The communication of the psychologist through the cinema: analysis of the filmic stereotype

Abstract

The present research starts from the premise that cinema is a source of great interest for the analysis of the image of the psychology professional over time. The way in which cinema has represented the psychologist is, consequently, of enormous importance as a generator and transmitter of filmic stereotypes. Two are, therefore, the objectives pursued: to analyze the representation of the psychologist in the cinema from 1930 to the present and to establish, based on the above, the basic stereotypes of the psychologist in the cinema that have actively intervened in the construction of models of representation of our discipline. For this purpose, a qualitative methodology of thematic analysis has been followed, selecting a representative sample and describing and analyzing thematic aspects such as the scenario, the evolution of the psychological schools represented, the staged techniques, the psychological branches present, or the social image that emerges from all this through a categorization of the filmic stereotyping. The results show an increasing evolution over the time studied of the number of valid films, their relationship with certain film genres (horror, crime and forensic), the extraordinary link between filmic stereotyping and clinical psychology, the constant ambiguity with other disciplines which shows the difficulties of the scientific autonomy of psychology, or the concordance of our results with the studies of Sneider and Gabbard with a preference for the “Wonderful” type of stereotyping. In short, it is considered that the cinema, until a few years ago, has been making a stereotype of the psychology professional that has distorted our professional performance. This implies a necessary effort in our profession for scientific communication.