Lewin's equation

Lewin's equation, B = f(P, E), is a heuristic formula proposed by psychologist Kurt Lewin as an explanation of what determines behavior.'A physically identical environment can be psychologically different even for the same man in different conditions.''Even when from the standpoint of the physicist the environment is identical or nearly identical for a child and or an adult, the psychological situation can be fundamentally different.''Every psychological event depends upon the state of the person and at the same time on the environment, although their relative importance is different in different cases.''The question whether heredity or environment plays the greater part also belongs to this kind of thinking. The transition of the Galilean thinking involved a recognition of the general validity of the thesis: An event is always the result of the interaction of several facts.''The psychological reality...does not depend upon whether or not the content...exists in a physical or social sense....The existence or nonexistence...of a psychological fact are independent of the existence or nonexistence to which its content refers.'' influence of the previous history is to be thought of as indirect in dynamic psychology: From the point of view of systematic causation, past events cannot influence present events. Past events can only have a position in the historical causal chains whose interweavings create the present situation.' Lewin's equation, B = f(P, E), is a heuristic formula proposed by psychologist Kurt Lewin as an explanation of what determines behavior. The formula states that behavior is a function of the person and his or her environment: Where B {displaystyle B} is behavior, P {displaystyle P} is Person, and E {displaystyle E} is the environment. This equation was first presented in Lewin's book, Principles of Topological Psychology, published in 1936. The equation was proposed as an attempt to unify the different branches of psychology (e.g. child psychology, animal psychology, psychopathology) with a flexible theory applicable to all distinct branches of psychology. This equation is directly related to Lewin's field theory. Field theory is centered around the idea that a person's life space determines their behavior. Thus, the equation was also expressed as B = f(L), where L is the life space. In Lewin's book, he first presents the equation as B = f(S), where behavior is a function of the whole situation (S). He then extended this original equation by suggesting that the whole situation could be roughly split into two parts: the person (P) and the environment (E). According to Lewin, social behavior, in particular, was the most psychologically interesting and relevant behavior. Lewin held that the variables in the equation (e.g. P and E) could be replaced with the specific, unique situational and personal characteristics of the individual. As a result, he also believed that his formula, while seemingly abstract and theoretical, had distinct concrete applications for psychology. Many scholars (and even Lewin himself) have acknowledged the influence of Gestalt psychology on Lewin's work. Lewin's field theory holds that a number of different and competing forces combine to result in the totality of the situation. A single person's behavior may be different in unique situations, as he or she is acting partly in response to these differential forces and factors (e.g. the environment, or E):