Transformational Psychology

This article presents an introduction to a proposed transformational psychology. Our use of the term is to characterize a school of psychological thought, theory, and research that emphasizes those aspects of psychology directed toward the discernment and achievement of a common good—a good that will make the world a better place for all. A transformational psychologist has as a primary goal to make a positive, meaningful, and potentially enduring difference to the world, at some level. We contrast transformational psychology with transactional psychology, which is psychology directed toward achieving a kind of tit-for-tat exchange of rewards, such as the production of articles or the application of therapy, with primary goals such as the acquisition of resources, publications, grants, promotions, or other specifiable tangible rewards. We also contrast transformational psychology with pseudo-transformational psychology, which is the superficial appearance of transformation, but is actually directed toward the acquisition of resources at the expense of others and which too often results in doing harm to others. We review various schools of psychology and show how the distinction proposed here crosscuts other schools. We propose ways in which transformational psychology might become integrated into instruction, in psychology, and otherwise.