PSYCHOLOGY AND

ANTHROPOLOGYASHIQ MUHAMMED A

14IAME13

UNIVERSITY OF HYDERABAD

• PSYCHOLOGY HAS RELATIONSHIP WITH ANTHROPOLOGY OR ‘THE SCIENCE OF MAN’

• ANTHROPOLOGY STUDIES THE HISTORY OF HUMAN RACE, THE PHYSICAL EVOLUTION OF MANKIND, AND

THE DEVELOPMENT OF HUMAN CIVILIZATION.

•  IT IS CONCERNED WITH THE SOCIAL PROBLEMS OF PRIMITIVE MAN AND THEIR CULTURE, TRADITION,

CUSTOMS, AND MANNERS.

• PSYCHOLOGY STUDIES HOW THESE CULTURAL FACTORS INFLUENCE THE HUMAN BEHAVIOUR.

• THE CROSS-CULTURAL PSYCHOLOGISTS DRAW FROM THE KNOWLEDGE BASE OF THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS

TO UNDERSTAND THE UNIQUE FEATURES AND INFLUENCES OF A CULTURE OR REGARDING THE EVOLUTION OF PARTICULAR GROUP OF PEOPLE.

• THEY USE THE METHODS OF THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS. SO THE STUDY OF

ANTHROPOLOGY FACILITATES THE STUDY OF PSYCHOLOGY.

• SIMILARLY, THE KNOWLEDGE OF ABNORMAL AND SOCIAL PSYCHOLOGY HELPS THE ANTHROPOLOGISTS

IN EXPLAINING THE MAN, HIS RELIGION, AND CULTURE. MOREOVER, PSYCHOLOGICAL TECHNIQUES

ARE APPLIED FOR THE COMPARATIVE STUDY OF CULTURE.

• PSYCHOLOGY TENDS TO BE MORE ABOUT THE INDIVIDUAL AND THE INDIVIDUAL'S PERSONAL SOCIETY WHILE ANTHROPOLOGY TENDS TO BE MUCH MORE BROAD AND INCLUDE, FAMILIAL,

SOCIETAL AND GLOBAL STUDY INCLUDING LANGUAGE, CULTURE, SOCIAL ORGANIZATION AND

ARCHAEOLOGY.

PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY

• PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY IS AN INTERDISCIPLINARY SUBFIELD OF ANTHROPOLOGY

THAT STUDIES THE INTERACTION OF CULTURAL AND MENTAL PROCESSES

• SCHOLARS IN PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY EXAMINE SOCIAL AND CULTURAL INFLUENCES ON

INDIVIDUAL PSYCHOLOGY AND THE PSYCHOLOGICAL FOUNDATIONS OF SOCIAL BEHAVIOUR AND SHARED

CULTURE.

• PSYCHOLOGICAL ANTHROPOLOGY INVESTIGATES THE PSYCHOLOGICAL CONDITIONS THAT ENCOURAGE ENDURANCE AND CHANGE IN SOCIAL SYSTEMS,

WITH THE GOAL OF BETTER UNDERSTANDING THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN CULTURE AND THE

INDIVIDUAL.

• FOR EXAMPLE, IN CASE OF EATING DISORDERS. PSYCHOLOGISTS STUDYING EATING DISORDERS

MIGHT WORK TO UNDERSTAND WHAT COMBINATIONS OF SYMPTOMS TYPIFY DIFFERENT

EATING DISORDERS, THE RELATIONSHIP OF PERSONALITY VARIABLES TO EATING DISORDERS,

AND EFFECTIVE THERAPIES TO TREAT THESE ILLNESSES. ON THE OTHER HAND PSYCHOLOGICAL

ANTHROPOLOGISTS MIGHT ASK: ARE THERE CULTURAL FACTORS THAT CONTRIBUTE TO EATING

DISORDERS?

• FREUD’S PSYCHOANALYTIC PSYCHOLOGY BRIDGED THE TWO AND GAVE PSYCHOLOGY A HISTORICAL ELEMENT .

FREUD’S EXCURSIONS INTO ANTHROPOLOGY, STILL HEAVILY PSYCHOLOGICAL IN NATURE, WERE INCLUDED IN HIS BOOK ‘TOTEM AND TABOO ’(1946), AND HIS ESSAYS

IN ’CIVILIZATION AND ITS DISCONTENTS’ (1961).

• FREUD’S INSIGHTS INTO PSYCHO-CULTURAL ANALYSIS ALLOWED ANTHROPOLOGISTS TO

RECOGNIZE THAT MUCH OF WHAT IS DONE BY INDIVIDUALS IN THEIR EVERYDAY LIVES IS

INFLUENCED BY THE DESIRES OF THEIR UNCONSCIOUS MINDS.