The Professional School of Psychology is home to the Institute for Public Policy and Psychology. This institute has been established to further investigations in the challenging fields of cultural and political psychology. Focus is being placed on such topics as the assumptive worlds of psychopathology, the bias of research on social biases, and the creation of societal myths regarding noted political figures. This institute is also home to the Don Quixote Project which has to do with the narcissism and trauma to be found in contemporary organizations and other social systems. Finally, members of the Institute have studied and written extensively about the complex dynamics of mid-21st Century expertise and beliefs–leading to publication of The Crises of Expertise and Belief: Leadership in an Environment of Suspicion, Distrust and Societal Volatility.
The Psychopathology Project
At the present time, the following essays have been published regarding the assumptive worlds of psychopathology:
Many years ago (during the late Middle Ages), the Spanish novelist, Miguel de Cervantes, was living in a world of transition. The era of romance and courtly love was coming to an end, with a new world of rationality and modernity on the horizon. Cervantes offered a profoundly moving portrait of this transition in Don Quixote de la Mancha. Don Quixote was an elderly man and minor aristocrat who was caught up in a world of illusion and fantasy-being unable to face an emerging world that seemed to be devoid of romance.
In many ways, we are now facing in the first decades of the 21st Century a world that is similarly in transition. As members of families, organizations and societies that are being threatened at a fundamental level, we are forced like Don Quixote to choose being reality and illusion. The choices we make between these two paths impacts not only on our own lives and careers, but also the lives and careers of the men and women with whom we work and interact. This project concerns the choices with which we are faced and the consequences inherent in these choices.
The Mid-21st Century Expertise and Beliefs Project
Leaders and experts are in crisis–as are coaches, consultants, mentors and educators who work to support leaders at all levels. They confront an abundance of challenges that are particularly difficult for leaders who know it all, have narcissistic tendencies or are rigid and resistant to all new ideas. These leaders are most in need of assistance but are often labeled “unteachable” or “un-coachable.” Multiplying this problem are segments of society that are not only utterly fooled and manipulated by these leaders and experts, but also believe their every deceitful utterance. A seemingly counter intuitive psychological driver makes it difficult and nearly impossible to convince these segments of society to believe expert scientists and credible leaders. Many of these people simply don’t want to believe. Their personality types and in-group connectedness drive them to believe “crazy stuff”.
There is a strong tendency for people to believe bazaar conspiracy theories, lies and disinformation propagated by manipulative leaders and pseudo experts. This tendency is magnified by the pervasive presence in our mid-21st Century world of volatility, uncertainty, complexity, ambiguity, turbulence and contradiction (which we label VUCA-Plus in this book). It is evident that the roles of leaders, as well as the roles of advisors, experts and lay-people are poorly defined and confused in a VUCA-Plus world when it comes to the creation, verification and use of information. This poor definition is compounded in polarized societies (such we find in the United States). Distrust, rejection and animosity are rampant. Many people simply don’t trust either the competence or intentions of those claiming to be experts regarding many matters such as health, safety, politics, law and social justice. The way people view and interact with leaders and experts is complex and diverse. Some of us are skeptical and distrustful, particularly of political leaders and scientific experts. Others believe every word uttered despite indisputable facts to the contrary. This book explores the psychology behind these differences.
