Estudo e ensino de psicologia no México

Abstract

This article seeks to understand the uses that the Methodist community in Mexico gave to the knowledge of psychology. Throughout the investigation, it is shown how this new field of knowledge was already present in the contexts of education for pastors, already in education for women. Psychological language became a fundamental resource for the establishment of new forms of bonding with people. It was even believed that psychology could be used to make conversions more effective. The treatment we offer to achieve our objective consists of the development of three sections: in the first, “Psychology in the Methodist imaginary”, we seek to establish the adjudication that the Methodist community made of a psi cultural encyclopedia. In the second, “Interests in psychology” we present, as an introduction, the way in which psychology was used mainly for two issues: to support the idea of the superiority of the soul over the body and psychology as a resource for educational effectiveness. In the last section, “Psychological institution and architectural spaces”, the position that the teaching staff of the Methodist community granted to psychology and the spaces in which this field was introduced is disclosed.