The New Psychology

Psychology emerged as distinct discipline during the Belle Époque. The Sorbonne established France's first psychology laboratory in 1889. Théodule Ribot, holding the first psychology chair, studied memory, attention, and personality scientifically rather than philosophically.

Pierre Janet developed theories of dissociation and subconsciousness parallel to but distinct from Freud's. His work with "hysterical" patients at the Salpêtrière revealed trauma's psychological effects. Unlike Freud's sexual emphasis, Janet stressed psychological automatism and fixed ideas.

Alfred Binet revolutionized educational psychology. His intelligence tests, developed with Théodore Simon, aimed to identify children needing special education. Though later misused for racist purposes, Binet intended helping disadvantaged students. He warned against reifying test scores: "Intelligence is not a single, unitary ability."

Women subjects dominated psychological research—hysteria studies, in particular—but women researchers remained rare. Dr. Marguerite Mespoulet, Binet's assistant, contributed significantly to intelligence testing but received little recognition. The gendered dynamic of male scientists studying female patients reinforced rather than challenged assumptions.

Crowd psychology fascinated Belle Époque thinkers. Gustave Le Bon's "The Crowd: A Study of the Popular Mind" (1895) influenced politicians and advertisers. His theories about crowds' irrationality and suggestibility seemed confirmed by mass politics and consumer culture. Democracy itself appeared threatened by psychological forces.