Applications of psychological knowledge: Five theses and an example

Abstract

ObjectiveThe objective of the paper is to analyze problems with applications in psychology, reflect on their origins, and seek ways of overcoming them. The presented theses are illustrated with an application example: the use of the Circumplex of Personality Metatraits for the comprehensive diagnosis of the personality and the emotional and social functioning of children and adolescents. This application project involved the development of an extensive theoretical model as well as tools for testing a total of 36 variables at different stages of human development in individuals ranging from one to 25 years old. Post-diagnostic materials for profiled interventions were also designed. ThesisThesis 1: A negative approach to applications is driven by the topos of the scholar as an observer and truth-seeker (Pythagorean legacy).Thesis 2: A positive approach to applications has been inherent in science from the very beginning (Platonic and Aristotelian legacy).Thesis 3: Today’s problem with the application horizon of science is attributable to advanced scientific specialization (Pythagorean justification).Thesis 4: An application-oriented criterion for selecting research problems poses the risk of obtaining fragmentary answers (the scholar’s mind as Milton’s/Selfridge’s pandemonium).Thesis 5: What is needed to maximize the scholars’ potential for applications is a new function: that of an agent-manager (just as in the case of artists). ConclusionsScience and applications synchronized in the Aristotelian rather than Pythagorean spirit may bring about substantial scientific as well as practical benefits. The possibility of such a synchronization is indicated by cases of successful applications; however, systemic change is needed for them to become the rule rather than the exception.