National psychology

National psychology refers to the (real or alleged) distinctive psychological make-up of particular nations, ethnic groups or peoples, and to the comparative study of those characteristics in social psychology, sociology, political science and anthropology.

The assumption of national psychology is that different ethnic groups, or the people living in a national territory, are characterized by a distinctive "mix" of human attitudes, values, emotions, motivation and abilities which is culturally reinforced by language, the family, schooling, the state and the media.

According to the German pioneer psychologist Wilhelm Wundt, the attempt to theorize scientifically about national psychology dates from the mid-19th century [2]. In post-1871 Germany, but especially during the Third Reich, some German professors of linguistics and literature tried to influence English studies with a politically motivated "cultural science", which Ernst Leisi called the "Nationalpsychologische Methode." This paradigm presented a new view of contemporary and past English, on the basis of analogies drawn between specific linguistic traits, practices and constituents of the English (and German) national character. But in reality it amounted to little more than a repetition of preconceived notions of otherness. Around 1900, national psychology had become an accepted topic of study in the social sciences, at universities in Western Europe and North America.

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