Psychobiography as a means to understanding langer’s contributions to psychological science

Abstract

Trained as a generalist viewing psychology as a unified science, one of my most frequently cited publications (Demick 2000) is an article arguing that Langer’s theory of mindfulness has the makings of becoming aunifying framework for the field. Since that article demonstrated my academic bent, the present chapter employs my complementary practitioner leanings, using psychobiography as a framework for understanding Langer’s contributions to psychological science. Independent transactions in similar cultural and the same academic environments simultaneously, 30 years of a professional friendship, and informal observations in laboratory meetings serve as data to reconstruct the underpinnings of her worldview shaping the problems, theory, and methods that have led her to become one of the most influential psychologists of all time.