Abstract

FAGGION, Melline Ortega  and  BOARINI, Maria Lucia. The Psychology by the optics of Renato Kehl. Estud. pesqui. psicol. [online]. 2018, vol.18, n.spe, pp. 1239-1256. ISSN 1808-4281.

Several members of the Brazilian League of Mental Hygiene / LBHM had significant place in the process of diffusion and consolidation of psychology in Brazil. The goal of LBHM was to contribute to the transformation of the country into a modern nation, like the European countries. Aligned with this proposal, it had as its principle the idea of​mental hygiene and, from 1928, the ideology of eugenics. In this work, we aim to analyze the works Vulgar Types, published in 1927, and Psychology of Personality, published in 1941, by Renato Kehl (1889-1974), an active member of the League, standing out as a defender and publicist of eugenics. Going through these works in light of the historicity of the facts, we observe that the psychological knowledge diffused and appropriated by the author, refer to a psychology considered as scientific, reverberated by the experimental physiology of European psychology. In the works, it is remarkable the debate about the knowledge and evaluation of the personality for the construction of a strong nation. It is also striking the biological conception of man and the secondary character of social relations in human formation. Kehl's assertions shed light on the contributions of psychology at that time and make us reflect critically on conceptions still prevalent in the scientific and professional field of psychology.

Keywords : personality; Renato Kehl; eugenics; history of psychology.

        · abstract in Portuguese | Spanish     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )