author
William McDougall
1871–1938
A pioneering psychologist of the early 20th century, he helped shape modern thinking about instinct, social behavior, and the forces that drive human action. His career took him from Britain to the United States, where his ideas sparked both influence and debate.
2 Audiobooks
The Group Mind: A Sketch of the Principles of Collective Psychology With Some Attempt to Apply Them to the Interpretation of National Life and Character
by William McDougall
The Pagan Tribes of Borneo A Description of Their Physical Moral and Intellectual Condition, with Some Discussion of Their Ethnic Relations
by Charles Hose, William McDougall
About the author
Born in Chadderton, Lancashire, on June 22, 1871, William McDougall became one of the most prominent psychologists of his era. He taught at University College London, Oxford, Harvard, and later Duke University, building an international reputation through his research, teaching, and wide-ranging books.
He is especially remembered for arguing that instinct plays a central role in human behavior and for helping establish social psychology in the English-speaking world. His book An Introduction to Social Psychology was particularly influential, and Britannica also notes his importance in experimental and physiological psychology.
McDougall's work was ambitious and sometimes controversial, reaching beyond mainstream psychology into questions about mind and psychic research. He died in Durham, North Carolina, on November 28, 1938, but his writing remains a vivid window into an important moment in the history of psychology.