Readers Respond: Who Is the Most Influential Psychologist?

Responses: 93

By Kendra Cherry, About.com Guide

Wundt is to be praise for his pioneering work on Experimental Psychology. William James for his contributions to psychology as a whole.
—Guest RAJAMOHAN Dr

Abraham Maslow's humanistic principle of just letting the patient be more aware of himself and the patient will complete his way is an extremely pretty concept.
—Guest Abd El-Hady

Why aren't Stanley Milgram and Philip Zimbardo included? Their experiments on social psychology and the influence of peer pressure and authority on behavior is extremely relevant, even today.
—Guest Josephine Hagan

Jung of course without forgetting his interest for the soul, the Self and Assagioli (1888-1974) psychiatrist contemporary of both Freud and Jung, less "flamboyant" than Freud but whose real contribution should be recognized specially if we want to create a world worth of our true Self (see one of his books : Transpersonal development (development of spiritual consciousness.) Assiagioli used the word spiritual in a very wide sense including all states of consciousness, activities having to do with values above the norm (ethical aesthetic, altruistic values, ...) our world needs more Assagiolis.
—Guest marti

Alfred Adler is the most influential thinker in psychology. He contributed a great deal to the research and applications of individual psychology.
—Guest manjula

There is Bowlby - most of the events that occur in an individual's life if affected by the attachments with their primary caregivers. After that there is Jung, Harlow, Vygotsky, Milgrim, Maslow, Kohlberg, Adler, Beck, Chomsky, Gilligan. I think that a top 10 list is very difficult to do since most famous psychologists focus on very specific ideas. But honestly I think John Watson should be kicked off - but that could just be my own blind hatred for him.
—Guest hamsibian

Ajzen developed the theory of planned behavior, which is one of the most influential and fundamental theories in human behavior.
—Guest Bob

Maslow's pyramid gives him a top 10 place. It's still being taught in schools all over the world. But Watson, besides him being a lousy psychologist, made psychology a household subject. Milgram have made the most influential experiment ever.
—Guest Jurij Fedorov

Jung! The dark-knight student of Freud who has influenced so much in personality psychology, archetypes and theories on the unconscious... Not to mention his influence on religion? How could he be missed.
—Guest Guest

Absolutely Carl Gustav Jung was one of the most influential psychologists. His theories of the collective Unconscious and archetypes among so many others have been very influential in understanding 'mystery' and it's role in the psyche.
—Guest amira462

Jeff Mitchell put Critical Incident Stress Debriefing on the map--and created a very organized and sensible model. He has trained thousands of professionals and para-professionals.
—Guest Brain Butcher

After carrying out an HNC in Childcare & Education I believe we should take on board the work of John Bowlby,s Attachment theory, before we look at another theorist. If children aren't able to make attachments outwith the primary carer how can we expect them to make attachments to their teacher when they go to school, which will be a barrier to learning. Tina Bruce and other play theorists suggest that children learn through play, but other theorists suggest that parents are their children's first educators but if they cant make attachments then the provider of the play will struggle to enable the child to progress in the setting. I believe that children do progress through stages at different times but the attachment has to hare happened so the children will feel safe, secure and comfortable with the provider in order to progress.
—Guest allison

His work in "Ecopsychology" revolutionized how we understand the Human-Nature relationship.
—Guest Yoohoo

Freud create an impact on dreams which is still much meaningful to the modern psychology. Wundt introduced introspection, and much influence on psychology and to be first man to help psychology break out of philosophy in it's own right.
—Guest freud and wundt

He is so intellectual and very precise on his mind for his madness and conclusions that leave you still in trembles of not knowing.
—Guest Destinee Earnheart(16)

Kendra Cherry
Psychology Guide