Ethel Puffer HowesSara HardinJoe TomlinsBen Schwartz AKA: The Naughty Nuns

Childhood and Family Life• Born October 10, 1872• Eldest of four sisters• Father, George

▫ Respected railroad station agent

• Mother, Ella▫ Received college

education, as did younger sister

▫ Taught high school until marriage

• Family history of higher education for women

(Scarborough & Furumoto, 1987)

Age 3

Education• 1891 – graduated from Smith College at age 18• Taught mathematics at Smith for 3 years

▫ Became interested in study of Psychology• Fall 1895 – moved to Germany to study psychology at

University of Berlin▫ Faced many struggles as female student▫ Interview with Hugo Münsterberg

University of Berlin (Scarborough & Furumoto, 1987)

Education• 1896 – Attended University

of Freiburg ▫ Studied under

Münsterberg Supervised her research Allowed use of his private

laboratory at his home Encouraged Puffer to

earn doctorate• 1897 – Followed

Münsterberg to Harvard▫ Denied Ph.D., appealed to

Radcliffe College▫ Result: 4 women granted

Ph.D.s, Puffer one of 2 who accepted

Hugo Münsterberg

(Scarborough & Furumoto, 1987)

Aesthetics

• Beauty - pleasure in the senses; discriminatory

• Aesthetics - all that can be aesthetically contemplated; inclusive of the ugly

(Howes, 1914)

The Psychology of Beauty - 1905

• General principles of Beauty:▫ Excellence▫ Standard▫ Value

• Religious, domestic, and commercial influences

• Synthesis of theory and objective tests via:▫ Music▫ Literature▫ Pictures

(Puffer, 1905)

Defining Beauty: Methodology• Methodology (physiological responses &

introspection):▫ Select a salient characteristic of the mental state

during exposure to beauty (e.g. art)▫ Use introspection to analyze the transformation of

the physiological response of beauty translates into the mental state

▫ Relation of senses to the colors, lines, compositions, and other elements

• Zeitgeist - Structuralism & Elementism

(Puffer, 1905)

Conclusions•Nature of beauty:

▫Auditory, motor, visual, and other physiological responses.

• Beauty is not perfection:▫Perfect moments (i.e. positive affect).

•Union of stimulation (senses) and repose (emotion):▫Aesthetic experience

(Howes, 1914; Puffer, 1905)

Howes’ Research: Strengths and Weaknesses• Methodological Weaknesses:

▫ Large population ▫ Definition of an aesthetic feeling ▫ Subjective and implicit value judgments ▫ Exposure to many types of beauty

• Strengths:▫ Attempt at using empirical methods of

psychology to define concept of beauty Historically, beauty part of abstract

philosophical theory

• Beauty provides a sense of unity and totality - self-completeness - creating an aesthetic experience (a reflection of the infinite)

(Howes, 1905)

The Role of the Zeitgeist: Career vs. Family

“Suppose every man had to cheese between marrying the woman of his choice and instantly becoming a janitor for life, or remaining a bachelor and following the work he loved best” – Charlotte Perkins Gilman, 1906

•Zeitgeist of Early 20th Century:▫Gender roles:

1. Woman as mother, domestic, “socialite”2. Man as provider, works outside home

▫Married women not considered for academic positions

(Scarborough & Furumoto, 1987)

Career vs. Family• 1908 – Married Benjamin

Howes• Extreme difficulty managing

academic career and a home▫ 1910 Letter to Mother

• Gave birth to daughter (1915) and son (1917)

• Early 1920s – Women had the vote, WWI over, children reached school age▫ Published works reflect

experience of “the intolerable choice”

(Scarborough, 1991)

Accepting the Universe - 1922• Women’s role in

the universe - childbirth the only contribution?

• Psychological Disability - inconsecutiveness of the mind

• Mental conflicts - Attention for child vs. work

(Howes, 1922)

Continuity for Women - 1922•Women cannot balance marriage and a

career simultaneously•Rejected idea that women make full use of

abilities as a domestic•Discontinuity: educated woman who

marries abandons career•Solution: structure flexible work schedule

around role as wife and mother

(Howes, 1922b)

Later Theory•Previous solutions aimed at resolving “the

intolerable choice” involved centering career around role as wife and mother▫Mutually exclusive, sacrifice within career

•The meaning of progress in the woman movement (1929) ▫Solution: create new definition of marriage

and motherhood

(Howes, 1929)

References• Howes, E. (1922). Accepting the universe. Atlantic Monthly 129, 444-

53. • Howes, E. (1914). Æsthetics. Psychological Bulletin, 11(7), 256-262.

doi:10.1037/h0075342 • Howes, E. Puffer (1922b). Continuity for women. Atlantic Monthly,

130, 731-39.• Howes, E. Puffer (1929). The meaning of progress in the women

movement. Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Science 143, 14-20.

• Puffer, E. D. (1905). The psychology of beauty. Boston, MA US:Houghton Mifflin and Company. doi:10.1037/10836000

• Scarborough, E., & Furumoto, L. 1987. Untold Lives: The FirstGeneration of American Women Psychologists. New York: Columbia University Press

• Scarborough, E. 1991. Continuity for women: Ethel Puffer's struggle. In G. A. Kimble, M. Wertheimer & C. White Eds., Portraits of Pioneers in Psychology pp. 105-120. Washington, D.C.: American Psychological Association.