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Rule of Left Psychology (self.196)

submitted 3 weeks ago* (last edited 3 weeks ago) by rambling_lunatic to c/[email protected]

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A lot of people on the left seem to hold The Authoritarian Personality by Adorno et al. and The Mass Psychology of Fascism by Reich in very high regard.

These are very old books. The Adorno book has been criticised for methodological reasons. The Reich book is very rooted in Freudian psychoanalysis. Yet they still seem to be widely read and discussed.

I am not a psychologist. Can psychologists please tell me if these works are still considered to be useful and supported by the available evidence? I feel awfully skeptical when someone backs their point up by citing them and I want to know whether I should unclench my arse.

Thank you :)

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[–] [email protected] 2 points 2 weeks ago* (last edited 2 weeks ago)

Freud started good things but his methods fell out of favor after Carl Rogers developed modern talk therapy. People do better when you don't tell them what to believe, but rather help them figure it out themselves based on that they want fit their own life. whodathunk.

Freuds contributions are mostly theoretical. even psychodynamic therapy, which is the closest modern theory to Freuds practice, follows people like Adler or Jung much more than Freud.

mostly we have his language, the idea of the subconscious (which can be dubious), defense mechanisms, etc. he started something incredible. we've just improved upon it. remember that the "talking cure" was not really a thing before Freud