Novels, plays, short stories and certain poems all have characters with thoughts, motivations and emotions. These are topics that are studied by psychologists and social workers. When most people think of psychology, they think of Freud. However, Freud was obviously not the only psychologist, and psychoanalysis is not the only branch of psychology. Psychology is a very big area of study with many branches and sub-fields including developmental, emotional, social, abnormal, cultural, etc. The socioemotional and sociocultural fields of psychology are more related to human emotion and motivation on a larger scale than Freud’s psychosexual stages of development. Furthermore, by taking these psychologically-related classes, English majors can have a deeper understanding of the characters in the books they are assigned to read.
During my first semester at Adelphi, Fall 2015, I took a class called Essentials of Healthful Living. In that class, we discussed individual personal goals. Additionally, we discussed intrinsic and extrinsic motivation. To define it, intrinsic motivation refers to a person seeking out a goal for independent self-interest, whereas extrinsic motivation refers to goals triggered or enhanced by other people. Of course, as an English major, I had to take Literature in English 1. I had a little trouble analyzing the works at first. I thought about different ways to approach "The Wife of Bath," a story in Chaucer’s "Canterbury Tales," and then I asked myself what Alisoun, the main character in "The Wife of Bath," was wanting and needing. I carried this philosophy with me throughout the rest of the school year and it helped my grades a lot. At the end of the Fall 2015 semester, we read "The Duchess of Malfi" by John Webster. Louise Geddes, my professor, offered an extra credit final examination. The question was “Is Bosola redeemed at the end of the play?” I answered yes thinking about his shift from solely extrinsic to a mix of intrinsic and extrinsic motivations at the end of the play.
In the Spring 2016 semester, I took Social Psychology, along with Literature in English III. Not only did I learn about the thoughts and emotions of individuals, but also how they interact with one another in social and cultural contexts. One of the very first units we covered in Social Psychology was the social self. We learned terms such as self-concept and self-esteem. At the same time, I was reading "Jane Eyre" in my literature class. I read it before a long time ago, but I was excited to read it again. As I reread it, I thought about how Jane’s self-esteem and self-worth affect her relationships with those around her throughout the narrative. This approach helped me engage actively in class conversations. Shortly after, we discussed racism and prejudice in Social Psychology. Coincidentally, we had a unit on race and slavery in Literature in English III. One of the terms we covered in Social Psychology during our prejudice unit was implicit bias. This topic triggered me to look for ways in which the Caucasian characters in the short stories of Charles Waddell Chesnutt and Joseph Conrad’s "Heart of Darkness" demonstrate implicit racism. Another major topic in Social Psychology was conformity and obedience. Specifically, we discussed public and private conformity. Without learning about public and private conformity, I do not think I could have made it through "Mrs. Dalloway," a modernist novel by Virginia Woolf that many English majors struggle to get through. Even I had a little trouble reading it at first. What makes "Mrs. Dalloway" such a difficult novel to read is that it is actually so simple. When you look at the novel in the big picture, it about a woman getting ready for a party and she, along with the people around her, have thoughts and flashbacks. The best way to read "Mrs. Dalloway" is to think of it as a record of internal thoughts. This was the method I used when reading it. Furthermore, the knowledge from my psychology classes helped me understand the professor when she discussed modernist terms like “stream of consciousness” and “chains of associations.” Moreover, when reading "Mrs. Dalloway," I thought about how Clarissa Dalloway and Septimus Smith shift from public conformity and extrinsic motivation to private, intrinsic motivation. Hence, taking psychology classes can help English majors understand the works of literature that are more difficult to read. Additionally, taking psychology classes can help English majors with a concentration in creative writing with developing characters, especially if they plan to provide deep descriptions of the thoughts of their characters.
That being said, English majors should be assigned to take classes related to the socioemotional and sociocultural realms of psychology. Additionally, psychology and social work majors should be assigned to take literature classes to use as a platform to apply their knowledge of clinical assessment and treatment.
