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Constructive psychology

Gdansk, PL (View on map)

Following interviews with a railway employee in Hungary, a photographer from Slovenia, a social worker in Austria, a pub manager in Czech Republic and a forest girl in Slovakia, today is the right day for another one-person interview. This time, I am talking with Mateusz, a 25-year-old psychology student who lives in Gdansk and hopes to graduate within the next year.

Mateusz (25): `Power makes people more vulnerable to their weaknesses`

Following interviews with a railway employee in Hungary, a photographer from Slovenia, a social worker in Austria, a pub manager in Czech Republic and a forest girl in Slovakia, today is the right day for another one-person interview. This time, I am talking with Mateusz, a 25-year-old psychology student who lives in Gdansk and hopes to graduate within the next year. Mateusz explains: `It was quite hard to get a study placement at the time I started studying back in 2003. We still had to do entrance exams for each and every one of the studies that we hoped to end up doing. I applied for psychology in Gdansk and Cracow. I skipped Warsaw, knowing that the their way of testing did not suit me. Both universities allowed 1 out of 20 applicants, and I did not manage to get through in Cracow. I then set sail for Gdansk and moved away from the Mazurian lake region where I was born.`

Mental strength
`I did not choose to study psychology because I simply had no idea of what else to do`, Mateusz clarifies. `I have a genuine and strong interest in how the brain works and in how you can make its performance more effective by using it in the right way. I believe that the way people think is in many cases decisive for what they manage to achieve in life. There`s a lot of power in mental programming.`

`I think that people who are said to have mental illnesses are usually not the ones that are the most dangerous. I would rather say that they are more sensitive than others and therefore have difficulties expressing themselves in an appropriate way. People who manage to combine appropriate behaviour with insane traits are the ones to be scared of, and I think that everybody is in some way `talented` to alternate between their small personal mental illnesses on one side, and the obligations imposed by society on the other. It`s mostly people in power who end up in the most vulnerable position. They are able to create circumstances that allow them to yield to their weaknesses. Power includes an ability to hide up undesired elements. Many people are fond of hiding their weaknesses while still being able to practice and nourish them.`

`I see constant personal development as the best way to prevent the development of insanity. In this way, it works opposite to having power. Exposing weaknesses and dealing with them is much more likely to lead to solid mental health. This is the kind of psychology that fascinates me. Humanistic psychology: studying the type of people that society marks as `normal` and understanding those people`s behaviour. I am also very interested in the way society and culture influence mass psychology. One of my lecturers in university is Professor Boski, who is the most famous Polish professor in Cross-cultural psychology. Both this subject and his lectures are very, very interesting.`

Symbolism
`I was raised to be a catholic. Some people might argue that science and religion contradict each other but fortunately my parents never opposed to my plans to study psychology. My mother was actually quite happy for me. She thought it would be a good way to prepare for my future. Apart from that, she is a teacher and the fact that I study is also a bit of prestige for her among her colleagues.`

`I see in religion a symbolic representation of reality. As much as a like understanding symbolism in official religion, I also like understanding tarot cards or astrology. My interest is not to predict the future. Much rather, I like how thinking in symbols instead of words makes my reflections quicker and more accurate.`

`Symbolism can have positive and negative sides. As much as rules and fixed ideas can help people think, they can also make people mentally lazy. The way many Poles see the church is a good example of that. They work during weekdays and go to church on Sundays. They sit down, listen to what the priest says, accept what the priest says, and from then on take it for granted. But as long as they don`t think about what they hear, it will only limit their freedom instead of giving them constructive support and inspiration. I am happy to see that more and more people are becoming selective when it comes to religion. They pick the parts of it that they find valuable, and glue them together by using their own personal ideas.`

Integration
`I believe that a writer by the name of Ken Wilber is one of the most inspiring examples of continuous development. His books about the integration of religion and science are very well-written. I have a lot of respect for scientists in general, but I equally admire the politicians who came up with the vision of a united Europe. They were ahead of their time and I think that we still pick the fruits of their work today. Many of their dreams have so far materialised: peace, increased economic prosperity in all member states and more and more exchanges in the fields of arts and culture. I don`t know a lot about the actual situation of the European Union, but I think that their initial ideas were highly visionary.`

`About my own vision for the future: I would like to complete my studies and then work in what I would call a `normal` job. Beside the fact that the job of a psychologist is very poorly paid, I am simply more interested in applying the things I know in real life. I just made it through the first selection round of a job as financial advisor. It would be wonderful if I could use my knowledge and understanding of psychology to excel in that job.`

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