Great Books in Psychology: Three Studies in Search of a Consensus

Abstract

Three studies were conducted to determine a consensual list of psychology's great books. In the first study, 39 colleges described the composition of their undergraduate Great Books (GBs) curricula. Fifty-six percent of the 39 colleges assigned some psychology-related materials, but these materials accounted for only 4% of all readings. In the second study, 186 psychologists nominated 463 books as psychology's GBs. In the third study, 83 APA division presidents and 117 Division Two fellows rated the books and authors most frequently nominated in the second study in terms of those that undergraduate psychology majors should read. Books achieving the highest ratings were James's Principles of Psychology, Hall and Lindzey's Theories of Personality, Skinner's Beyond Freedom and Dignity, Darwin's On the Origin of Species, and Boring's History of Experimental Psychology. Top rated authors were Skinner, Freud, James, Piaget, Rogers, Darwin, Bandura, G. Allport, and Erikson.