Psychology and Pop Culture
Don’t Panic!
Famous words from the cult book Hitchhiker Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams published in the late 70s which till today defines pop-culture and molds the minds on many great personalities including Elon Musk.
Psychology is a scientific study of the human behaviour and mind, exploring processes such as perception, cognition, emotion, intelligence and personality. Often, these investigations also extend to interpersonal relationships and other sociological areas. Researchers use empirical and deductive methods to infer causal and correlative relationships between various mental parameters.
On the other hand, the term “Popular Culture” which originated in the mid-19th century, referred to cultural traditions of societies, in contrast to “Official Culture” which was more towards organisations, state or government classes. In modern day pop culture reflects a myriad of cultural expressions ranging from arts, literature, music, fashion, cyberculture, films, TV and radio which is devoured by a majority (mainly young) of the population.
What then links these two diverse concepts to each other?
Psychology plays an inherent role in shaping the thoughts and actions of our mainstream society, which in turn governs our cultural and traditional values. Similarly, by study and keen observations we can state that popular culture is a reflection of the on-going and evolving social, cultural and even political scenarios.
In today’s age the way we think and how we associate this thinking to varying circumstances and situations depends on our daily dose of social media, viral feeds, hypes, buzzwords and trending hashtags. This thought process (i.e our psychology) in turn is one of the primary factors that not only forms but continues to influence pop culture and how we assess/analyze our surroundings.
Analogically, psychology and popular culture are two sides of the same coin. Academic studies consider these topics as strangers growing up on different ideological campuses. Even though both disciplines enlighten and enrich our lived human experience, psychology adheres to impart this knowledge through legitimacy and factual data whereas popular culture relies on subjective and phenomenon driven events.
A great source to explore the intertwining of these diametrically opposing concepts, is to review the topics of recent National conferences of PCA (Pop Culture Association). In the summer of 2009, the PCA (Popular Culture Association) added a new dimension, psychology, mental health, mental illness and popular culture.
In 2010, at the PCA/ACA annual conference, panelists from diverse disciplines delved further into psychology and pop culture sharing a manifold of ideas from Stephanie Meyers vampires, to Disney’s animated films which have exacerbated upon childhood fears.
More recently in the 2018 PCA meeting genres like Comics and Comic Art: Psychology and Identity, Psychology in Science Fiction & Fantasy were featured, where many speakers were psychologists. There was even a complete panel called “Tolkien Studies” dedicated to the concepts and ideas of J. R. Tolkien wherein one session addressed a multi-disciplinary approach into the political, psychological and archival of related literature and images.
Two more notable topics that further reinforce the synergy of psychology and pop culture were:
● Improvisation and Mental Health
Psychology Professor Jim Robinson talks about Anxiety as future-oriented experience, emphasizing we dread what we don’t know and what we can’t control. His concept is that Improvisation’s focus on “carpe diem” being in-the-moment which grounds the participants in the present, releasing them from the worry that they can’t know what will happen next.
● Artifacts, Identity, and the Psychology of Shapes
The Function of Band Logos in the Merchandising of Heavy Metal Music. In this talk Dr. Brian Conforth dives into the importance of Logos and their artwork, shapes and colours and how these logos attracts fans contributing to the success of bands and sales of their merchandise.
A quick google search provides several examples for the intrinsic relationships between Psychology and Pop culture. An interesting correlation is uncovered where architecture reflects a society’s psychopathology. Dr. Harald Deinsberger-Deinsweger, from the Institute for Residential and Architectural Psychology in Austria, is investigating the question of how the design of residential, working and recreation spaces have the most positive effects on people working and living together.
In 2006, there was a study and a volume entitled Psychotropic Drugs and Popular Culture: Medicine, Mental Health and the Media was honored with the Ray and Pat Browne Award for best anthology, a testament to the perceived utility of collaboration between the disciplines.
Another collaboration being led by clinical psychology in conjunction with various pop culture entities like, Association for Play Therapy, Art and Music Therapy and Division of Media Psychology of the American Psychological Association together inform psychotherapists and counselors on how to integrate the fruits of popular culture into their clinical work with children, teenagers and adults.
In conclusion, we see that both psychology and popular culture are circular processes feeding and fueling each other. Even though this relation is empirical it is still sublime and the line of distinction many a times are blurred. Although we academically tend to treat and study these as watertight compartments, we cannot avoid the seepage from one to another.
We can be sure that in the future we will only see these two disciplines interact and grow forming a symbiosis which will provide society a platform that are both interactive and enriching. As socially responsible citizens we have to adhere to the core values of science-based psychology as well as trending cultural ideas to provide the planet with best of both worlds.
