Page 129 - EMCAPP-Journal No. 5

A Portrait of a Christian Psychologist: Paul C. Vitz

Werner May (Germany)
“I am Optimistic about the Future on Mondays,

Wednesdays, and Fridays…”

A Christian Psychologist in Interview: Paul Vitz (USA)

For many years, you were Professor of Psychology at New York University. Initially, you concentrated on
the study of cognitive processes, but then transferred your emphasis to personality psychology. Along with
this came your turning to the Christian faith. Why did the person suddenly become the centre of your
interest?

Before I focused on cognitive psychology in my post-doctoral research I had “majored” in personality
& human motivation during my pre-doctoral studies at Stanford so it wasn’t such a big change. Also,
at NYU I had been teaching their graduate course on personality and while doing that I became very
critical of the supposed scientific basis of much of it.
It became very clear to me in the early 1970‘s that so called „self-actualization“ was really a purpose
for people’s life. But, such purposes have nothing to do with what is genuine, natural science. Yet the
goal of self- actualization was implicitly being represented as true -as supported by psychology as a
new form of scientific knowledge. I also discovered that this idea was widely accepted and influential
throughout the country (the US).
As a Christian who had just rediscovered the Faith I knew this secular „religion“ should be challenged.
A good many scientific psychologists supported my critique - though usually without agreeing with
my Christian position. Today, fortunately, large numbers of people of various types generally agree
with my critique, though self-worship still remains reasonably popular- it always has been. („You
shall be as gods“ is a familiar & ancient temptation). But the field of psychology has radically shifted
from this sort of narcissistic emphasis to one giving strong support for interpersonal relations, often
emphasizing a kind of self-giving. Also, of course, there is a rise in emphasis on the virtues, as in the
work of Seligman.

The topic of “identity” belongs to personality psychology. A number of Christian concepts of identity seem
to me somewhat too simplistic.
How would you describe Christian identity?

I don’t think there is any specific kind of Christian identity in the sense of some special mental content
or personal character. The crucial issue is our love of our Lord and our response to God’s will. Your
particular personality or character will be expressed without your awareness. One interesting thing
about the saints and other holy Christians is that their personalities have varied enormously. The
character or identity of people such as college professors, lawyers, farmers, nurses, school teachers,
soldiers and bus drivers have some common components, a common identity - but God seems to
make saints out all the human types and different identities. He cuts across all such categories.

In 1977 you published “Psychology as a Religion”, a book which received much public attention and made
you internationally known. What was the central message?

I became a Christian a few years before that book came out. The central message was that modern
psychology had substituted a kind of narcissistic self-worship or self pre-occupation as the purpose of
life and was implicitly, or sometime explicitly, claiming this was ‘truth”- part of natural science. The
usual language was to call this purpose self-actualization or self-realization.

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