18 Marie Jahoda

General Biography 

Marie Jahoda was born on January 6, 1907, in Vienna, Austria. Her father Karl was a businessman and her mother Betty was a homemaker that had immigrated from Bohemia as a teenager to Vienna. Jahoda had three siblings: Eduard, Rosi, and Fritz Jahoda (Unger, 1999) and was brought up in a Jewish family. Her parents had raised her and her siblings as Social Democrats and Jahoda became a leader in the Austrian Socialist Youth (Rutherford, 2013).

Jahoda completed her undergraduate and doctoral work at the University of Vienna. Jahoda studied psychology (Rutherford, 2013).  Regarding her choice of psychology, Jahoda had said,  “My decision to study psychology was based on my very, very deep conviction that I would one day be Minister of Education in a socialist Austria.  Psychology seemed to me to be the best preparation for that job which was the one job in life that I wanted.  This great illusion let me into psychology” (Fryer, 1986, p. 116).  During this time she worked closely with Karl and Charlotte Buhler who founded the psychology institute at the University of Vienna.

In 1927, Jahoda married Paul Lazarsfeld, who was a professor at the University, and applied to the social psychology research unit. This unit is where Jahoda, Lazarsfeld, and their colleagues created a sociography of working class districts in Vienna (Rutherford, 2013). Their work went mostly unknown until its second release date in 1971, as most original copies were destroyed by burning because they were written by Jewish authors (Rutherford, 2013). Lazarsfeld and Jahoda had one child together in 1930 named Lotte Bailyn. Just four years later in 1934, the pair divorced (Unger, 1999). That same year, Vienna fell to the Nazis and the Social Democrats (including Jahoda) went underground.

In 1936, Jahoda was arrested for having affiliations with social revolutionaries. It was believed that she was using the social psychology research center started by Lazarsfeld as a secret mail drop for the social revolutionaries. Jahoda was tried and found guilty and was then sentenced to three months in prison. She was released on the conditions that she would leave the country and her work and family behind (Rutherford, 2013). Jahoda planned to go to England for Lotte to spend a year in the United States with Lazarsfeld, then come to England. But World War II was then declared and Lotte was to stay in the United States. During Jahoda’s time in England, she continued her work on unemployment for the British foreign office.

When World War II ended in 1945, Jahoda moved to the United States to be reunited with her daughter. Jahoda got a job with the American Jewish Committee where she studied topics such as the reduction of prejudice, the authoritarian personality, and the connection between emotional disorders and anti-semitism. Jahoda then joined the Bureau of Applied Social Research, where she began an affiliation with sociologist Robert Merton and psychologist Stuart Cook. It is here in 1949 that Jahoda became the associate director of the Research Center for Human Relations (Rutherford, 2013). She was also elected first female president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (SPSSI) in 1953, only 8 years after she had moved to the United States.

In 1958, Jahoda moved back to England and married Austen Albu, who was a member of Parliament. In 1965, Jahoda became a professor at the University of Sussex. Jahoda continued her research in psychology until her retirement in 1972 and then joined the Scientific Research Policy Unit as a research fellow. During retirement, Jahoda wrote many books on subjects such as futurism, Freud, and unemployment. On April 28, 2001, Marie Jahoda died (Unger, 1999).

Important Achievements  

As a pioneer in psychology, Marie Jahoda’s primary focus was on unemployment and mental health, both separately and together. She authored and co-authored eight books and co-edited five books, along with her work on various papers (Unger, 1999). This included the two-volume SPSSI-sponsored text Research Methods in Social Relations (Rutherford, 2013). Jahoda was also honored with awards and titles that show her importance in the field of psychology both then and now.

In Work, Employment, and Unemployment: Values, Theories, and Approaches in Social Research, Jahoda talked about employment and how being employed or unemployed can influence a person’s life. For example, she discussed how employment imposed a time structure, created shared experiences on a regular basis, enforced activity, brought like-minded people together, provided socialization outside the family, and helped to define personal status or identity (Jahoda, 1981). Altogether, Jahoda used the theories of other prominent research in psychology to determine the importance of employment to a person.

Jahoda also conducted research on mental health, such as that in The Meaning of Psychological Health. Specifically, Jahoda wrote about how psychological health was seen negatively, such as assuming the absence of a mental disease meaning one’s mental health was perfect, or how a person surviving meant they were in good psychological health (Jahoda, 1953). Jahoda also noted that psychological health was a “social psychological notion,” meaning it cannot be determined as “poor health” if it fell within the social norm. Rather, behavior itself must cause poor psychological health and must include distorted perceptual/cognitive processes (Jahoda, 1953).

Along with her previous work, Jahoda also did work in the field of social psychology such as writing Conformity and Independence: A Psychological Analysis. This paper talked about what conformity and independence mean and how they are interconnected. She mentioned the monumental study by Asch on conformity and other studies and how they all contribute to the meaning of conformity. Jahoda also pondered whether independence was attainable and mentioned that more research needed to be done to determine how interconnected conformity and independence were (Jahoda, 1959). This work added to her impressive portfolio of influential psychological work.

Along with her many academic accomplishments, Marie Jahoda also received many honors for her work. In 1955, Jahoda became the first female president of the SPSSI, or the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues (Rutherford, 2013). This organization was established to “provide a forum for socially conscious psychologists to apply psychological research to social issues.” (Rutherford, 2013). As mentioned before, Jahoda authored, co-authored, or co-edited fourteen books, which is a great accomplishment (Unger, 1999). In 1979, Jahoda received an award for her contributions to the public interest from the American Psychological Association or APA (Unger, 1999). She worked with the American Jewish Committee to help reduce prejudice and received honorary awards from the British Psychological Society. Jahoda was also honored with an award bestowed by Queen Elizabeth: the Commander of the British Empire Medal (Unger, 1999). When looking at the many achievements Marie Jahoda accomplished, it can be seen why her status as a pioneer of psychology is well earned.

Historical Context 

A prominent time for Marie Jahoda in her career ranged from 1945-1953. In 1953, Jahoda was nominated as the first female president of the Society for the Psychological Study of Social Issues. The zeitgeist during these years was the Civil Rights Movement which highlighted African Americans fighting for social justice and being targeted for violent acts. The rise of nonviolent measures taken by the Black community was a new aspect of the fight (Fairclough, 1990). In general, Jahoda was influential during a time when minorities were battling for equal rights.

During Marie Jahoda’s time, the Nazis also came to power, which may have exerted some influence on her work, including her studies surrounding unemployment, antisemitism and prejudice. During this era, she accepted a position for research in the field in South Wales with her studies centering on unemployed miners who were trying to help themselves. Amid this study, a man assisted with the escape of Jahoda’s mother from Vienna, as it was being overrun by Nazis. In fear, the man hid the report for decades. When Jahoda conveyed the concluding details of the study to the man, he insisted the analysis would put his life and work in jeopardy (Fleck, 2021). Taking everything into account, Jahoda undergoing these experiences during this time period had effects on the path of her work.

In the field of psychology, an influence on Marie Jahoda was Karl Buehler at the University of Vienna. She studied under him in the late 1920s then later graduated. It must have been difficult for Jahoda, as a woman in this period, to find an accepting person to help her advance her career. Her love for social psychology grew over the course of years and she became the director of social psychological research at the University of Vienna in 1933. A statement by Jahoda in an interview about social psychology reflected her love for the field: “What I have been after all the time, with more or less success unfortunately, is to keep the interaction between the social world and the functioning of the individual jointly, simultaneously, in mind” (Fryer, 1986). Thus, Buehler allowing Jahoda to study under him gave her the opportunity to further and expand her knowledge in a region she was passionate about.

Marie Jahoda went on to influence many women voyaging in the field of psychology and women entering the working field. Three people she further influenced were Johann Bacher, Julia Hofmann, and George Hubman. These are three sociologists who all had the same goal in mind, which was to aid in addressing social issues. They all had an education in social science at the same university, with the objective to diminish social distinctions (Hofmann, 2019). What they obtained from Jahoda’s work was a focus on the real world problems people endure and a willingness to collaborate with people of other educational backgrounds. All in all, Marie Jahoda was a successful sociologist who still has an impact on researchers’ work today.

Historical Impact 

Marie Jahoda had an immense impact on the field of psychology, especially when it comes to her concept of Positive Mental Health (PMH). The goal of this idea is to identify a person’s amplitude to connect with the environment by comprehending it and conforming to its requests, while finding ways to ensure a healthy mental state (Monterrosa-Castro et al., 2023). This concept was proposed by Jahoda in 1950 and consisted of six portions, including feelings directed towards self, integration, autonomy, grasp on reality, awareness of environment, and growth. This was impactful because it explored psychology not just in the presence of abnormality. Jahoda’s concept is a crucial example for researchers who recognize mental health without disease (Teixeira et al., 2019). Overall, this was a significant finding that many psychologists utilize in their research.

When considering the impact of Marie Jahoda and her work on the field of psychology, it can be seen how her work has been a positive influence. First consider her work on unemployment. Thinking about the current climate of the country, there are many reasons why her work is continuing to make an impact on psychology today. For example, her work has been cited in studies varying from the impact of mental health and job loss during the COVID-19 pandemic to schizophrenic individuals and employment (Marwaha & Johnson, 2004; Posel et. al., 2021). Along with these, thousands of other studies have cited Work, Employment, and Unemployment: Values, Theories, and Approaches in Social Research. Her mental health research has also been cited many times in similar research. One interesting study which cited Jahoda’s work in Conformity and Independence: A Psychological Analysis relates to the perceived usefulness of online customer reviews (Majumder et. al., 2022). The results of this study can help those inside and outside the field of psychology understand how human behavior related to online customer reviews can be interpreted. It is especially helpful to those who are marketing to people on the world wide web and how online retailers can better market their products (Majumder et. al., 2022). Thus, even in the last year, her research is still being cited.

Psychology has also advanced greatly because of Marie Jahoda’s influence. As stated above, the idea of positive mental health was developed by Jahoda. According to Jahoda (1953), positive mental health could be viewed as an “enduring” personality trait or as a less permanent function of personality. Her six approaches to positive mental health are still widely used today. Positive mental health today includes an attitude towards one’s own self, self-confidence, and self-reliance. Jahoda’s idea of investment in one’s self to move towards higher goals is also used today. Jahoda’s idea of positive mental health having balanced forces, a unified outlook on life and a resistance to stress has advanced the idea of positive mental health. Jahoda’s idea of self determination and independence in decision making is greatly influential today (Jahoda, 1958). Lastly, Jahoda’s idea of mastery of the environment to achieve success in social roles and function in those roles has influenced the view on positive mental health today (Jahoda, 1958).

References 

Fairclough, A. (1990). Historians and the Civil Rights Movement. Journal of American Studies, 24(3), 387–398. https://doi.org/10.1017/s0021875800033697

Fleck, C. (2021). Lazarsfeld’s wives, or: What happened to women sociologists in the Twentieth Century. International Review of Sociology, 31(1), 49–71. https://doi.org/10.1080/03906701.2021.1926672

Fryer, D. (1986). The Social Psychology of The Invisible: An interview with Marie Jahoda. New Ideas in Psychology, 4(1), 107–118. https://doi.org/10.1016/0732-118x(86)90063-2

Hofmann, J. B. and J. (2019, March 14). Taking inspiration from Marie Jahoda. Global Dialogue, Magazine of International Sociology Association. https://globaldialogue.isa-sociology.org/articles/taking-inspiration-from-marie-jahoda

Jahoda, M. (1959). Conformity and independence: A psychological analysis. Human Relations, 12(2), 99-120.

Jahoda, M. (1953). The meaning of psychological health. Social Casework, 34(8), 349-354.

Jahoda, M. (1981). Work, employment, and unemployment: Values, theories, and approaches in social research. American psychologist, 36(2), 184.

Majumder, M. G., Gupta, S. D., & Paul, J. (2022). Perceived usefulness of online customer reviews: A review mining approach using machine learning & exploratory data analysis. Journal of Business Research, 150, 147-164.

Marwaha, S., & Johnson, S. (2004). Schizophrenia and employment: a review. Social psychiatry and psychiatric epidemiology, 39, 337-349.

Monterrosa-Castro, A., Romero-Martinez, S., & Monterrosa-Blanco, A. (2023). Levels of interpretation of positive maternal mental health and its association with Obstetric and Psychosocial Factors: A cross-sectional study. Research Square. https://doi.org/10.21203/rs.3.rs-2517797/v1

Parker, I. (2014). Dilemmas of psychoanalysis and psychology: Critical conceptions of subjectivity in the work of Marie Jahoda. South African Journal of Psychology, 45(2), 147–154. https://doi.org/10.1177/0081246314543057

Posel, D., Oyenubi, A., & Kollamparambil, U. (2021). Job loss and mental health during the COVID-19 lockdown: Evidence from South Africa. PloS one, 16(3), e0249352.

Rutherford, A. (2020). Encounters between feminism and psychology: Territories of critique and Collusion. Psychologie Und Kritik, 289–307. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-658-29486-1_13

Stiglbauer, B., & Batinic, B. (2012). The role of Jahoda’s latent and financial benefits for work involvement: A longitudinal study. Journal of Vocational Behavior, 81(2), 259–268. https://doi-org.ezproxy.library.und.edu/10.1016/j.jvb.2012.07.008

Teixeira, S. M., Coelho, J. C., Sequeira, C. A., Lluch i Canut, M. T., & Ferré-Grau, C. (2019). The effectiveness of positive mental health programs in adults: A systematic review. Health & Social Care in the Community. https://doi.org/10.1111/hsc.12776

Unger, Rhoda K. (1999, December 31). Marie Jahoda. Jewish Women’s Archive. https://jwa.org/encyclopedia/article/jahoda-marie