Life and scientific psychology: similarities and differences

The collective wisdom of generations is reflected in proverbs and sayings, in the signs and interpretations of dreams. And of course, the focus is on the person: his character, personality, destiny. However, no one will call this wisdom knowledge of the soul or consciousness. Why? What is the difference between everyday and scientific psychology? After all, both consider a person, his actions, thoughts and feelings. Nevertheless, there are fundamental differences.

Both worldly and scientific psychology claim some generalizations concerning knowledge of the human person. But the first does this at the level of prejudices and stereotypes, while the latter is aimed at in-depth study, comprehension of mechanisms. Life and scientific psychology interpret the experience differently. The first relies on specific, special cases. The second - on experimental data, wide samples, achievements of other scientists. Each of us, observing ourselves, close, familiar, in his own way interprets the result of observations. Why does it depend? First of all, from the person of the observer. Therefore, the conclusions that we make are not only situational, but also subjective. For example, imagine that you see a person dressed in all black. What do you say or think about it? One will decide that this is mourning, the other is that it is the desire to stand out from the crowd. The third will say that the person is probably depressed. The fourth is that he wants to remain unnoticed. The fifth person can decide that the person by profession is a chimney sweep or wears a uniform. At the same time, we rely only on our internal experience, our idea of the world, drawn from books and films, and even just on the mood. Life and scientific psychology just differ in the level of impartiality and distance from the observer to the object of study.

In the first case, our knowledge is not systematized. They are sketchy, the environment of upbringing, the level of education, our character store imprint on them. In the second - all manifestations of the human personality are studied experimentally, theories are proved scientifically. Life psychology is practical, it does not need a deep understanding of the motives and causes of the activity or properties of the character. It is aimed at the successful functioning of a person among them, to solve specific problems. That is why we so easily give advice on how to act in this or that case, although in fact we do not have a deep idea of the phenomenon. For example, everyday and scientific psychology interpret differently the problems of dependence and help to alcoholics or drug addicts. Without a comprehensive study (with the help of tests, interviews, interviews) of the patient's personality, no psychologist will dare to give concrete advice to his relatives about how to behave. Scientists try to comprehend, penetrate into the deep mechanisms of the emergence and development of dependence in people of different generations, different temperaments, the initial state of health. Everyday "wisdom" gives advice "to punish for sin", "to leave immediately" or "to forgive everything, otherwise it will be worse". Recommendations and instructions are given depending on the personal experience of the referee. This is another fundamental difference between everyday and scientific psychology. The first evaluates and judges, the second draws conclusions and generalizes. Life psychology is primarily aimed at situational help, advice, and scientific - on comprehending the secrets of the human consciousness and soul.