McDougall, William (American psychologist)

William McDougall, 1871–1938, American psychologist, b. Lancashire, England, educated at Cambridge, Oxford, and Gottingen. An important figure in the development of social and physiological psychology, he was a professor of psychology at Harvard (1920–27), and at Duke from 1927 until his death. He studied eugenics and heredity, and for 17 years conducted experiments on the inheritance of acquired characteristics. He maintained that individuals are motivated by inherited instincts that push them toward goals which may be unknown to them. His works include An Introduction to Social Psychology (1908–50, repr. 1973) and Physiological Psychology (1920).

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Publication information: Article title: McDougall, William (American psychologist). Encyclopedia title: The Columbia Encyclopedia, 6th ed.. © 2012 The Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia © 2012, Columbia University Press. Licensed from Columbia University Press. Used with the permission of Columbia University Press. All Rights Reserved. Publisher: The Columbia University Press. Place of publication: Not available. Publication year: 2013.

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