Die Psychologie im Nationalsozialismus aus spanischer Sicht: Rassenideologie, Typologie und Psychotechnik

In the history of psychology, historians have found that during the Nazi era in Germany there was a greater emphasis on the holistic and genetic approach, as well as a rise of applied psychology (psychotechnics). To this day, however, the question of what effects the political and scientific changes had on the contacts and the reputation of German psychology abroad has rarely been asked. How was the psychology of the Nazi era judged from the Spanish side? In the 1930s and 1940s in Spain, several positions can be found, often characterized by a certain ambivalence. In this book chapter I selected texts published by Spanish psychologists who were very interested in the work done in Germany, who spoke German and maintained personal contacts with academics in German institutions during that period. My research shows that there was concern and interest as well as criticisms with regard to the new trend. I point out several reasons Spanish scholars had for adopting their positions such as the typological comparison on a national level and the arrival of Jewish psychologists such as Wolff, who in 1933 started to work with Mira and his team at the Psychotechnical Institute in Barcelona.