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Comment on Gergen's "Social Psychology as History"

University of Michigan Ann Arbor VA Hospital

A recent article by Gergen suggests that social psychology cannot reasonably aspire to the general time-independent laws that are characteristic of the physical sciences. Consideration of this thesis suggests that the underlying rationale may place undue reliance on the effects of psychological enlightenment, and on the individual's needs to demonstrate his behavioral freedom and uniqueness. A tentative generali zation suggests that the processes underlying social behavior may be relatively stable, but that they operate on an endless variety of social contents (conditions) to yield the diverse social behaviors and relation ships that we observe.

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