Robert W. White (1904–2001) was an American psychologist whose professional interests centered on the study of

personality Personality is the characteristic sets of behaviors, cognitions, and emotional patterns that are formed from biological and environmental factors, and which change over time. While there is no generally agreed-upon definition of personality, m ...

, both normal and abnormal. His book ''The Abnormal Personality'', published in 1948, became the standard textbook on

Abnormal Psychology Abnormal psychology is the branch of psychology that studies unusual patterns of behavior, emotion, and thought, which could possibly be understood as a mental disorder. Although many behaviors could be considered as abnormal, this branch of psyc ...

. A historian in perspective, White did not focus entirely on abnormal psychology, but investigated the coping methods of normal people. Diverging from Freud whose thinking dominated psychology at the time, he emphasized that individuals were also driven by needs to be competent and effective in the world. He began teaching at

Harvard University Harvard University is a private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Founded in 1636 as Harvard College and named for its first benefactor, the Puritan clergyman John Harvard, it is the oldest institution of high ...

in 1937 and retired from teaching in 1964. During

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

, White became acting director of Harvard's psychological clinic. He was head of Harvard's clinical psychology program and chairman of the social relations department. In 1969 he was awarded professor emeritus. He graduated from

in 1925.

Selected publications

*''The Abnormal Psychology'' (1948) *''Lives in Progress: A Study of the Natural Growth of Personality'' (1952) *"Motivation reconsidered: The concept of competence"
"Prediction of hypnotic susceptibility from a knowledge of subjects' attitudes"
''Journal of Psychology'' (1936) *"Introductions to historical psychology"

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:White, Robert W. 20th-century American psychologists 1904 births 2001 deaths Harvard University faculty Personality psychologists Harvard College alumni Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences alumni