László Garai (29 August 1935 — 25 May 2019) was a scholar of

psychology Psychology is the scientific study of mind and behavior. Its subject matter includes the behavior of humans and nonhumans, both consciousness, conscious and Unconscious mind, unconscious phenomena, and mental processes such as thoughts, feel ...

: studies

theoretical psychology Theoretical psychology is concerned with theoretical and philosophical aspects of psychology. It is an Interdisciplinarity, interdisciplinary field with a wide scope of study. It focuses on combining and incorporating existing and developing th ...

social psychology Social psychology is the methodical study of how thoughts, feelings, and behaviors are influenced by the actual, imagined, or implied presence of others. Although studying many of the same substantive topics as its counterpart in the field ...

and

economic psychology Behavioral economics is the study of the psychological (e.g. cognitive, behavioral, affective, social) factors involved in the decisions of individuals or institutions, and how these decisions deviate from those implied by traditional economi ...

Early life

Garai was born in

Budapest Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

. He graduated in philosophy and psychology from the Faculty of Arts of

Budapest University Budapest is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns of Hungary, most populous city of Hungary. It is the List of cities in the European Union by population within city limits, tenth-largest city in the European Union by popul ...

(1959). He obtained his Candidate degree from the

Hungarian Academy of Sciences The Hungarian Academy of Sciences ( , MTA) is Hungary’s foremost and most prestigious learned society. Its headquarters are located along the banks of the Danube in Budapest, between Széchenyi rakpart and Akadémia utca. The Academy's primar ...

with a thesis on a ''specifically human basic need'' (1968). He obtained his Doctor of Science degree from the Hungarian Academy of Science with a thesis on social identity and paradoxes of its psychic elaboration (1988).

Teaching

Moscow State Univ. (1969—theoretical psychology) Nice Univ. (from 1981—social psychology) California State Univ. (Bakersfield and San Bernardino, 1990—economic psychology) University of Szeged (formerly: Attila Jozsef Univ. – 1994-2005; from 1997 – prof. of economic psychology; 1997-2000 – head of Dept of Economic Psychology he founded)

Professional work

László Garai started his career as editor at the Encyclopaedia Department of the Hungarian academic publishing house

Akadémiai Kiadó Akadémiai Kiadó (, ) is the publishing house of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. It is one of Hungary's most important publishers of scientific books and journals. Its majority-owner is the Amsterdam-based publishing conglomerate Wolters Klu ...

. After the defence of his thesis above on specifically basic human need, he concluded this research as a fellow of the Institute for Philosophy of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences (1964–1971). According to his hypothesis, a ''paradoxical need for a needfree activity'' is specific for humans and substantial for their other needs. The structure of the hypothesized need is isomorphic with that of the ''work'' considered as a "specifically human basic activity" and defined as that of arranging in one and the same structure ''ends'' and ''means''. The hypothesis is based on the

activity theory Activity theory (AT; ) is an umbrella term for a line of eclectic social-sciences theories and research with its roots in the Soviet psychological activity theory pioneered by Sergei Rubinstein in the 1930s. It was later advocated for and popula ...

Alexei Leontiev Aleksei Nikolayevich Leontiev ( rus, Алексе́й Никола́евич Лео́нтьев, p=lʲɪˈonʲtʲjɪf; February 18, 1903 – January 21, 1979), was a Soviet Russian developmental psychologist and philosopher and a founder of activi ...

. He won a Keldysh Scholarship (post doctoral scholarship founded by Keldysh, president of the USSR Academy of Sciences, to support joint Soviet-Hungarian academic research projects) to the Department of scientific discoveries’ psychology in the Institute for History of Natural Sciences and Technology in the Soviet Academy of Sciences (Moscow, 1969-1970)). There Garai studied simultaneous scientific discoveries (such as

that ''That'' is an English language word used for several grammar, grammatical purposes. These include use as an adjective, conjunction (grammar), conjunction, pronoun, adverb and intensifier; it has distance from the speaker, as opposed to words li ...

of Bolyai and

Lobachevsky Nikolai Ivanovich Lobachevsky (; , ; – ) was a Russian mathematician and geometer, known primarily for his work on hyperbolic geometry, otherwise known as Lobachevskian geometry, and also for his fundamental study on Dirichlet integrals, ...

). In 1970, Garai founded in the Institute for Psychology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences a research unit that became the first in Hungary research team of

and a center of Vygotskian theoretical research. head of that department (1971–79) and research advisor (1998-2002). He worked at the Laboratoire Européen de Psychologie Sociale (Paris, 1971, 1973 and 1977) and directed psycho-economic research supported by the National Scientific Research Foundation (1990-2005). Garai was a member of the advisory board of the Hungarian Ministry of Finance. He was on the editorial board of the ''Journal of Russian and East European Psychology''.

Selected publications

* 1966 : "Problèmes des besoins spécifiquement humains." ''Récherches Internationales: Psychologie''.

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9. (51). 42-60. * 1966 : "Историко-материалистический подход к проблеме специфически-человеческих потребностей" ("The problem of the specifically human needs approached by historical materialism"). ''Вопросы психологии'' (''Voprosy Psikhology''). 3. 61-73. * 1968 : "Las necesidades específicamente humanas" in: A. Luria, A. Massucco Costa, R. Zazzo and B. Teplov: ''Problemática científica de la psicología actual''. Editorial Orbelus. Buenos Aires. 63-85) * 1969 : ''Személyiségdinamika és társadalmi lét'' (''Personality dynamics and social existence''). Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó cademic Press 231 p. -- "Review:" F. Erős: ''Personality Dynamics and Social Existence'', by L. Garai. ''European Journal of Social Psychology''. 4/3

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pp. 369–379 * 1969 : "La régulation communicative de la relation sociale et le devenir conscient des contenus de mémoire". In: J. Janousek (szerk.): ''Experimental social psychology: Papers and reports from the International Conference on Social Psychology'': Institute of Psychology, Czechoslovak Academy of Sciences. Prague, 1969. * 1971 : "Hypothesis on the Motivation of Scientific Creativity". ''XIII International Congress of the History of Science''. USSR, Moscow, August 18–24, 1971. "Nauka" Publishing House. M., 224-233. * 1971 : "Гипотеза о мотивации научного творчества" ("Hypothesis on the Motivation of Scientific Creativity"). 1''3-ый Международный конгресс по истории науки''. СССР, Москва, 18-24-го aвгустa 1971-го года (''XIII International Congress of the History of Science''. USSR, Moscow, August 18–24, 1971. Мoсквa: Изд. «Наука» ("Nauka" Publishing House. Moscow.) * 1971: "Interpretation of needs in foreign language psychology and the question of motives of a scientific activity"

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In: Iaroshevsky, M. (ed.): ''Problemy nauchnogo tvorchestva v sovremennoy psikhologii''. M.: Nauka, 224-233. * 1973 : "Strength and Weakness of Psychological Science". ''International Social Science Journal''. 25. 447-460. * 1973 : "La puissance et l'impuissance de la science psychologique". ''Revue Internationale des Sciences Sociales''. 25. 491-504. * 1978 : "Les Débuts de la catégorisation sociale et les manifestations verbales. Une étude longitudinale" (Co-author: M. Kocski; translation et adaptation: Paul Wald). ''Langage et Société''. 4. (). 3-30. * 1978 (with F. Eros) : "Marx's social theory and the concept of man in social psychology". ''Studia Psychologica''. 20: 5-10 * 1979 "La régulation communicative de la relation sociale et le devenir conscient des contenus de mémoire". In: Prangishvili et al. (eds): ''The Unconscious''. Vol. 3. Metsniereba. Tbilisi. 476-484. * 1979 (with F. Eros, K. Járó, M. Köcski, S. Veres) : "Towards a Social Psychology of Personality: Development and Current Perspectives of a School of Social Psychology in Hungary". ''Social Science Information''. 1: 137-166 * 1980
Szabadságszükséglet és esztétikum
' (''The need for freedom and the aesthetics'') Budapest: Akadémiai Kiadó cademic Press 160 p. * 1981 : "Les paradoxes de la catégorisation sociale". ''Recherches de Psychologie Sociale''. 3. 131-141. R. Pages: "Les paradoxes classificatoires de Garai: espaces de repérage et d'affectation". ''Recherches de Psychologie Sociale''. 1981. 143-151. * 1983 : "Marxian

Personality Psychology Personality psychology is a branch of psychology that examines personality and its variation among individuals. It aims to show how people are individually different due to psychological forces. Its areas of focus include: * Describing what per ...

". In:

Rom Harré Horace Romano "Rom" Harré (; 18 December 1927 – 17 October 2019) was a New Zealand-British philosopher and psychologist. Biography Harré was born in Āpiti, in northern Manawatu, near Palmerston North, New Zealand, but held British citize ...

, Roger Lamb, eds., ''The Encyclopedic Dictionary of Psychology''. Oxford: Basil Blackwell. 364-366 * 1984 : "Vers une théorie psychoéconomique de l'identité sociale". ''Recherches Sociologiques''. 313-335. * 1985 : "Thesis on the Brain, Meaning and Dualism". ''Studia Psychologica''. 27. 2. 157-168. * 1986 : "Social Identity:

Cognitive Dissonance In the field of psychology, cognitive dissonance is described as a mental phenomenon in which people unknowingly hold fundamentally conflicting cognitions. Being confronted by situations that challenge this dissonance may ultimately result in some ...

or Paradoxe?" ''New Ideas in Psychology''. 4:3. 311-322. * 1987
"Determining economic activity in a post-capitalist system"
''Journal of Economic Psychology''. 8: 77-90 * 1988 : "Activity theory and social relations theory" (co-author: Margit Kocski). In: Hildebrand-Nielsohn, M. and Rückriem, G. (eds): ''Proceedings of the 1stInternational Congress on Activity Theory''. Vol. 1. Berlin: Druck und Verlag System Druck. 119-129. * 1988 : "Two Principles in Vygotsky's Heritage: Activity and Community" o-author: Margit Kocski In: Erôs, F. and Kiss, Gy. (eds) ''Seventh European CHEIRON Conference Budapest, Hungary, 4–8 September 1988''. Hungarian Psychological Association and Institute of Psychology of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. Bp., 1988. 191-201) * 1988 :
Alkotáspszichológia felé: Esettanulmány József Attiláról
' (''Toward a creativity psychology: A case study on Attila Jozsef''). Budapest: Magyar Tudományos Akadémia (Hungarian Academy of Sciences) * 1988 : "The case of

Attila József Attila József (; 11 April 1905 – 3 December 1937) was one of the most famous Hungarian poets of the 20th century. Generally not recognized during his lifetime, József was hailed during the communist era of the 1950s as Hungary's great ...

: A reply to Gustav Jahoda" in ''New Ideas in Psychology'' 6:2. 213-217. * 1989 : "The principle of social relations and the principle of activity" (co-author: M. Kocski). ''Soviet Psychology''. 4. 50-69. * 1990 :
"...kis pénz - kis foci"? Egy gazdaságpszichológia megalapozása
'. (''Foundation of an economic psychology''). Budapest: Hungarian Economic Society. * 1990 : "On the mental status of activity and social relation: To the question of continuity between the theories of Vygotsky and Leontiev" [in Russian; co-author: M. Kocski). ''Psykhologichesky Zhurnal'', 11:5. (1990) 17-26. * 1991 (with M. Kocski) : "Positivist and hermeneutic principles in psychology: activity and social categorisation". ''Studies in Soviet Thought''. 42: 123-13
preview
* 1991 (with M. Kocski) : "Positivistische und hermeneutische Prinzipien in der Psychologie: Tätigkeit und gesellschaftliche Kategorisierung: Über die Frage von Kontinuität und Diskontinuität zwischen Vygotskij und Leont'ev". ''Europäische Zeitschrift für Semiotische Studien''. Vol. 3 [1-2]. 1-15. * 1993 : ''"...elvegyültem és kiváltam": Társadalomlélektani esszé az identitásról'' (A psychosocial essay on identity). Budapest: T-Twins. 231 p. * 1995 : ''Quo vadis, tovaris? A modernizáció útjáról és a rajta vándorló emberrôl''. Budapest: Scientia HumanaSee review by Hovanyecz László in ''

Népszabadság ''Népszabadság'' (; ) was a major Hungarian newspaper which was formerly the official press organ of the Hungarian Socialist Workers' Party during the Hungarian People's Republic. Before its closure, ''Népszabadság'' was considered the '' d ...

''. 16 January 1995: 11; review article by Popper Péter, "Változások nehéz szaga..." in ''Kritika'' 1995:8. 22-23 * 1996: Vygotskian implications: On the meaning and its brain. A keynote paper. In: Международная конференция „Культурно-исторический подход: Развитие гуманитарных наук и образования”. Proceedings. Российская Академия образования и Российский Государственный гуманитарный университет. Москва, 21-24-го октября 1996. No. 3. * 1998 : ''Emberi potenciál mint tôke: bevezetés a gazdaságpszichológiába''. Budapest: Aula Kiadó * 1998 (with P. Popper) : ''Sajtópszichológia''. Budapest: MÚOSz Bálint György Újságíró Akadémia * 2003 : ''Identitásgazdaságtan: gazdaságpszichológia másképpen''. Budapest: Tas * 2005 :
József Attila identitásai: alkotáspszichológiai esettanulmány
'. Budapest: Magyar Filmtörténeti Fotógyűjtemény Alapítvány * 2008

("Specifically human basic need"). ''Magyar Tudomány'' 2008/9 * 2012
Interview with Laszlo Garai
on the Activity Theory of Alexis Leontiev and his own Theory of Social Identity as referred to the meta-theory of Lev Vygotsky. ''Journal of Russian and East European Psychology'', vol. 50, no. 1, January–February 2012, pp. 50–64. * 2013
Theoretical_Psychology_Vygotskian_Writings
* 2017 : ''Reconsidering Identity Economics – Human Well-Being and Governance''. New York: Palgrave Macmillan

Notes

External links

Personal page at University of Szeged

Lev Vygotsky Archive

Survey of Garai's work on Attila Jozsef, 1987-2005
(in Hungarian)

Bibliography

* F. Eros, "''Personality Dynamics and Social Existence'' by L. Garai" eview article ''European Journal of Social Psychology'' vol. 3 (1974) pp. 369–379 * Miklós Gábor, "Interjú: Garai László" nterview ''

''. 26 January 1993: 19. * Pogonyi Lajos,
A gazdaságnak is van identitása: beszélgetés Garai László pszichológussal
nterview ''

''. 22 February 2003. {{DEFAULTSORT:Garai, Laszlo 1935 births 2019 deaths Hungarian psychologists Hungarian economists