Marianne Müller-Brettel

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Marianne Müller-Brettel (born July 16, 1946 in Sumiswald , Switzerland ) is an author and freelance publicist. Her research focus is peace psychology, as well as the development of work theory , questions of science communication and the history of psychology . From 1972 to 2003 she was a research assistant at the Max Planck Institute for Human Development in Berlin .

academic career

After graduating from high school in Burgdorf in 1965 , she began studying psychology and philosophy at the University of Bern . She then studied psychology at the Free University of Berlin , where she received her diploma in 1971 . In 1995 she received her doctorate as Dr. phil. at the Free University of Berlin.

Peace psychology

Since wars are collective social processes, in the view of Marianne Müller-Brettel in peace psychology individuals must not primarily be analyzed as isolated personalities, but rather as part of a collective (social group, religious community, ethnicity or nation). For the actual behavior towards war, the schemes (“deep frames”) acquired in socialization such as “wars have always existed”, “war is unavoidable”, “a strong army means security”, are created by parents, social reference groups and social institutions are repeatedly evoked and solidified, more decisive than pacifist attitudes. Furthermore, striving for power, willingness to make sacrifices and loyalty to a political movement, religious community, ethnic group or nation are more important for waging wars than a high willingness to be aggressive. Because wars are not a law of nature and therefore cannot be explained by an innate behavioral disposition such as aggressive reaction. The identity-creating function of collective violence is particularly important: in times of crisis and social upheaval, attempts are made to compensate for the loss of identity and security with the help of collective violence.

History of Psychology and Science Communication

In her quantitative studies on the history of psychology, Marianne Müller-Brettel stated that it is not infrequently the existence of methods that determines research. Thus, real scientific approaches (Lazarus and Steinthal, Lewin, Scarry), which require extensive field research, have had little chance in social psychology compared to the easily feasible measurements of individual attitudes or the analysis of social behavior in laboratory experiments. Another factor that influences the development of a subject is the visibility of individual researchers in the scientific community. If this is missing, interesting approaches are often forgotten.

According to Marianne Müller-Brettel, the fact that the Citation Index , originally intended as a source of information for a certain subject area, has developed into an important instrument for science communication and performance evaluation is due to the fact that with the help of citation analyzes - similar to a distance - the scientific landscape can be measured regardless of its content.

Work theory

Marianne Müller-Brettel demonstrated that the discussion about work theory reflects the social conflicts between companies and trade unions . In the 1960s, for example, the trade unions tried to develop demands together with the employers' associations . As the labor disputes intensified in the 1970s, the German Trade Union Confederation developed its own positions. The concepts of the employers' associations differ less from those of the trade unions in organizational and methodological issues than in the objectives of this subject. If the business associations are concerned with the informed employee who knows how to weigh their own interests against the interests of the economy, the unions demand work teaching content that is oriented towards the interests of the later wage earners.

Works

  • My friend goes to war. A debate about wars and the difficulty of getting rid of them. 2nd Edition. Blankenfelde: Stadthaus-Verlag 2017
  • Research for war. Psychological Aspects of Armaments Research in National Socialism. In: Wissenschaft und Frieden (1) 2013, pp. 39–43
  • Between mass and individual: history of peace psychology. In Gert Sommer & Albert Fuchs: War and Peace. Handbook of Conflict and Peace Psychology. Weinheim: Beltz 2004, pp. 44–56
  • Peace and War in Psychological Research: Historical Developments, Theories, and Results. Berlin: Max Planck Institute for Human Development 1995
  • Bibliography on peace research and peaceful international relations: the contributions of psychology 1900–1991. Munich: Saur 1993
  • Citation Indices - Objectivity and Magical Thinking. In: Gegenworte (8) 2001, pp. 32–34
  • Johann Nicolas Tetens: a forgotten father of development psychology? In: International Journal of behavioral Development 13 (2) 1990, pp. 215-230 (with Roger A. Dixon)
  • Entrepreneurs and trade unions on work apprenticeship: analysis and documentation of their ideas 1964–1980 Bad Salzdetfurth: Franzbecker 1981

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