Force-field analysis
In social science, force-field analysis provides a framework for looking at the factors that influence a situation, originally social situations. It looks at forces that are either driving the movement toward a goal or blocking movement toward a goal. The principle, developed by Kurt Lewin, is a significant contribution to the fields of social science, psychology, social psychology, community psychology, communication, organizational development, process management, and change management.
History
Lewin, a social psychologist, believed the "field" to be a Gestalt psychological environment existing in an individual's mind at a certain point in time that can be mathematically described in a topological constellation of constructs. The "field" is very dynamic, changing with time and experience. When fully constructed, an individual's "field" describes that person's motives, values, needs, moods, goals, anxieties, and ideals.Lewin believed that changes of an individual's "life space" depend upon that individual's internalization of external stimuli into the "life space". Although Lewin did not use the word "experiential", he nonetheless believed that interaction of the "life space" with "external stimuli" was important for development. For Lewin, the development of an individual occurs when their "life space" has a "boundary zone" experience with external stimuli. Note it is not merely the experience that causes a change in the "life space", but the acceptance of external stimuli.
Lewin took these same principles and applied them to the analysis of group conflict, learning, adolescence, hatred, morale, German society, etc. This approach allowed him to break down common misconceptions of these social phenomena and to determine their basic elemental constructs. He used theory, mathematics, and common sense to define a force field and hence to determine the causes of human and group behaviour.