatment. In CharlesworthJ. C. (Ed.), The limits of behavioralism in political science. Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1962. Pp. 49–67.
38.
KreidtP. H.Vocational interests of psychologists. J. appl. Psychol., 1949, 33, 482–488.
39.
KrisE.Psychoanalytic explorations in art. New York: Schocken, 1964.
40.
KubieL. S.Neurotic distortion of the creative process. New York: Noonday, 1961.
41.
LevyL. H.Movement as a “rhetorical embellishment” of human percepts. J. consult. Psychol., 1955, 19, 469–471.
42.
LovejoyA. O.The reason, the understanding, and time. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins Univer. Press, 1961.
43.
LowenfeldV.Creative and mental growth. New York: Macmillan, 1961.
44.
MacKinnonD. W.On becoming an architect. Architect. Rec., 1959, 126(8), 64.4–64.6.
45.
MacKinnonD. W.Genus Architectus Creator varietas Americanus. J. Amer. Inst. Architect., 1960, 34(3), 31–35. (a)
MaddiS. R.BerneN.Novelty of productions and desire for novelty as active and passive forms of the need for variety. J. Pers., 1964, 32, 270–277.
50.
MaltzmanI.On the training of originality. Psychol. Rev., 1960, 67, 229–242.
51.
MannhemK.American sociology. In SteinM.VidichA. (Eds.), Sociology on trial. Englewood Cliffs: Spectrum, 1963. Pp. 3–11.
52.
MaslowA. H.Toward a psychology of being. Princeton: Insight, 1962.
53.
McKellarP.Imagination and thinking. New York: Basic Books, 1957.
54.
MeehlP. E.Clinical vs statistical prediction. Minneapolis: Univer. of Minnesota Press, 1956.
55.
MeerB.SteinM. I.Measures of intelligence and creativity. J. Psychol., 1955, 39, 117–126.
56.
MeyerhoffH. (Ed.) The philosophy of history in our time. New York: Anchor, 1959.
57.
MillJ. S.On Bentham and Coleridge. New York: Harper, 1962.
58.
MurrayH. A.Explorations in personality. New York: Science Edit., 1962.
59.
NewellA.ShawJ. C.SimonH. A.The processes of creative thinking. In GtuberH. E.TerrellG.WertheimerM. (Eds.), Contemporary approaches to creative thinking. New York: Atherton, 1962. Pp. 63–119.
60.
PiotrowskiZ. A.The M, FM, and m responses as indicators of changes in personality. Rorschach Res. Exch., 1937, 1, 148–156.
61.
PiotrowskiZ. A.The movement score. In Rickers-OvsiankinaM. A. (Ed.), Rorschach psychology. New York: Wiley, 1960. Pp. 130–153.
62.
RoeA.Painting and personality. Rorschach Res. Exch., 1946, 10, 86–100. (a)
63.
RoeA.Rorschach study of a group of scientists and technicians. J. consult. Psychol., 1946, 10, 317–327. (b)
64.
RoeA.Analysis of group Rorschachs of psychologists and anthropologists. J. proj. Tech., 1952, 16, 212–224.
65.
RoeA.A psychological study of eminent psychologists and anthropologists, and a comparison with biological and physical scientists. Psychol. Monogr., 1953, 67, No. 2 (Whole No. 352).
66.
RogersC.Two divergent trends. In MayR. (Ed.), Existential psychology. New York: Random House, 1961. Pp. 85–93.
67.
RorschachH.Psychodiagnostics. Berne: Huber, 1949.
68.
RossiterC.Conservatism in America. New York: Vintage, 1962.
69.
SchachtelE. G.Projection and its relation to character attitudes and creativity in the kinesthetic responses. Psychiat., 1950, 13, 69–100.
70.
SchumpeterJ. A.Economic doctrine and method. New York: Oxford Univer. Press, 1954.
71.
SibleyM. Q.The limitations of behavioralism. In CharlesworthJ. C. (Ed.), The limits of behavioralism in political science. Philadelphia: American Academy of Political and Social Science, 1962. Pp. 68–93.
72.
SimpsonG.Man in society. New York: Random House, 1963.
73.
SnowC. P.The two cultures and the scientific revolution. New York: Cambridge Univer. Press, 1962.
74.
SorokinP. A.General theory of creativity. In AndrewsM. F. (Ed.), Creativity and psychological health. Syracuse: Univer. Press, 1961. Pp. 1–12.
75.
SprecherT. B.Creativity and individual differences in criteria. Talk presented at the Fifth University of Utah Conference on the Identification of Creative Scientific Talent, June 6–10, 1962.
76.
StarkS.An essay on Romantic genius, Rorschach movement, and the definition of creativity. Percept. mot. Skills, 1965, 20, 409–418.
77.
SteinH.A note on “A comparative analysis of Rorschach forms with altered stimulus characteristics” by E. E. Baughman. J. proj. Tech., 1955, 19, 465–467.
78.
SternF. (Ed.) The varieties of history. New York: Meridian, 1960.
79.
TaylorC. W.BarronF. (Eds.) Scientific creativity. New York: Wiley, 1963.
80.
TomkinsS.Left and right: A basic dimension of ideology and personality. In WhiteR. W. (Ed.), The study of lives. New York: Atherton, 1963. Pp. 388–411.
81.
TomkinsS.The psychology of knowledge. Invited address to Division 8, American Psychological Association, September 7, 1964 in Los Angeles, Calif.
82.
TorranceE. P.Guiding creative talent. New York: Prentice-Hall, 1963.
83.
ViereckP.Conservatism. Princeton: Van Nostrand, 1956.
84.
WallachM. A.KoganN.A new look at the creativity-intelligence distinction. Paper presented at the American Psychological Association Convention, Los Angeles, 1964.
85.
WestcottM.RanzoniJ. H.Correlates of intuitive thinking. Psychol. Rep., 1963, 12, 595–613.
86.
WhiteM.The age of analysis. New York: Mentor, 1958.
87.
WilliamsH. L.LawrenceJ. F.Further investigations of Rorschach determinants subjected to factor analysis. J. consult. Psychol., 1953, 17, 261–264.
88.
WolffK. H.The sociology of knowledge and sociological theory. In GrossL. (Ed.), Symposium on sociological theory. New York: Harper & Row, 1959. Pp. 567–602.
