PERSONALITY PROCESSES AND INDIVIDUAL

DIFFERENCES

Hypocrisy, Self-Deception, and Perplexity: The Subject's

Enhancement as Methodological Criterion
George C. Rosenwald
University of Michigan

If ordinary people are to benefit from the discoveries of social science, they must
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

be able to relate and assimilate these discoveries 1o their own interests. Such assim-
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ilation is commonly obstructed by narrowed, foreshortened, or distorted perspectives

on the self and on the social world. The resulting perplexities are not private or
erratic, but socialized, notwithstanding their subjective refractions. Helping subjects
to transcend such perplexities may accordingly be viewed as a methodological cri-
terion as central to most psychologists' values as the call for reliable knowledge.
The hypocrisy/self-deception phenomenon, studied by investigators of forced com-
pliance, illustrates the formal properties of perplexity. The experimental method is
compared and contrasted with a phenomenological, an impulse-defense, and a life-
historical approach. The last of these seems most likely to enhance subjects' inter-
pretation of themselves within their particular society. This approach uses a different
method to produce a different knowledge, and this raises unfamiliar issues of au-
thentication.

An important lesson taught by the "rele- sponsored home energy conservation advice,
vant" psychology of the 1970s is that one can- the authors recommend several cognitive and
not be sure of bringing about the desired affective manipulation techniques which cap-
transformation of society merely by turning italize on consumers' known irrational ten-
one's attention to previously neglected topics dencies (e.g., presenting data to consumers
like poverty or violence. For no matter how which are nonrepresentative, but vivid; playing
illuminating we may deem the gathered infor- on consumers' tendencies to imitate admired
mation, it may still fail to interest its intended models; foot-in-the-door procedures; and the
consumers or beneficiaries. People may not act like). Such approaches will be favored by pol-
on what they know—at least not in ways which icymakers whenever they are utterly convinced
the social scientist or policymaker views with that they know what is best for the population
satisfaction. Inducing an audience to clarify and when what is considered best consists of
and act on its own best interests is an educa- distinct specifiable actions like installing storm
tional task which falls outside most social sci- windows or lowering thermostats. However,
entists' conventional role-definition. when social progress is thought to require the
It is a task that can be circumvented, how- promotion of new interpretations of reality,
ever. For instance, one may apply techniques including a relatively clear articulation of one's
of persuasion and attitude change, perfected own interests and possibilities within this real-
in the laboratory, to an apathetic citizenry, A ity, then techniques offered by experimental
recent article by Yates and Aronson (1983) il- social psychology may appear less promising.
lustrates this approach rather nicely. To induce Under these circumstances our wish for the
people to follow through on government- consumers is not that they would finally agree
to do this or that, but rather that the scales
1 gratefully acknowledge the helpful comments of Bar- might fall from their eyes.
nahy Barratt, Klaus Horn, and Melvin Manis on a draft Precisely this wish is implied in Gergen's by
of this article. now well-known article on social psychology
Requests for reprints should be sent to George C. Ro-
senwald, Department of Psychology, 580 Union Drive, Ann as history (1973) and in his more recent book
Arbor, Michigan 48109. (1982). As an alternative to the scientific pro-
Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. 1985. Vol. 49, No. 3.682-703
Copyright 1985 by the American Psjcholbgical Association, Inc 0022-35I4/S5/$00 75

682
 HYPOCRISY 683

gram generally favored by social psychologists, instance, a population may fail to comply with
which he regards as beset by insuperable dif- proposed public health measures not merely
ficulties, Gergen urges us to abandon the search because the proposal fails to satisfy its needs,
for timeless, universal truths, surrender the but because the inhabitants are not quite clear
prejudice against applied research and, linking in their minds where their own interests lie.
arms with the historian, the economist, and Accordingly, susceptibility to socially signifi-
the political scientist, devote ourselves un- cant knowledge, as envisioned by Gergen
abashedly to the study of contemporary social among others, depends on subjects' becoming
problems. Instead of attempting to predict and conscious and responding in terms of then- own
control, he asks us to work toward a kind of concrete interests in a particular historical sit-
knowledge that sensitizes the public to the uation. Without this, the information is apt to
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range and intensity of particular influences on fall on (at least partly) deaf ears.
behavior—subculturally, cross-culturally, and Yet a clear comprehension of one's world
historically (Gergen, 1973). and of one's own possibilities in it is hard to
The term sensitization implies that a mere come by. It is a commonplace that contem-
chronicling and mapping of social influences porary human subjects are alienated from so-
is not enough to bring about the desired cial processes, more the objects than the sub-
"transformation of social interactions" (Ger- jects of their society and its organized relations.
gen, 1976, p. 379). This is understandable. The They face the multiple conundrums of their
most refractory social problems stem from social existence, its demands and opportuni-
conflict, not ignorance. Further, knowledge, to ties, its threats and shelters, with a minimum
the extent that it facilitates change, must not of secure knowledge. In dealing with friends,
only be transmitted to, but appreciated by, the family, job, their desires, fears, and frustra-
addressees. They must recognize its relevance tions, they commonly feel perplexed—left to
to their interests. Only then can we speak of their vague intuitions and dependent on ex-
sensitization. This means that so long as the perts. Converse has shown that, except for a
question of interest is ignored, the production small elite at the top of the social and educa-
of social knowledge cannot be guided by its tional pyramid, the broad masses have a rel-
topical pertinence alone. atively undifFerentiated and fragmented un-
When social scientists propose solutions to derstanding of social and political issues (Con-
problems which are symptoms of social con- verse, 1964).
flict, they necessarily confront value questions: One reason for this is surely the objective
What are their visions of a problem-free so- complexity of social arrangements. Because of
ciety? Whom do their proposals favor? What an intricate division of labor and extensive in-
evidence do they prefer and neglect? These dif- stitutionalization, society can function nor-
ficulties are further aggravated by the fact that mally without each of its members grasping
the parties to political conflicts are rarely ho- its whole design and dynamics. However, when
mogeneous or even articulate regarding their we strive to create the conditions for greater
positions. Individuals, too, often experience human fulfillment, we require a deeper com-
internal conflicts about what they want and prehension as well as greater personal and col-
value. Social planners sometimes take the lective efficacy than if we are content to carry
needs and desires of their target populations on in traditional ways. These increased re-
for granted. The history of social engineering quirements highlight widespread deficiencies
teaches us manifold lessons about benevolent of awareness and satisfaction. For example,
presumption. Again and again, seemingly well- voters need not be well-informed to exercise
designed and thoughtfully administered wel- their rights. But the remoter consequences of
fare programs (e.g., community mental health their actions are often unfathomable for them.
and urban renewal projects) meet with pas- Thus, they fulfill a political function, but not
sionate dissent or invincible apathy from their their private aspirations. Sennett and Cobb
supposed beneficiaries (Denner & Price, 1973; have documented the cognitive distortions and
O'Brien, 1975). the emotional impoverishment which such
This may happen even when the beneficia- conditions bring about in at least part of the
ries have no superior solutions to offer. For society (Sennett & Cobb, 1977). Significantly,
 684 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

such perplexities encumber the most intimate lievers of any prospective solution. This af-
concerns no less than the conduct of public fectively cemented state of self-deception
life. Yet when people are asked to deliberate obstructs personal as well as social develop-
on ways to ameliorate the conditions, they are ment. Individuals who are caught in it do not
apt to become bewildered and frustrated. benefit from new experience, including social
Perplexity as here adumbrated is therefore science knowledge, but inevitably find confir-
a psychological condition of considerable social mation of what they already believe. Depend-
and political consequence. It obstructs more ing on the prevalence and intensity of per-
than ordinary people's appropriation of social plexity and self-deception, useful knowledge
research. It is the sticking point, at the level of will not be received and acted on. Sensitiza-
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the individual, for the social progress which tion will not occur.
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many if not all social scientists wish to assist. This is not to deny that a measure of so-
We may think of it as a state of unrest or dis- cialized routinization facilitates effective com-
satisfaction with relatively meager cognitive munal living. A host of necessary social prac-
contents. The person is unhappy about his or tices depend on habitual, taken-for-granted
her circumstances, but can only vaguely imag- beliefs and attitudes (Berger & Luckmann,
ine what form an improvement might take.1 1966). By contrast, perplexity and self-decep-
This is not a matter of simple ignorance, how- tion designate the unrecognized, unnecessary
ever. Frequently, popular dogmatic beliefs foreshortening of individual perspectives,
about the "true" source of the troubles are en- which prevents communal living from attain-
tertained. These may focus on minority ing its optimal state.
groups, institutions ("the government") or A widespread assumption in our empiricist
values (permissiveness). Gergen provides us tradition is that truth is socially objective,
with examples of solutions attempted on the whereas error is idiosyncratic. The phenome-
basis of such inadequate analysis: "For in- non of perplexity does not easily fit this view.
stance, women who learn they are more per- Dogmatic beliefs which take the place of and
suasible than men may retaliate, and in time prevent more adequate analyses are apt to be
the correlation is invalidated or reversed" widespread. They and the sentiments which
(1973, p. 311). Such contrarious reactions are stabilize them receive powerful nourishment
apt to short-circuit a more powerful analysis. from social forces and are consequently re-
Quite often simplifications of this sort compete garded as normal. Far from being erratic or
successfully with more complex and insightful arbitrary, perplexities are socialized acquisi-
formulations. tions, and part of their recalcitrance is due to
As Myrdal has pointed out, "ignorance— this fact. But we know little about the processes
like knowledge—is seldom random, but is in- whereby perplexity becomes entrenched aside
stead highly opportunistic" (1969, p. 99). For from speculations about the role played by
instance, group prejudice is resistant to change traditional patterns and limits of education,
because it often consolidates underlying val- normative ideals of child rearing, the propa-
uations. Because the holders of such beliefs gation of conventionalized and authoritarian
cannot radically remove the supposed source thinking, and the reproduction of class-specific
of trouble, frustration is bound to persist. Yet codes. Such factors are apt to favor the sim-
as a rule, the resulting misery is morally sta- plifications and dogmatisms described earlier.
bilized from within. It may be deemed natural For instance, disadvantaged members of a so-
and inevitable. It may even be borne with for- ciety whose restricted linguistic codes limit
titude or with relief because others endure their grasp of complex social relations and who
worse. Pride and loyalty to one's cohort pro- conceptualize their predicaments in emotion-
hibit resignation. Shared complaints and re- ally laden, stereotyped terms are unlikely to
sentment bind the sufferers together. Yet the
faith that steady progress is being made by
1
those sharing one's own outlook lightens the Social planners may mistake the absence of an artic-
ulate agenda among the members of a polled population
present burden. The mixture of such stabiliz-
for neutrality or even acquiescence. Experience shows that
ing sentiments with incorrigible beliefs per- whereas discontent may not speak clearly, it can neverthe-
petuates the dissatisfaction and deprives be- less assert itself vehemently.
 HYPOCRISY 685

abandon received opinions in favor of new de- portantly hampered by various kinds of self-
sires and value-positions. Thus, they are dou- deception.
bly handicapped—by their real lack of power In recent years, researchers have argued that
and by their psychological impasses (Horn, individuals are largely unable to understand
1973). As a rule, perplexities preserve the sta- themselves in any profound or immediate way.
tus quo that engenders them. This should make When subjects are asked to give reasons for
clear that they are the psychic consequences their decisions, preferences, or judgments, they
of a social order and cannot be overcome by are found to be no more insightful than in-
psychological means alone. dependent observers who attempt to estimate
Although there is a vast research literature the effects of various stimuli on these subjects
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on the personal and social traits associated with (Nisbett & Wilson, 1977). What is more, nei-
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

dogmatism and authoritarianism, this is only ther observers nor subjects achieve any signif-
slightly pertinent to the present discussion: (a) icant accuracy in estimating the actual influ-
Self-deception and perplexity may just as well ence of various stimuli on behavior. Although
take the form of apathy, libertarian ideology, no one has claimed that these findings stake
or naivete; and (b) those who are perplexed are out the final limits of human self-knowledge,
not apt to derive significant guidance from the trend in psychological research has surely
being confronted with a list of their handicaps not been to devise means of enlarging this po-
or demographic characteristics. If we wish to tential. In fact, it is remarkable how little social
aid people in clarifying their interests, we must psychologists have been concerned with ex-
address the reversibility, not the mere descrip- ploring the conditions of personal enlighten-
tion or analysis, of acquired perplexity. ment.2 Thus, the endeavor proposed in these
But are perplexities a sufficiently grave and pages would represent a change of course for
widespread problem to merit major attention social psychology.
from social psychologists? I use the term per- Habermas is probably the most prominent
plexity to cover a spectrum of self-deceptions. contemporary social thinker to have addressed
To begin with, these include conflict-generated the limitations which methodological positiv-
inarticulacy (pseudodebility), apathy, and pas- ism has put on this dimension of social science
sivity in regard to objective social and personal (1971, 1973, 1975). He calls for a critical social
problems. Where these are not evident, that science, one that examines its own doings
is, where problems are acknowledged, people within the social order and at the same time
may instead feel helpless. Either they feel un- helps to awaken the individual to the recog-
able to meet their own needs or they hold no nition of his or her activities and passivities
one else capable of it. (Such helplessness may within that order. This social science cannot
sustain submission to or protest against one's remain content with producing knowledge
"fate") Confusion is an alternative to help- about lawlike connections between seemingly
lessness. In this case, the source of the trouble value-neutral facts, but must take "into ac-
appears elusive; the question of available relief count that [such] information . . . sets off a
does not even arise. Beyond this, more or less process of reflection in the consciousness of
irrational formulations occur in the form of those whom the laws are about. Thus, the level
false beliefs. These too may center on the self,
for instance, when subjects regard themselves
as only temporarily unlucky, as having desired 2
This can be conveniently documented in regard to po-
precisely what they got, or as having excellent litical education, which epitomizes, though it is not coex-
prospects, and so forth. Or they may center on tensive with, the problems discussed here. The literature
is scanty, especially in the U.S.A., and deals overwhelmingly
the social world as when he or she believes that
with political socialization, that is, the acquisition of skills
what is must be, that any alternative would be and attitudes supportive of the sociocultural order, rather
worse, and the like. Distorted or otherwise sys- than with political education in the strict sense, which
tematically inadequate, yet socially necessary would involve fostering "the competence to think critically
beliefs are termed ideology in the sociology of and independently [in a manner] which could lead to the
rejection of established beliefs and practices" (Turner, 1981,
knowledge. Scapegoating and group prejudices p. 59). See also Langeveld (1981), Patrick (1977), Renshon
belong in this category as well. Thus, the re- (1977) for critical reviews of this domain of study and ap-
alization of human potential in society is im- plication.
 686 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

of. . .consciousness. . . can be transformed. universalistic nomothetic to an eye-opening

. . . Self-reflection is determined by an eman- here-and-now descriptive social science, give
cipatory cognitive interest" (Habermas, 1971, insufficient consideration to the prevalent nar-
p. 310, italics added). For Habermas, a his- rowing of subjective perspectives.3
torically significant social psychology would be My purpose in this section is to go beyond
one whose methods and materials lead subjects programmatic statements. According to the
to the recognition of their neglected interests conception outlined here, perplexity is a so-
and to the creation of knowledge that serves cialized cognitive-affective state which sys-
the realization of these interests. What this last tematically obstructs or distorts subjects'
phrase means will be clarified in the subse- comprehension of themselves and of their
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quent discussion. world. As such it is modifiable. In what follows,

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I hope to show that this conception can serve

Choice of Methods us as the vantage point for the articulation of
social-psychological method. Some investi-
The argument has been that perplexities of gative approaches will be judged more suitable
the kind discussed here are not simply imposed than others, and our conception of perplexity
on people from without, but are maintained will provide us with the evaluative criteria.
by them, at least in part, through self-deceptive The larger aim is a historical transforma-
moves. How they come into being, how they tion—enhancement—of human subjectivity.
are maintained, and how they resist modifi- Such an ambitious project cannot be swiftly
cation—these are not questions to which a so- vindicated. It cannot even be satisfactorily
ciological analysis alone can give satisfactory demonstrated by example. An illustration may
answers. Cognitive and emotional dynamics help make it more concrete, however, and can
are apt to play an important role. For this rea- at the same time serve as a springboard for an
son, counteracting the existing societal pres- evaluative discussion and the approximation
sures toward self-deception with an overlay of of an agenda. I have, therefore, chosen a topic
specially engineered remedial measures is which, despite its seeming pettiness, conforms
more likely to expose subjects to even more structurally to the preceding discussion: The
powerful manipulations than to restore them psychology of hypocrisy and self-deception.
to a state of greater competence. (The previ- Experimental work has shown that by de-
ously cited study by Yates and Aronson, 1983,
illustrates the problem.) Deception and en-
lightenment are not symmetrical processes. 3
Gergen's recent book, outstanding for its comprehen-
Although sharp distinctions cannot be drawn, sive critique of empiricist positivism in social psychology,
the former is generally effected by the powerful ends by advocating the formulation of "theory that may
reduce the myopia of univocality" (1982, p. 110)—theory
management of another person's experience,
which "challenges the guiding assumptions of the culture,
whereas the latter occurs to the extent that raises fundamental questions regarding contemporary life,
subjects are allowed unhindered access to the fosters reconsideration of existing constructions of reality,
world around them. The formation of self oc- and, by so doing, furnishes new alternatives for action"
curs best when not mediated by authority (1982, p. 168). For this plea to have the desired effect, two
problems must receive careful consideration: (a) the un-
(Dewey, 1916;Lewin, 1935).
readiness of the addressees to relinquish old ideas even
These considerations have methodological when they suffer under their weight, and (b) the second-
implications. Perplexity is not a state to be al- order perplexity apt to beset consumers, estranged from
leviated solely "from outside," that is, by the the realization of their interests, who are confronted with
the choice among new concepts and theories flying in the
conveyance of knowledge. The approach must
face of received ideas. Surely some novelties will be more
be made "from the subject's side" as well. serviceable than others. But which ones? Innovation alone
Subjects must come to the point of recognizing cannot assure value. Therefore, not only the consumers,
their own participation in maintaining per- but the producers of conceptual innovation must be guided
plexities. Only then can they participate in by a critical vision of knowledge in relation to human in-
terests if they are to avoid the inauguration of a new pos-
their elimination. (An analogy can be drawn itivist ideal in the place vacated by the old. Such a vision
to the Freudian analysis of resistance.) Pro- must reckon with the condition of subjectivity in contem-
posals like Gergen's, urging a shift from a porary society.
 HYPOCRISY 687

ceiving another we may deceive ourselves. sincerity. The hypocrisy/self-deception phe-

When we make insincere assertions, we often nomenon is here treated as an instructive min-
come to believe them (Festinger & Carlsmith, iature, as an illustration for the purpose of ex-
1959). For instance, I may have had a long- ploring the methodological requirements of a
standing aversion to a person or cause but 1 project to reverse self-deception. To indicate
compromise my stand after having publicly what is involved in the enlightenment of sub-
simulated a tolerant attitude. Subsequently I jects, I shall comment on four methodological
may feel puzzled by my own attitudinal fluc- approaches to the same topic. Three of these
tuations as 1 gradually revert to the older neg- depart to different degrees from the familiar
ative view. Or: Out of loyalty to my peers, I investigative methods of psychology. We are
join in making gratuitous slurs against a third exploring a nontraditional kind of knowl-
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This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

person or group. I do not really mean it, but edge—a knowledge that transforms the
as a result my previously neutral feelings are knower. Accordingly, these methods resurrect
tarnished. These example illustrate covert questions which most researchers have already
damage to the self (the alteration of rooted be- settled in widely accepted ways. At the same
liefs) associated with conformity to social time these new methods offer solutions to
pressures (loyalty, dependency, hostility). Al- problems that are rarely treated.
though hypocrisy may be no more consequen-
tial than any other petty foible, it can occur Experimentation Versus Enlightenment
in domains where it has far-reaching conse-
quences. Givng one's vote to the less objec- The topic I have selected for illustrative pur-
tionable of two political candidates may pre- poses falls into the conventional domain of so-
dispose one to become disproportionately in- cial-cognitive psychology and has attracted an
dulgent toward him or her. enormous amount of interest in the research
The phenomenon of hypocrisy conforms to literature. In 1959, Festinger and Carlsmith
the earlier discussion of socialized perplexity demonstrated that if a person can be induced
in several ways: (a) Hypocritical acts com- with a small incentive to advocate an opinion
monly simulate what is considered socially de- that is contrary to his own (forced compliance),
sirable, (b) Consequently, they buttress social he will subsequently show a change of mind
norms and contribute to the smooth function- in the direction of the advocated position. By
ing of relations in public, (c) La Rochefoucauld comparison, a person who is given a larger in-
said, "Hypocrisy is the homage which vice centive to do the same will show a smaller
renders to virtue." The hypocrite is apt to feel change of mind. The widely accepted expla-
uplifted by this compliance with expectations, nation of this phenomenon is that both sub-
whatever his or her regrets about the insincer- jects must reduce the unpleasant discrepancy
ity, (d) Through the compliance, the social between what they believe and what they have
forces which extort hypocrisy are affirmed, (e) avowed or, as it is called, cognitive dissonance.
Although the avowal may distract the speaker The second person who received a larger re-
from his or her authentic belief, the latter may ward has a good external reason to justify his
in time reemerge. The result is a puzzling shift insincerity—"He did it for the money!"—and
in attitude toward the object. An accumulation can keep his original view intact. The first per-
of such unaccountable shifts away from and son lacks sufficient external justification and
back to original beliefs may in time weaken must convince himself that the lie is partly
the speaker's confidence in his own opinions. true. Therein lies the self-deception.
Therein lies the damage to his or her self. I have selected this phenomenon because
The combination of the above factors pro- investigators have attempted to reproduce in
duces an instance of perplexity as earlier de- the laboratory what we often experience in the
fined—an undermining of self-transparence course of daily life as hypocrisy. From the en-
and authenticity, buttressed by the objective lightenment perspective, such research is weak
and subjective benefits of compliance. To re- in two respects. First, within the empiricist
peat, socialized perplexity as discussed earlier framework that dominates social psychology,
is not commonly the result of individual in- the experimenter's stratagem of persuading
 688 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

subjects to commit hypocritical acts is never hypocrisy. Dissatisfied with the objectivistic
questioned. It is accepted as part of social psy- forced compliance model, that is, with treating
chology's scientific mission. No serious debate an attitude as though it were identical with a
takes place as to its significance in the context check mark placed on a rating scale and with
of individuals' lives and social relations. Within having to conjecture what subjects in a certain
the empiricist ideology, it is as "natural" to experimental condition "must have experi-
explore reactions to forced compliance as to a enced," Hanlon chose instead to explore hy-
new medication, notwithstanding the fact that pocrisy along the lines of a phenomenological
the experimenter, away from his laboratory, approach (Giorgi, 1970; Giorgi, Fischer, Von
may deplore the coercive social arrangements Eckartsberg, 1971; Van Kaam, 1966). He in-
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which often lead ordinary people to commit terviewed each of 8 adults, telling them he was
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

themselves to inauthentic positions. In the interested in the experience of hypocrisy and

laboratory these pressures are treated as asking them to recall an episode in which they
though they were inevitable, like a disease of had "pretended to be, or to believe, something
unknown origin for which a new drug prom- which [they] were not, or did not believe, in
ises a cure. The fact is, however, that such front of another person or people . . .and felt
pressures toward self-denial are, at least theo- badly about doing it" (pp. 18-19). Hanlon
retically, reducible at their source. Putting the proceeded on the assumption that hypocritical
stamp of science on them, thereby instigating acts are meaningful to the actor and that this
subjects' self-deception, is questionable not meaning can be conveyed. He wanted to avoid
simply in terms of the traditional ethics of re- contrived laboratory situations, the objectifi-
search, which demand consideration for the cation of complex experience (check marks),
welfare of the subject. It amounts to a tacit quantitative treatment of attitude change, and
legitimization of repressive forces operative in statistical group comparisons. Instead he pur-
our lives. What motivates experimenters to sued the fullness of a personally meaningful
prevail on their subjects in this manner is not event as recalled by the subject: why people
regarded as interesting, however. All eyes are act hypocritically; what they feel and think be-
on the subject. In contrast, the focus of the fore, during and after the act; what they per-
present discussion is on the methodological ceive in themselves and in the person toward
ideals and theoretical presuppositions of the whom the act is directed.
discipline. To bring some order into this welter of detail,
Second, the subjects receive no encourage- Hanlon (1976) sought common elements
ment or guidance in extricating themselves among the eight reported episodes. With each
from the cognitive consequences of enforced subject's help he clarified and reduced the ac-
hypocrisy. All the effort has been channeled count to its experiential units, eventually ar-
into perfecting the hypocrisy/self-deception riving at a catalog of commonalities. For ex-
dynamic instead of strengthening subjects' ra- ample, all 8 subjects reported that before com-
tionality or autonomy, that is, their ability to mitting the hypocrisy, they felt forced into it
escape cognitive dissonance by other ways than even though there was no coercion in the or-
confusion. By this emphasis, too, this research dinary sense. All reported having "confused
is repressive rather than serving an "emanci- thoughts" afterwards. Six out of 8 felt degraded
patory cognitive interest." Not only the inves- by what they had done. Seventeen common-
tigative procedures, but also the theoretical alities emerged: 10 of these were found in all
conception which they serve have been said to eight cases, 3 in 7 out of 8 cases, and 4 in 6
legitimize societal conditions by diverting at- out of 8 cases (p. 35). In addition to these com-
tention away from them to human nature (Is- mon elements, each subject also reported
rael, 1979). unique ones. But the so-called common ele-
ments, too, were common only in a superficial
sense and were individually shaped in every
Phenomenology: The Rescue From Privacy case.
Although the major goal of Hanlon's (1976)
An investigation undertaken by Russell study was to bring out clearly the experiential
Hanlon (1976) illustrates another approach to detail of hypocrisy, there were two further ob-
 HYPOCRISY 689

jectives: (a) to conceptualize the motives of hy- deriving from reflective clarity is the ability to
pocrisy as they are reconstructed out of the ex- take remedial action. In the case of hypocrisy,
periential process, and (b) to open doors for such action might be directed toward the
subjects' further personal exploration of their abatement or removal of the social pressures
own involvement in hypocrisy. As to the first, that produce it. The knowledge that these
Hanlon offered an initial rough formulation pressures are felt by many is necessary, though
concerning the interweaving of self-related and not sufficient, for concerted action. In an in-
other-related motives: Hypocrisy makes a sit- dividualistic society, social problems are often
uation easier for oneself by giving a good mistaken for individual problems by those who
impression to another. Alternatively, it makes are afflicted. This has been referred to as the
one feel closer to another person by preventing fundamental attribution error. Investigators
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damage to the relationship. may begin to address it by making accessible

As for facilitating further clarifying reflec- to the public what has previously remained
tion, the success of the study remains uncer- private. This is where the phenomenological
tain. By and large subjects found participation approach makes a contribution.
in the investigation "valuable," felt that they However, two problems arise at this point.
understood themselves better as a result, and The first, which applies equally to the third
expressed confidence that they would control and fourth approach to be discussed, concerns
their emotions better in future. They welcomed the reliability of the obtained knowledge and
the opportunity to explore a troubling expe- will be taken up later. The second problem is
rience collaboratively and said they felt dis- peculiar to the method just presented. This is
posed to seek out similar opportunities again. its dependence on the conscious reflection of
In short, they were attracted by the method. subjects. Psychological phenomena, for in-
Yet Hanlon (1976) made no effort to explore stance, unconscious processes, which elude
with each subject the personal significance of ordinary self-reflection, are bound to be lost.
his or her self-deception. As a consequence, any inventory of damage
Beyond their stated satisfaction, we do not to the self is apt to be spotty, containing only
know whether subjects benefited. Nevertheless, those indications that the subject's self-regard
Hanlon's (1976) study and other studies car- can tolerate. Profounder damage to the per-
ried out by Giorgi and his students represent son's cognitive and emotional integrity is apt
a noteworthy step in the history of method. to go undetected. No radical emancipatory
They assume that experience as such is legit- program can eventuate from such a superficial
imate, not a mere raw material in need of be- catalog. There is reason to think that the most
havioral processing or operationalization. Such powerful distortions of individual and social
studies can show how the elements of an ex- processes, for instance, ideological thought, can
perience are mutually related and structured. only take hold by calling on unconscious pre-
Even more important, they produce descrip- dispositions (Earnest, 1982). For this reason,
tive catalogs which serve the reader to recog- personal accounts which cover only the un-
nize the typicality of his own experience. These consciously distorted surface of experience will
catalogs break down the isolation maintained not encompass the synergy of personal and so-
by ignorance. One learns that others have cial maldevelopment. The value of this meth-
comparable experiences. When the experience odological approach is therefore limited to the
is painful or confusing, as in the case of hy- initial phases of enlightenment, that is, to the
pocrisy, it is a relief to realize that one does breakdown of pluralistic ignorance and the es-
not suffer alone. Furthermore, the method tablishment of descriptive commonalities.
permits consideration of the context in which But what if the sufferer does not know that
the hypocrisy occurred. At the very least, find- the confusion and inconstancy of his feelings
ings like Hanlon's encourage reflection and and views stem from hypocritical acts? To re-
communication. Without these, there can peat, the effects of social power on individual
hardly be any self-enhancement. life need not all be immediately accessible to
But it is not enough. Emancipation, as Ha- casual reflection, let alone easily traceable to
bermas understands the term, is not ultimately their sources. The problems are therefore apt
a cognitive achievement. The decisive benefit to be unlabeled, especially because self-decep-
 690 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

tion is by definition concealed from the subject. consequence. In this dream, at any rate, the
The afflicted subject will not even know which dreamer aims chiefly to disguise unacceptable
catalog to consult. If by chance he should con- impulses from himself and to embellish them
nect his perplexity with a prior hypocritical for his own consumption. That our specimen
act, he is not helped much. Often we do not is a dream is accidental. One can easily imagine
know why we act hypocritically, and the ob- a similar effect in one who is awake and trying
stacles to elucidation and remediation are ac- to improve his self-image. Supposing that he
cordingly greater still. The third methodolog- approached a potential rival hypocritically,
ical item explores these complications. whom would he be trying to fool?
This illumination of hypocrisy depends on
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Freud and Rigorous Reflection a methodological step. If Freud wanted to

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make adequate sense of experience, whether

In The Interpretation of Dreams, Freud re- in dreams or elsewhere, he could not remain
ported a dream which he designated hypo- content with the gleanings of casual reflection.
critical: "My friend R. was my uncle" (1965, With only the latter available, dreams and
p. 17Iff). The immediate precipitant in his other psychological manifestations were apt to
life was the worry that, being a Jew, he might remain senseless assemblies. Free association
be denied a university appointment. As part and the discipline of dream analysis were re-
of the dream, he "had a great feeling of affec- quired to integrate the fragments into a mean-
tion for R." The analysis revealed that, despite ingful configuration. Looking merely at the
the neutral, even positively toned manifest manifest content of his dream, Freud might
content of the dream, the dreamer had created have repudiated the love for R. as exaggerated.
a disguised wish-fulfillment according to which Further than this repudiation he could not have
two Jewish colleagues, R. and N., had been gone. Only by penetrating to the level of his
denied their promotions because they were a fierce ambition and the competitive, hostile
fool and a criminal, respectively. Or, as Freud impulses toward R. eould he integrate the
summarized the interpretation, "if the ap- seemingly false love into a coherent picture of
pointment of my friends R. and N. had been himself, namely as an act of true contrition.
postponed for 'denominational' reasons, my This required a different attitude from that
own appointment was also open to doubt; if, of Hanlon's subjects. Whereas they looked on
however, I could attribute the rejection of my their hypocritical episodes in an affirmative
two friends to other reasons, which did not spirit and took their stories at face value, Freud
apply to me, my hopes would remain un- approached his dream warily and in an inter-
touched" (p. 173). After the successful deci- rogative spirit. His aim was neither to celebrate
phering of the dream, Freud felt distressed over the experience nor to purge himself by confes-
his casual denigration of two respected friends sion, but to disassemble it.
under the prompting of ambition. The "warm It is worth emphasizing that two integrations
feeling of affection" for R. struck him as ex- occurred in tandem—the integration of the
aggerated and false and could only be an effort "false" love into the whole of the dream and
at dissimulation: "My dream-thoughts had the integration of the entire dream into the
contained a slander against R., and, in order dreamer's evolving self-understanding. The
that I might not notice this, what appeared in methodological point is that the dreamer, per-
the dream was the opposite, a feeling of affec- plexed on awaking, achieves a degree of self-
tion for him" (p. 175). The dream in its man- transparency by going beyond the confines of
ifest form concealed its hostile message. normal, commonsense understandings and
The insight yielded by this dream is that judgments.
hypocrisy is not always or chiefly intended to This point has a corollary. The function of
delude others. This hypocritical dreamer de- hypocrisy in Freud's dream is to screen un-
ceived only himself and might well have re- acceptable impulses from view. If these had
mained so but for the tool of dream analysis. not been so strong, requiring camouflage, the
The assumption underlying cognitive disso- exaggerated affection for R. would not have
nance research is that hoodwinking someone appeared in the dream. In other words, the
else comes first and self-deception follows as a hypocrisy was necessitated by the unacceptable
 HYPOCRISY 691

impulses. To interfere with hypocrisy in the bring us closer to an adequate concept of the
interest of integrity and veracity would not by social.
itself be an emancipatory move. Suppress the
hypocrisy and you leave the dreamer exposed Life History Research as Self-Education
to the full shame of his meanness. The dream
and, along with it, the sense of personal integ- In her dissertation on the subjective meaning
rity would be disrupted. In no way could such of "understanding another person," Ellen
a segmental assault on hypocrisy serve the en- Gross (1979) reported several case studies,
hancement of the subject. The untoward effects among them the case of K., explored in several
of hypocrisy can only be reduced or eliminated unstructured interviews. K., aged 21, pur-
ported to have profoundly understood her
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if the ulterior causes—in this instance, fear of

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rejection, competition, pride—can be pursued mother's altruistic motives during a crisis 4

to their remoter sources. By this contextual- years earlier. In the course of the interviews it
ization, the methodological and theoretical gradually emerged that K. probably deceived
stranglehold on the individual would be bro- herself about her mother because she herself
ken. The social basis of individual insincerity adopted a hypocritical attitude toward her
would be restored to the subject's purview. An during the crisis. With this example, I wish to
intimate corruption among the victims of eth- illustrate how a life-historical approach helps
nic oppression would be newly registered. (See us understand the interaction of social and
Hogan & Emler, 1978, for an excellent dis- cognitive processes in hypocrisy. The approach
cussion of the widespread individualistic re- also offers the subject an opportunity for the
duction of social phenomena in contemporary unmasking of self-deception through sustained
social psychology.) reflection (Gross, 1979).
Freud reported that he felt dissatisfied and K.'s mother had recently married her second
unfinished after deciphering the wish-fulfill- husband and then decided that their marriage
ment in his dream. Yet he had to urge himself was a mistake and would have to be dissolved.
to undertake the analysis of the hypocritical K., at age 17, was confronted with a crisis when
love for R. This illustrates how reluctant people her mother awakened her late one night to an-
are to analyze the ways in which they conform nounce her decision to divorce her second
to social standards even when this conformity husband after three months of marriage. K.
brings them acceptance. Freud, the dreamer, recalled that her first reaction was a mixture
had to undergo the labor of self-criticism if he of pity and resentment. She did not want a
ever hoped to address himself to the conditions separation. She wanted to go back to sleep.
of his social embeddedness. The lesson this But consideration for her mother compelled
approach adds to those derived from Hanlon's her to be selfless and mature. She had to put
(1976) study is that reflection cannot stop at her own feelings aside and support her mother.
some flattering point but must proceed to the "She understood her mother's 'anguish' and
challenges that it continually raises for itself. 'sacrifice' as 'a very brave act' done for her
The account which Freud published was family and experienced an intense sense of
deliberately left incomplete. He reported a closeness with her" (p. 303). K. understood
clash of forces but not their genesis. For some her mother to be concerned lest a loveless
reason he was ambitious, and for some reason marriage harm K. and her siblings. So K. sup-
he covered this up. But self-understanding in- pressed whatever feelings she had, adopted a
volves more than the discovery of conflict. By neutral attitude, and let her mother do the
itself, this would be a mere schematization talking and weeping. K. believed that in order
lacking the index of particularity. The last ap- to understand someone else, one had to "oblit-
proach to be discussed points the direction in erate one's own interests and feelings." Once
which an inclusive understanding can be she had done so, she could close her eyes and
found—though the illustration will again be pretend to be her mother: "and I agreed com-
truncated for various reasons. It should not pletely with her decision" (p. 304).
only make clear why the self-deceiving and Once before she had felt pride in being a
perplexing effects of hypocrisy cannot be un- strong supportive listener. When she was 10
done by an assault on hypocrisy alone, but also years old, it was her father, the mother's first
 692 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

husband, who woke her up in the middle of measure she attributed this to her mother's
the night, panicked because K.'s mother was "faith in me." Pressure would have been a bet-
about to leave him. He implored K. to stay ter word. K.'s mother entertained high hopes
with him. She agreed enthusiastically, elated for her daughter's future. Whenever it became
that he relied on her in his painful state. The evident that K.'s own aspirations were more
7 years between the mother's first and second modest, the mother discredited them as due
marriages were economically difficult. But the to K.'s lack of resolve. She could not accept
mother tried to "overcompensate" and provide what K. referred to as her limitations in "in-
a double portion of emotional closeness. K. telligence and strength." The more we learn
reminisced nostalgically about her intimacy about K.'s mother, the more willful she ap-
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with her mother and their "beautiful relation- pears. The tearful midnight scene was most
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ship." It was beyond her grasp that some of likely a demand on K. rather than the offer of
her friends could criticize their mothers, for a sacrifice to her. No wonder K.'s initial wish
hers was all-knowing and unconditionally em- was to turn away from "the adult tragedies"
pathic—the two of them were "like lovers" (p. and to go back to sleep. First her father had
306). It seemed at the time of the crisis as made demands on her at the age of 10 ("Stay
though this idyll might shortly be restored after with me; support me!") and 7 years later, in a
having been disrupted by the 3-month-old revival of the first loss ("probably the most
marriage during which the mother had become painful experience I'll ever have") her mother
part of her new husband's "fake" social circles. followed suit. Both times K. felt proud and
As K. recollected her reaction to her moth- selfless.
er's remarriage in greater detail, she became K. surely had many needs of her own, but
aware of a mixture of feelings—satisfaction her parents evidently insisted that theirs be met
over the material advantages provided by the first. After continued exploration of her family
new stepfather and dismay over the loss of experience, K. reported an incident which calls
mother's attention. Guiltily, K. now recognized for a reconsideration of the mother-daughter
that she had felt some "selfish" dislike of this relationship:
marriage. Persistently she disclaimed any real
negative feelings about it or about the second At one point in college I called her up one night, and I
couldn't say a thing. I was all choked up with emotions
divorce even though the former cost her her about something, and I just didn't know why. And she
mother-lover, and the second her stepfather- hung up on me, and I thought, this is so unlike her. And
provider. Rather than to admit either loss, K. I pulled myself together and I called back and said, "Why
represented herself as sympathetic to her did you hang up on me? I am hurt and angry." And she
said, "I just thought you should work it out yourself. You
mother's great sacrifice. She interpreted the
don't need to waste your money crying over the phone to
remarriage and the divorce as mother's selfless me." And I said, "But that is why I called you." And she
acts for her children. We have returned full said, "Well, why didn't you call someone else? I don't want
circle to Festinger and Carlsmith (1959): By to hear your weeping. I'd much rather hear your laughing."
suppressing her genuine feelings of resentment
and adopting an attitude of partly disingenuous The observation that "this is so unlike her"
benevolence, K. came to see her mother in a prompted the interviewer to ask K. to consider
more favorable light. the discrepancy between the two versions of
But how can we be sure that K., like Festin- her mother.
ger and Carlsmith's subjects, was really de- A special opportunity for mobilizing reflec-
ceiving herself with this view? What is the tive processes is given in life-history interviews
mother like in actual fact? Perhaps only a direct when inconsistencies are presented by the
appraisal of the mother could answer this subject. This may lead to revisions in the con-
question. Yet it is possible to obtain relevant ceptions that subjects hold of others and of
indications from K. herself. She found it dif- themselves, although the scope of most inves-
ficult ever to consider that her mother might tigations limits the exploration of complex is-
have been acting in her own interest. Then a sues. We can, however, speculate in this in-
new view of her mother emerged. Around the stance: K. might in time recognize that her
time of the interviews K. experienced educa- mother portrayed herself as selfless to K., and
tional and vocational uncertainty. In no small that K.'s own tendency toward "obliteration
 HYPOCRISY 693

of her own interests and needs" was not an of the self, the history of hypocrisy in the sub-
incidental "personality trait," but a product of ject's life.
socialization in which K.'s mother played a The goal of freeing people from misconcep-
powerful role. tions in the sphere of their most intimate con-
This fourth approach generates another cerns is a major challenge of a historically sig-
conception of self-deception than that yielded nificant social psychology, especially when
by the experimental research method. The lat- these illusions have been maintained under
ter places a causal interpretation on the insin- pressure from family conflicts and, beyond
cerity/self-deception phenomenon. Specifi- these, by various forms of social or ethnic
cally, subjects holding views which are genu- oppression. In pursuit of this liberative goal,
research is no longer independent of socializa-
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inely their own are induced by means of an

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external incentive to commit an insincerity af- tion. Rather, it has the potential of altering the
ter which they are no longer true to themselves. person's future. By providing him or her with
They are corrupted by their acts. To the extent insights, it can help to remobilize Information
that K. can reflect on her life experience, she of self—education in a broad sense—which has
(and we as observers) would scarcely be been encumbered or stalled. These insights
tempted to interpret it this way. In all likeli- concern social factors on three levels. As we
hood, her self-obliterative attitude during the have seen, first there is the particular shaping
crisis would not appear to her as a deception of demand and forbearance, affect and attitude
or dissimulation, and we do not view her er- within the unfolding of familial interaction.
roneous attribution of selflessness to her Second, this in turn typefies our society as a
mother as the effect of the prior self-oblitera- whole in that a nuclear family, fiercely main-
tion. What we begin to suspect is that K.'s tained in the absence of one parent, becomes
mother depends on her daughter's self-oblit- a concentrated, inescapable field permitting
eration to sustain her own mask of selflessness. little diffusion or defusion through substitute
K.'s hypocritical posture during the crisis cov- parents, as might be the case in numerous
ers up not only her own but especially her other historical or contemporary societies. The
mother's selfish wishes and affirms the good- material dependence of the daughter accord-
ness of each in the other's eyes. To fragment ingly empowers the mother to impose stric-
this self-sustaining dynamism into causal bits tures on emotional expression. Third, we note
thoroughly misses the point. Whether K. is de- the manner of this suppression—the cliche of
ceiving her mother or herself appears an idle selfless parenthood. Because cliches are not
question. only a speaker's socially sponsored pseudo-
Quite a different formulation suggests itself. communicative stratagem, but depend for their
Characteristic interactions between mother effectiveness on a listener's socialized, morally
and daughter have for a long time placed both bound acceptance, critical challenges and re-
of them into false positions. K. does not enter flection are abruptly terminated. The second
the midnight incident intact and then commit and third of these aspects of the social are
a spontaneous insincerity. Rather, it seems that rarely taken up in clinical contexts. Distorted
under her mother's peremptory gaze K. can communication and curtailed reflection are
never be true to herself in respect to her emo- instead allocated to the workings of conflict
tional needs. Her hypocritical stance was not and defense.
an act of dissimulation but rather the char- Thus, life-history research goes beyond the
acteristic expression of a damaged self. K. is scope of psychotherapy—especially when sev-
not confused by her act, but by her lifelong eral cases are studied and compared. The in-
interaction with a demanding and inconsider- dividual may then come to discover the con-
ate mother. The hypocritical benevolence she straints under which he has been laboring.
displays in the episode is a manifestation of Much that has seemed fixed and isolated may
this confusion. She is not false to her true self, appear as mutable and contextual. Relations
as Festinger and Carlsmith's subjects were among phenomena and events which have
thought to be, but true to her false self. It can been concealed may become visible. In a word,
be seen that this fourth method, unlike the the knowledge which people have acquired al-
previous items presented, addresses the career lows them to see themselves and their world
 694 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

more clearly and more finely. Perplexity is re- investigation is apparent in the open-endedness
duced. of its potential yield. However, this is not the
same as arguing for it as an end in itself.4 From
this perspective it may not only be difficult but
Validity and Generalization undesirable to settle on a standard outcome
criterion, all the more so, because eventual
How can such a large claim about knowl- outcomes are commonly reached by detours.
edge be validated? How can we ascertain that For instance, the immediate effect of K.'s new
K. obtained any significant clarification? Can interpretation of her relationship with her
we be sure that any insights she may have ob- mother might be increased tension rather than
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tained into herself or into her new social world a decrease in self-distortion or more candid
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will in fact help to improve her life? Do we transactions.

even know that her insights are correct, that As regards a behavioral criterion, we face
her mother is as selfish as K. may eventually the additional difficulty that a subject's self-
come to believe? In general, social scientists transparence and understanding of her world
prefer to deal with the third of these questions, do not guarantee a more contented life. It may
though in more general terms. The main issue be that insight is a basis for all significant im-
would not be whether K.'s mother is selfish. provements, but the difficulties of translating
Instead, one might test the hypothesis that hy- meliorative ideas into reality make a behavioral
pocrisy is a function of distorted self-concept, criterion inconclusive. If instead we focus on
relying on the familiar hypothetico-deductive the subject's better understanding of herself
method. This is reasonable given a commit- and others as our outcome criterion, another
ment to psychology patterned after the natural difficulty arises. The better self-understanding,
sciences and in search of empirical generaliza- which supposedly results from life-historical
tions. But how does this bear on the present inquiries, is not necessarily discursive in na-
discussion? Lawlike generalizations can cer- ture. It is unlikely that K. would emerge from
tainly be formulated without regard to the her reflections with a formal theory of self-
subject's enhancement. K. might have discov- deception or with an explicit reconceptualiza-
ered something about hypocrisy in general or tion of her life. The subject's enhancement or
about her relationship to her mother that is emancipation is ultimately a matter of life
true and yet does not help her much. Accord- changes. Whether enlightenment had been
ingly, we had best consider the truth of insights significantly advanced, therefore, could not be
obtained in life history research jointly with gauged by the subject's avowals. Like much
the benefits they bring. In an unexpected way other essential knowledge, such interpretations
these two questions may merge. are largely inarticulate in Polanyi's sense
Let us, therefore, return to the first two (1958).5 Nothing mystical is implied by this,
questions—whether K.. will be enlightened and only that we are concerned with a kind of
helped by any insights she has gained. A classic knowledge that is manifest in performances,
reply, one with which many social scientists
are not content, is that education broadly de-
fined requires no vindication on utilitarian
* One may look on the provision of such unspecified
grounds and indeed is antithetical to them benefits as a matter of the politics and economics of re-
(Aristotle, 1903). Knowledge and insight are search. Can we afford to undertake life history explorations,
thought to be valuable as such. as we do liberal education, which yield significant benefits,
If we do not accept this view, we must look but ones that cannot be scheduled in advance?
5
"Though I cannot say clearly how I ride a bicycle or
for an external criterion. But this would be an
how 1 recognize my macintosh (for I don't know it clearly),
ex post facto criterion because we did not this will not prevent me from saying that I know how to
commence the dialogue with K. in order to ride a bicycle and how to recognize my macintosh. For I
bring about a specified outcome. The objective know that I know perfectly well how to do such things,
was greater self-understanding rather than, say, though I know the particulars of what I know only in an
instrumental manner and am focally quite ignorant of
improving her relationship with her mother or them; so that 1 may say that 1 know these matters even
arriving at a particular conception of hypoc- though I cannot tell clearly, or hardly at all, what it is that
risy. The educational aspect of this method of I know" (Polanyi, 1958, p. 88).
 HYPOCRISY 695

that is, actions taken, emotions felt, judgments are gained. What we prefer are the perfor-
formed, and so on. Any one of these perfor- mances that exhibit the better understanding.
mances, carried out in a concrete situation, It may be argued that we lack a reliable test
can be interrogated as to the underlying inter- of goodness of interpretation and that such
pretation which the subject gave to the relevant judgments are subjective. For instance, how
facts. The difference between a behavioral can we be sure that the corroborative facts—
outcome, as ordinarily conceived in experi- memories, feelings, incidents, associations—
mental psychology, and a performance is that which a subject brings up to accord with an
the latter is not deemed to speak for itself, but attempted reconstruction of her world are not
is treated as the expression of certain beliefs opportunistically selected for just such a cor-
that require an interpretive reconstruction.6 roborative purpose from among all the other
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No single action can be specified as indis- memories available to him or her? Are we not
pensable criterion. The performances exem- adrift in circular reasoning because we have
plify a general acquisition.7 no independent criterion? But this objection
Insofar as an interpretation of events and mistakenly assimilates the logic of scientific
processes can underlie several of a subject's discovery to a task on which there are quite
performances and gives these a degree of co- different constraints. Scientific logic is not the
herence, it has a certain generality; it is more only kind of rationality to which investigators
than an isolated ad hoc rationale. However, can subscribe. Scholarship outside the sciences
insofar as its range of application is limited to may also be subject to discipline, and this is
a particular subject, it is not a universal law evident in the shared standards and history of
of experience. Later, I shall ask why in that expertise, technique, inference, and justifica-
case it is of any general interest. To summarize, tion to which they adhere (Toulmin, 1972). It
K.'s new interpretation of her life will have to might be better, therefore, to compare the in-
be reconstructed by an explication of future terpretation of life histories to the construction
performances (actions, emotions, judgments) of interpretations in history, archaeology, or
before its adequacy can be evaluated, that is, literature.
before we can determine whether the dialogues It is not reasonable to maintain, as the ob-
have provided her with a better interpretation jection implies, that there are dozens of pos-
of her life. sible interpretations and inexhaustible sets of
The procedure by which the enrichment of matching data reposing in each life. If any-
the subject's life interpretations is to be judged thing, the opposite is the case. People like K.
can easily be imagined. Had the dialogues with begin with spotty or otherwise unsatisfactory
K. been pursued beyond the scope of Gross's accounts of their lives and struggle mightily
research project (which was not concerned and often unsuccessfully to arrive at even the
with self-deception, but with "understanding slightest conceptual improvement.
another person," and in which K. was only Such accounts are under many constraints,
one of several cases) the enhancement of her and to the extent that disputes are recognized
theoretical grasp of herself and others might concerning them, the issues as well as the
have become evident as she carried out further manner of their possible resolution can usually
performances. Eventually the formative effect be spelled out: If we knew this or that, we could
of such enriched interpretations might become decide which account is better. Humanists have
manifest in the sort of person she becomes and paid more attention to the methodological is-
the sort of life she leads. It is true that we can- sues involved in such decisions than social sci-
not specify in advance what particular modi-
fications a person's initial comprehension must
undergo before we can certify that it has been 6
The fact that K. may know more than she can tell us
enhanced. It is nevertheless possible to judge does not set her knowledge categorically apart from the
when an enhancement has occurred. Certainly, kind we pursue in the natural sciences. There, too, implicit
when it comes to our own life experience, we knowledge plays an indispensable role (Polyani, 1958,
1966).
feel competent to prefer one construction to 7
Analogy: Someone's mastery of grammar is adequately
another and, what is more, to change our demonstrated for most purposes by the grammatical sen-
minds reasonably about this as new insights tences he produces. He need not recite conjugations.
 696 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

enlists (e.g., Hirsch, 1967). In general, an in- to another equally consistent one because the
terpretive account is judged successful to the domain of consistent items that it encompasses
degree that it is internally consistent, that it is is preferred. But even this question concerning
comprehensive of the many elements of what the relevance of various domains of interpre-
is to be interpreted as well as of the relations tation is not solved by reference to an inde-
among these elements, that it resolves obscuri- pendent criterion.
ties, that it proves useful in encompassing new To be deceived about oneself means not to
elements coming into view, and that it stands have an inclusive, coherent, and internally
in some rational relation (confirmation, sup- consistent account of oneself. Such a judgment
plementation, elaboration, simplification, su- can never invoke an independent criterion of
persession) to previously held interpretations. correctness, but depends on the comparison
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

One account is judged better than another if of various rival accounts. Because the adju-
it enjoys an advantage with respect to these dication of life-historical accounts involves
criteria. human judgment, it displeases investigators
This means that when a person offers an who wish to found their enterprise on "brute
interpretation of some part of his or her life data" (Taylor, 1979).
experience, we need not simply take his or her The answer to this concern about the role
word for its adequacy. We can debate it on of judgment is that just as there are no mean-
various grounds and offer other possible in- ings in this world except for subjects, so there
terpretations. Choosing among these is a self- are no interpretations except for concrete
correcting, intersubjective process. This means communities of interpreters (Bleich, 1978) and
that even though one cannot, at the outset, so there are no disinterested accounts of par-
predict with what interpretation the subject ticular lives. The person living the life has a
will or should emerge at the end, the success privileged stake as well as an advantage in
of the venture is by no means indeterminable.8 making sense of it. Of course, this privilege
Such a determination is not subjective in the does not place him or her beyond colloquy
sense in which a person's conscious experience and interrogation.
is accessible only to himself. But it is obviously When the object of interpretation is a tract
not objective in the sense of replicability. No of a person's life, rather than an array of lit-
subsequent subjects can submit their life stories erary or historical items, the epistemological
to an interpretation that will verify an inter- situation differs. We now have a subject who
pretation of a previous subject's performances. does not merely accept or reject an interpre-
It may be objected that consistency is too tation, but can, and commonly will, support
permissive a criterion, that an account of one- and enrich an acceptable proposal with new
self in relation to others—a life history—can data—memories, examples, observations, ac-
be consistent and yet delusive, a mere myth tual life changes—which seem to have been
endorsed by the subject and the interviewer. stimulated by the interpretive construction it-
But once again when a charge of consistent- self (Freud, 1964). The identification of par-
but-false is made against a literary or historical ticular feelings, memories, and so forth will be
interpretation—and it certainly can be made— judged as correct or not by a criterion of self-
it must be substantiated by pointing out some evidence in addition to the criterion of coher-
inconsistency or omission. "False" turns out ence. "Yes, what I felt at that moment was
to mean "less comprehensive," and thereby less anger, violent rage." But this criterion of self-
satisfying, than some other interpretation. In- evidence raises doubts again because such a
deed we have a rich vocabulary for assessing
interpretive attempts. A reading may be called
ingenious, subtle, plausible, inept, extravagant, s
To predict the final interpretation would be to make
wrong-headed, or dull. Such evaluations are the interpretation—without the subject's contribution.
made in consideration of the anchoring points Taylor (1979) argues that an interpretive discipline must
dispense with "hard predictions" and shows that, far from
to which the interpreter moors his or her ex-
being a shortcoming, the radical unpredictability of per-
plication, including literary, historical, and sonal and social change reflects the actual subject matter
other facts of various degrees of credibility. in a way that mainstream social science cannot compre-
Certainly one interpretation may be preferred hend.
 HYPOCRISY 697

judgment is surely vulnerable to all manner of If perplexed individuals are supposedly out of
distortion: Perhaps it was really humiliation, touch with their "real" interests but do not
dressed up as anger. Perhaps I remember things know it, what assurance will we have that they
vividly, but in self-flattering ways. Strong as have been successfully undeceived? Clarifying
this argument is when directed at one isolated one's interest is not a mere matter of "learning
item at a time, it is increasingly weakened more about oneself" though this is part of it.
when an emotion or a memory is set in a large Interest is a relation between the subject and
network of other such items. The literary his object world that becomes manifest in per-
analogy serves us again. Single words or sen- formances. Interest is gradually clarified by the
tences, taken by themselves, are much more performances to which it gives rise and which
easily misunderstood than when left in their act back on it. This is a common experience
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

original discursive context. in life-history dialogues and in psychotherapy.

To be sure, such a validating procedure of- For example, one might expect that as K. be-
fers no absolute certainties any more than does gins to realize the extent to which her mother
the scientific method. We cannot even quantify has prohibited the expression of her needs, she
the likelihood of a false inference. The only will experience and pursue new needs more
comfort we can draw from it is that the more actively. Reciprocally she will probably begin
tightly, inclusively, and multiply connected the to discover that the world contains previously
items are by our self-delusive interpretation, unnoticed subjects and objects of desire; she
the more exorbitantly deranged we would have will register desire in and for others. That is,
to be—even while deeming ourselves in full the subject in possession of a less distorted in-
possession of our senses! These are the grounds terpretation no longer impedes his or her own
on which judgments of authenticity are made access to the world quite so much. Access usu-
and on which they can be questioned by the ally means encountering new barriers which
dissenter. the world (or the subject) puts up to the further
The role of subjectivity extends further. A satisfaction of interests. One may judge that
person's interest in self-development may be the subject's interest is undergoing steady clar-
blocked by the various traps enumerated under ification by the fact that he or she encounters
the heading of perplexity but it is never wholly ever new, rather than the old, barriers to sat-
extirpated. Although texts have no interest in isfaction.
making themselves plain, a person is frustrated Clarification of interest is not exclusively a
by his or her perplexity. This frustration lends psychological process but has pragmatic con-
vigor to the search for a coherent account of sequences—in the same sense that perplexity
one's relationship to the world. Perplexity is was not merely a state of mind, but a way of
no mere intellectual puzzlement but derives life. Interests evolve and give rise to evolving
its power over the subject from the fact that patterns of action. Judgments concerning the
knowledge and action are blocked. Interven- authenticity of interests can be based on dia-
tions which enhance the subject do not consist, chronic (life-historical) as well as synchronic
as critics might suppose, of the participants' (pragmatic) considerations. In the former case
collaboration in a new, possibly delusive ide- we examine types of continuity (reversal, relief,
ology. Rather, they aim at the removal of bar- recognition, etc.); in the latter case we examine
riers that have kept the subject from recogniz- the correspondence between the person's in-
ing its actuality and exploring its potentiality terpretation and his performances (agency, va-
in the world.9 Actions will follow from new, riety, hierarchy).
broader understandings, and these will have In this connection, the issue of efficacy is
informative consequences. Thus, a further relevant. If a series of performances can be
constraint is placed on self-delusive interpre- shown to reflect the subject's increasingly bet-
tations of one's situation by the correctives ter interpretations of his or her social existence,
which the action-potential ("the praxis")
growing out of any such account imposes on
it. Impractical interpretations, like impractical 9
There can be little question, therefore, of the investi-
scientific theories, will be amended. gator saddling the subject with an unbearable burden of
This returns us to the question of interest. knowledge.
 698 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

we may ask what brought these about. Even of our standards for research, but of those for
lacking an experimental control, one can at- therapy as well.
tribute the effect to the impact of the dialogue Several points should be noted in this re-
to the extent that the terms of the latter rever- gard. Subjective enhancement may be achieved
berate in the new interpretation. For example, in any medium in which perplexed individuals
if K. becomes more intolerant of her mother, can reexamine important personal construc-
we are apt to find that her conversations with tions of meaning. We do not yet possess a ty-
Gross (1979) (e.g., the telephone incident) sur- pology of such media. The most relevant com-
vive in K.'s explication of her new perfor- parison of life-history method is not with the
mances. One can speak of reverberation be- high aspirations of psychoanalysis, but with
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

cause meanings are altered. She has a new view the austerities of most other forms of social
This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

of the world and of herself in it. But whether interaction including the common methods of
this is really so can only be determined by new psychological research. Further, the criticism
dialogues. that life-history research lacks the power of
psychoanalysis and therefore cannot do "the
whole job" is premature. Any shift in meaning
Is This Research? constructions occurring in the conscious do-
main is apt to have unpredictable repercus-
1 have presented four methodological ap- sions in unconscious representations. This is
proaches. The more they seem to contribute itself a central principle of psychoanalysis and
to the subject's enhancement, the more they one that is supported by clinical experience.
deviate from the conventional procedures of Initial clarifications of the sort attempted in
scientific psychology. The question arises life-history dialogues are apt to alter the cog-
whether the life-historical approach to the res- nitive and the more-than-cognitive relationship
olution of self-deception and perplexity is to between the individual and his society. Next
be considered a form of research. Is it anything steps cannot be attempted until first steps have
more than a mini-therapy, a possibly helpful been taken.
intervention requiring specialized skills and Research methods which enhance the sub-
benefiting at most one person at a time? All it ject are to be considered as interventions in
seems to do is link together selected details of the subject's life. Therefore, the dialogue's
someone's life in a most particular manner and transformative potential must be assessed in
with little relevance to others, who lead differ- comparison with those other preferred meth-
ent lives. Why should this be brought to the ods that are guaranteed by their proponents
attention of the public? to leave the subject unscathed. Viewed in this
It is true that the fourth investigative ap- light, the contention that nothing short of
proach has something in common with the depth analysis can bring relief from the com-
psychoanalytic method. Ironically some will mon confusions, prejudices, and apathy is a
argue that the two do not share enough to counsel of defeat—a scholar's perplexity so to
make the comparison worthwhile. In both, speak.
subjective interpretations of experience which It we do not dismiss the method because it
have blocked personal growth are considered falls short of the rigors of psychotherapy,
the residue of unsuccessful socialization and should we accept it as a form of research? A
are subjected to intense life-historical reflection brief answer might be that if we use the term
in a dialogue. But the researcher cannot, like research not as a term of approbation, but to
the therapist, rely on the subject's suffering to designate an activity serving ends, then the is-
forge a working alliance which will see them sue must be decided on the strength of out-
through temporary stalemates and which will comes. Research is a social knowledge-pro-
act as a counterforce against unconscious re- ducing activity engaged in for the attainment
sistances. In the absence of such a therapeutic of humanly desirable goals. At least one com-
commitment, the conditions for the develop- monly held objective of social research is the
ment and analysis of transference reactions are betterment of the human condition. The least
also severely limited. It will therefore be held which can be said for these deviant method-
by some that this approach falls short not only ological approaches, especially the fourth, is
 HYPOCRISY 699

that we are in no position to rule out that the its own sake and turn a cold shoulder to this
cultivation of a discourse aiming at the clari- question. But even an affirmative answer does
fication of human interests may bring us closer not void the issue because there are different
to this goal. conceptions of how knowledge can become
There is a longer answer. The life-history humanly useful. Life-history research must
approach cannot be evaluated as a research therefore prove its mettle in the fray of these
method according to the same criteria as sur- different conceptions.
vey, laboratory, or field study methods. The And has it proved itself? The observation
latter generally aim at one sort of knowledge— that people are often enlightened—helped out
description, correlation, causal or functional of perplexity—by talking things over with oth-
laws, culminating in theories of behavior. ers seems uncontroversial on the face of it even
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These theories are to be formulated in maxi- outside clinical contexts. Yet it finds little or
mal abstraction from specific situations but no detailed documentation in the research lit-
can eventually be applied in concrete local set- erature. Methodological problems are proba-
tings. (Once again the Yates and Aronson study bly decisive. Research on the effects of psy-
illustrates this.) The life history approach dif- chotherapy has never shown how the patient's
fers from these methods in that it begins with transformation plays itself out in the conduct
the transformative application to subjects and of his life—in "performances"—although this
sets this above conventional theory construc- is the central concern of psychotherapy.
tion. This determines the logic of the method Investigators of social movements have rec-
as well as its execution from moment to mo- ognized the importance of "cognitive libera-
ment. The conventional progression from tion" (McAdam, 1982) or of the adoption of
knowledge to application is not only reversed; an "injustice frame" (Gamson, Fireman, &
the application is itself the elementary object Rytina, 1982). But in these studies transfor-
of knowledge. Life-history method is a kind of mation of outlook, personal insights, and rein-
action research predicated on the notion that terpretations of experience are subordinated
the interpenetration of personal and social to action rather than assessed as such. Where
reality can be understood best if we attempt personal transformation is regarded as a major
to act on it transformatively. objective of group processes, for instance, in
What the approach makes known is, to be- women's "rap groups," the political climate is
gin with, deliberately and emphatically limited often unfavorable to systematic documenta-
to a time, place, and person. Whatever ab- tion (Freeman, 1979). Yet participants com-
straction concerning social reality and social- monly insist that profound and irreversible
ized subjectivity is subsequently achieved changes in outlook do indeed result from par-
comes about through subsequent construc- ticipation in such discourse.
tions. The stress of an investigation is on the One might have expected T-groups, first or-
individual case, not on the formulation of gen- ganized by the National Training Laboratories
eralizations; still it is the anticipation of the for the purpose of fostering democratic prac-
latter (and the underlying theory of socialized, tices in public life and organizations, to doc-
therefore generalized, perplexity) that informs ument the success of their work. The evidence
and motivates the dialogic exploration of in- concerning the acquisition of personal insights,
dividual cases. the correction of personal distortions, or the
These considerations imply that the life-his- release of repressions is hard to come by and
tory approach produces a different kind of equivocal (Lieberman, Yalom, & Miles, 1973).
knowledge. It is not meaningful to ask whether It may be that T-group participants become
it gives us "a better handle on behavior" than more effective change-agents and managers
the conventional methods. The question is than nonparticipants. But effectiveness in the
rather how firm the available handles are and organizational context may not have much in
how well they accord with our professed values: common with the idea of enhancing the subject
Do we now collect knowledge with a view to (Rosenwald, 1975).
the realization of human potential, and, if so, More encouraging results are obtained when
does the collected knowledge actually serve this life-history research is carried out with subjects
end? There are many who extol knowledge for in individual interviews. Even in a relatively
 700 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

short time, it is possible to clarify their present Third, we would obtain a foreshortened
and past experience, to draw links between view of their resilience if we omitted the de-
seemingly disparate sectors of their lives, to scription of the social models, norms, and
penetrate cliches and obfuscatory formula- pressures that provide these structures with
tions, and to bring to light unnoticed motives. external support. Whether we are dealing with
This has been shown in studying men's eval- a factory worker or a college student who con-
uations of their careers (Ochberg, 1983), col- fuses his or her own interest with the interests
lege students' accounts of their adolescent of those who wield power, in each case self-
"moratoria" (Ochberg, 1980), infertile cou- deception is supported by others. The choice
ples' attitudes toward reproduction (Walkover, of dialogue as the medium of discovery is stra-
1983), young adults' formulations of impend- tegic: We do not confront K. with an indepen-
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This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

ing decision-conflicts (Sloan, 1982), and wom- dent objective profile of her mother or the fac-
en's mid-life career changes (Wiersma, 1979; tory worker with an economic analysis of
Rosenwald & Wiersma, 1983). management's practices, just as we would not
As to whether life history dialogues produce attempt to rid a neurotic patient of his or her
knowledge that is of interest to the public, sev- phobia with testimonials to the safety of air-
eral points should be considered: First, the fo- planes. The objective forces in K.'s or the
cus of a life-historical approach is not on the worker's existence attain their power by virtue
details of lives, but on the structure of per- of the meanings they take on in the subject's
plexities and on the dynamic processes of their life history. This power cannot be understood
socialization and resolution. Whereas life sto- unless it is apprehended through the subject's
ries exhibit an infinite variety, the structures eyes. For example, the extent to which K.'s
of perplexity and self-deception are apt to be mother gains cognitive power over her daughter
much less diverse. To the extent that they are cannot be fully appreciated unless K.'s per-
socialized, we may expect that general patterns ception of her is taken into consideration.
will recur. Dialogues, like those with K., may Yet K.'s mother and the plant management
bring to light these general patterns bodied are not mere screens on which subjects project
forth in particular lives, with a concreteness their fantasies. What these objects amount to
not encountered in treatises on the psychology in the subject's life can be gathered if we con-
of adjustment. This is the difference between struct them out of the partial aspects which
showing and describing. they present in their several appearances. Once
A second utility of such a protocol is that again, the life-history approach enjoys a cer-
the dialogic nature of the investigation brings tain advantage in this respect. Out of K.'s nu-
out the rigidity and scope of the perplexity. merous situational encounters with her
Perplexities do not only stabilize social rela- mother, we can synthesize a transsituational
tions. By their structure they stabilize them- generalized representation of her mother.
selves internally. For example, if the inter- Seemingly contradictory glimpses we have had
viewer challenges the rationality of a certain of her—dedicated and yet heartless—contrib-
platitude, the respondent may fall back on an- ute to our construction, incorporating both
other line of defense and then on yet another. images, of a mother who extolled selflessness
Impressive examples of this have been found as a way of containing her daughter's demands.
in interviews with workers centering on dem- What is being constructed here is not the
ocratic practices in the factory (Earnest, 1982) mother as a static object, but as a person acting
or on the interpretations people put on their on K. Such syntheses represent the psycholog-
careers (Sennett & Cobb, 1973). To repeat an
earlier point, perplexities are cohesive, dy-
namic structures buttressed by unconsciously 10
Methodological conceptions prevailing in social science
operating defenses. Without a demonstration have almost let us forget that knowledge is not necessarily
of their recalcitrance, this cannot be appre- nomological. Knowledge passes between participants in a
ciated. At the same time, the process by which dialogue and from a page of print to a reader. At this point
in the discipline's development, it is far from clear what
perplexities are undone can be typified, fur- son of knowledge will bring the human and social progress
nishing the material for a theory10 of dialogic commonly wanted. The dialogist's skill, too, may be im-
education. proved by nontheoretical knowledge and instruction.
 HYPOCRISY 701

ical reality of social objects, including the ac- alcohol. A subject's behavior alone might
tor's self. In their totality, they approximate change without any deepened understanding;
the psychological topography of social exis- enhancement of the self could be circum-
tence. This dialogic method does not compete vented. Subjects might learn to cope with
with those practiced by the sociologist, the themselves as though they were strangers to
economist, or the political scientist; rather it themselves. The adoption of a self-manipula-
complements them. tive attitude is the opposite of personal growth.
Subject-enhancing investigations do not By contrast, when a subject like K. enters
necessarily lead into an idiographic cul-de-sac. into an interaction whose mission is to resolve
Collated dialogues with many subjects even- a perplexity, mere tactics will not suffice as a
rule. To the extent that K. succeeds in recon-
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

tually furnish a basis for generalized concep-

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

tions of perplexity and of social arrangements ciling contradictory portrayals of her mother,
that sustain it (Rosenwald & Wiersma, 1983). she will have to make comprehensive revisions
There is no reason to fear that we shall remain in her life story. New memories and feelings
forever mired in the details of individual lives. will almost certainly emerge. Whether this
Fourth, in time we may learn more about happens depends greatly on the interlocutor's
the technical features of dialogues that aid the activity. The goal of a subject-enhancing social
enhancement of subjects. Anyone reading a psychology is, of course, to bring people to the
Socratic dialogue or attending a problem-cen- point where they can serve as their own inter-
tered conversation can discern that some rogating other—as in Freud's case when he
"moves" are more productive than others. It overcame his reluctance to get to the bottom
may not be possible to formulate a manual for of the "false" love.
the conduct of dialogues, but the collation of Fifth, documented investigations which help
protocols exhibiting facultative and obstructive subjects to make their socialization processes
interactions may lay the initial groundwork for more transparent to themselves and which
the societal cultivation of enhancing interac- thereby enrich self-understanding may add to
tions and institutions. The point of this article the creation of a new societal resource (San-
is not to make propaganda for dialogues as a ford, 1982). If people can become more self-
new research technique. The aim is to legiti- possessed by engaging in dialogic explorations,
mize the enhancement of the subject as a then the protocols of these explorations are an
methodological criterion. Whether any partic- object lesson for readers: Life need not remain
ular research method meets this criterion is an quite so perplexing as we find it! Competence
empirical question. Some dialogues may not can be enhanced through self-understanding.
do so. This is not a new idea in the history of thought.
When it comes to the creation of societal Humanists have long believed that we are
resources, any event, process, or structure can transformed by experience, for instance, by
be evaluated as to its formative impact. None exposure to art. In recent years, the impact of
of the research methods described in this ar- texts on readers' lives has come under increas-
ticle can be categorically recommended or ing scrutiny (Bleich, 1971; Holland, 1973,
condemned in this regard. One or another of 1975; Tompkins, 1980). Thus, readers may
Festinger and Carlsmith's subjects may well also derive personal benefits from the docu-
have learned something from his laboratory ments under discussion. An intensive discus-
experience depending on his own reflective in- sion of this potential is not possible at this time.
volvement. If he subsequently read the pub- Suffice it to say, however, that the case-study
lished findings, he was exposed to cognitive method has been evaluated (and disparaged)
dissonance theory and may have become wiser almost exclusively from the standpoint of no-
about the self-deceiving effects of insincerity. mological science; rarely has it been examined
He may even have learned to protect himself as to its educational—self-formative—utility.
against these in future, as Gergen suggests. But The popularity it enjoys among readers of ev-
such gains were optional and therefore avoid- ery stripe has been ignored. Should it be dis-
able. Not only this, but learning to refrain from covered that the consumers of dialogue pro-
insincere declarations is the adoption of an tocols benefit in their own performances, then
impersonal, instrumental tactic like avoiding we may tentatively conclude that the case-study
 702 GEORGE C. ROSENWALD

method is popular because it fosters skills Freud, S. (1965). The interpretation of dreams. New York:
rather than generating nomological proposi- Avon.
Gamson, W. A., Fireman, B., & Rytina, S. (1982). En-
tions. However, skills are not the limit. Ac-
counters with unjust authority. Homewood, 111.: Dorsey.
quired skills may transform the person. We Gergen, K. J. (1973). Social psychology as history. Journal
allude to this whenever we say that someone of Personality and Social Psychology, 26, 309-320.
is becoming an expert. Whether reading pro- Gergen, K. J. (1976). Social psychology, science, and his-
tory. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin, 2, 373-
tocols of dialogues which undo others' per-
383.
plexities, materially contributes to the reader's Gergen, K. J. (1982). Toward transformation in social
own expertise in immunizing himself against knowledge. New York: Springer-Verlag.
perplexities is certainly a question worth ex- Giorgi, A. (1970). Psychology as a human science. New
ploring. We may find that knowledge can be York: Harper & Row.
This article is intended solely for the personal use of the individual user and is not to be disseminated broadly.

Giorgi, A., Fischer, W., & Von Eckartsberg, R. (Eds.).

This document is copyrighted by the American Psychological Association or one of its allied publishers.

useful even if it is not in the form of a gener- (1971). Duauesne studies in phenomenohgicalpsychol-
alization. ogy; Vol. 1. Pittsburgh: Duquesne University Press.
Given these considerations, it is not yet pos- Gross, E. E. (1979). Understanding another person. Un-
sible to make specific recommendations re- published doctoral dissertation. University of Michigan.
Habermas, J. (1971). Knowledge and human interests.
garding psychological research methods other
Boston: Beacon.
than to raise doubts about what is method- Habermas, J. (1973). Theory and practice. Boston: Beacon.
ologically taken for granted in the social sci- Habermas, J. (1975). Legitimation crisis. Boston: Beacon.
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Hirsch, E. D., Jr. (1967). Validity in interpretation. New
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cial praxis by merging their research and ed- temporary social psychology. Social Research, 45, 478-
ucational enterprises in ways suggested here. 534.
Holland, N. N. (1973). Poems in persons: An introduction
The elaboration of the requisite institutional
to the psychoanalysis of literature. New York: Norton.
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schools, adult education, at work, and in the Yale University Press.
family)—structures and interactions that sen- Horn, K. (1973). Zur Uberwindung politischer Apathie.
sitize rather than numb us—would depend on [Overcoming political apathy]. In M. Greiffenhagen
(Ed.), Demokratisierung in Staat und Gesellschaft (pp.
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