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EMPLOYMENT  PSYCHOLOGY  DEFINED
Few  words  in  the  English  language  have  been  more
frequently  used  and  more  often  misused  during  the  past
few  years  than  the  word  psychology.  The  term  psychology
is  on  almost  every  tongue  and  page.  It  is  impossible  to
talk  or  read  for  more  than  a  few  minutes  before  running  into
a  reference  to  the  “psychology  of  this”  or  the  “psychology ­
  of  that”.  No  problem  to-day  but  has  its  psychological
solution,  at  least  in  the  minds  of  psychology’s  ambitious
friends.  A  new  soprano  electrifies  her  audience  with  the
beautiful  art  of  her  song;  the  musical  critic  on  the  following ­
  morning  attributes  her  success  to  the  psychic  quality
of  her  voice.  The  speaker  of  the  evening  wishes  to  explain ­
  a  social  phenomenon  which  to  most  people,  including
himself,  is  an  unfathomable  mystery;  he  succeeds  very
nicely  with  an  allusion  to  the  psychology  of  the  mob.  An
enterprising  newspaper  wishes  to  solve  one  of  the  most
vexed  questions  of  the  day,  the  question  of  prohibition;
it  calls  upon  psychologists  to  discuss  what  it  is  pleased
to  term:  “Alcohol—a  soul  hunger”.  A  well-known  poetess ­
  writes  a  doggerel  on  “achievement”  and  calls  it
“The  Psychology  of  Action”.  The  nature  of  the  problem
matters  little.  Be  it  financial,  political,  military,  or  social,
when  all  other  explanations  have  failed,  the  psychological
solution  is  the  final  and  hopeful  appeal.
Professional  psychologists  should  feel  complimented
at  this  wholesale  advertising,  this  widespread  confidence
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