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110 Annals Am. Acad. Pol. & Soc. Sci. 1 (1923)

handle is hein.cow/anamacp0110 and id is 1 raw text is: Human Nature in Business
BY C. H. CRENNAN

ANOTHER book on psychology
calls for a prefatory statement if
not for a plea of confession and avoid-
ance. Business men are oversold on
psychology, said one of the most
prominent psychologists in the country.
And there was no beguiling him into
filling any of the space between the
covers of this volume. The word psy-
chology in a title will sell any book.
This fairly represents the opinion of a
publisher who prints books for profit.
Members of the Editorial Council of
The Annals, almost to a man, seemed
unusually interested in the outline of
this number. They had ideas-too
many ideas to be developed and recon-
ciled in one volume.
A T the heart of every business situa-
tion is a human nature problem.
Business men know this. They do not
need illustrations. Each can think of
incidents in point from his own ex-
perience.
Business is a game of men. Business
men know this also, and act accord-
ingly. The schools teach precept and
principle to which business men do lip
service. But in the pinches they ma-
nipulate men. And not all men are
equal, by birth or training. Most just
get by. Mediocrity is popular, or at
least prevalent. Some men rate high
in particular brands of courage, at
times, while most range fearfully low.
2

Some leaders in business add good
judgment to courage at least 51 per
cent of the time. The combination
makes them leaders. Some men are
fools-and business is a game of men.
PSYCHOLOGY is a maze of mys-
tery and magic to most of us who
are laymen. It sometimes seems to be
even to the professionals. The old-
fashioned psychology that we studied
in school has been upset by the func-
tionalists, the instinct  crowd, the
Freudians, the behaviorists, the in-
telligence testers and psychiatrists.
We are confused if we try to follow
the latest fashions in the field. But
we are assured that psychology has
wonder-working power and that it can
be applied in business, with profit.
PSYCHOLOGISTS are special stu-
dents of human nature. Theirs is
the task to take some of the mystery
out of psychology, to tell what it is and
how it can be applied in business.
Theirs, also, is the task of showing what
has been done, as well as what reason-
ably cannot be expected of them. The
writer, therefore, leaves this volume
to Dr. Kingsbury and the other psy-
chologists who have so generously given
of their time. He feels sure, however,
that readers of The Annals will find
much of interest and of use. The
psychologist is in business to stay be-
cause business involves human nature.
1

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