Table Of ContentPSYCHOLOGY
THE OF
HARRY POTTER
An Unauthorized Examination
of the Boy Who Lied
E D I T E D B Y
NEIL MULHOLLAND, P .D.
H
BENBELLA BOOKS, INC.
Dallas, Texas
THIS PUBLICATION HAS NOT BEEN PREPARED, APPROVED, OR LICENSED BY ANY ENTITY THAT
CREATED OR PRODUCED THE WELL-KNOWN HARRY POTTER SERIES OR THE POPULAR HARRY
POTTER FILMS.
“What Do Students Learn from Hogwarts Classes?” © 2006 by Robin S. Rosenberg, Ph.D.
“Harry’s Curiosity” © 2006 by Susan Engel, Ph.D., and Sam Levin
“Intergroup Conflict in the World of Harry Potter” © 2006 by Melissa J. Beers, Ph.D., and Kevin J. Apple, Ph.D.
“‘Have You Got What It Takes to Train Security Trolls?’: Career Counseling for Wizards” © 2006
by Shoshana D. Kerewsky, Psy.D., and Lissa Joy Geiken, M.Ed.
“Hogwarts Academy: Common Sense and School Magic” © 2006 by Charles W. Kalish and Emma C. Kalish
“Attachment Styles at Hogwarts: From Infancy to Adulthood” © 2006 by Wind Goodfriend, Ph.D.
“What Harry and Fawkes Have in Common: The Transformative Power of Grief” © 2006 by Misty Hook, Ph.D.
“Harry Potter and the Resilience to Adversity” © 2006 by Danielle M. Provenzano and Richard E. Heyman
“Discovering Magic” © 2006 by Karl S. Rosengren, Ph.D., and Emily C. Rosengren
“The Magical World of Muggles” © 2006 by Carol Nemeroff, Ph.D.
“Time and Time Again: Muggle’s Watch, the Wizard’s Clock” © 2006 by Peter A. Hancock
and Michelle K. Gardner
“The Social Dynamics of Power and Cooperation in the Wizarding World” © 2006 by Nancy Franklin, Ph.D.
“Mental Illness in the World of Wizardry” © 2006 by Jessica Leigh Murakami
“‘Dobby Had to Iron His Hands, Sir!’: Self-Inflicted Cuts, Burns, and Bruises in Harry Potter” © 2006
by E. David Klonsky, Ph.D., and Rebecca Laptook, M.A.
“The Werewolf in the Wardrobe” © 2006 by Siamak Tundra Naficy
“Exploring the Dark Side: Harry Potter and the Psychology of Evil” © 2006 by Christopher J. Patrick, Ph.D.,
and Sarah K. Patrick
“Harry Potter and the Word That Shall Not Be Named” © 2006 by Mikhail Lyubansky, Ph.D.
“Evolution, Development, and the Magic of Harry Potter” © 2006 by David H. Rakison and
Caroline Simard, BSc., DMV
“Using Psychological Treatment with Harry” © 2006 by Neil Mulholland, Ph.D.
“Defense Against the Real Dark Arts” © 2006 by Patricia A. Rippetoe, Ph.D.
“Resisting Social Influence: Lessons from Harry Potter” © 2006 by Melanie C. Green, Ph.D.
“Harry Potter and the Magic of Transformation” © 2006 by Laurie J. Pahel
Additional Materials © 2006 by Neil Mulholland, Ph.D.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be used or reproduced in any manner whatsoever without written
permission except in the case of brief quotations embodied in critical articles or reviews.
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The psychology of Harry Potter : an unauthorized examination of the boy who lived / edited by Neil
Mulholland.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references.
ISBN 1-932100-88-1
1. Rowling, J. K.--Characters—Harry Potter. 2. Potter, Harry (Fictitious character) 3. Children’s stories,
English—History and criticism. I. Mulholland, Neil, 1946-
PR6068.O93Z835 2007
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Contents
Introduction 1
Neil Mulholland, Ph.D.
What Kind of School Is Hogwarts?
What Do Students Learn from Hogwarts Classes? 5
Robin S. Rosenberg, Ph.D.
Harry’s Curiosity 19
Susan Engel, Ph.D., and Sam Levin
Intergroup Conflict in the World of Harry Potter 33
Melissa J. Beers, Ph.D., and Kevin J. Apple
“Have You Got What It Takes to Train Security Trolls?” 45
Shoshana D. Kerewsky, Psy.D., and Lissa Joy Geiken, M.Ed.
Hogwarts Academy 59
Charles W. Kalish and Emma C. Kalish
Will Harry Be Okay?
Attachment Styles at Hogwarts 75
Wind Goodfriend, Ph.D.
What Harry and Fawkes Have in Common 91
Misty Hook, Ph.D.
Harry Potter and the Resilience to Adversity 105
Danielle M. Provenzano and Richard E. Heyman
Is Magic Real?
Discovering Magic 123
Karl S. Rosengren, Ph.D., and Emily C. Rosengren
The Magical World of Muggles 135
Carol Nemeroff, Ph.D.
i CONTENTS
Time and Time Again 153
Peter A. Hancock and Michelle K. Gardner
The Weird World of Wizards
The Social Dynamics of Power and Cooperation
in the Wizarding World 169
Nancy Franklin, Ph.D.
Mental Illness in the World of Wizardry 175
Jessica Leigh Murakami
“Dobby Had to Iron His Hands, Sir!”: Self-Infl icted Cuts,
Burns, and Bruises in Harry Potter 189
E. David Klonsky, Ph.D., and Rebecca Laptook, M.A.
The Weird World of Muggles
The Werewolf in the Wardrobe 207
Siamak Tundra Nafi cy
Exploring the Dark Side 221
Christopher J. Patrick, Ph.D., and Sarah K. Patrick
Harry Potter and the Word That Shall Not Be Named 233
Mikhail Lyubansky, Ph.D.
Evolution, Development, and the Magic of Harry Potter 249
David H. Rakison and Caroline Simard, BSc., DMV
Learning from Harry
Using Psychological Treatment with Harry 265
Neil Mulholland, Ph.D.
Defense Against the Real Dark Arts 283
Patricia A. Rippetoe, Ph.D.
Resisting Social Infl uence 299
Melanie C. Green, Ph.D.
Harry Potter and the Magic of Transformation 311
Laurie J. Pahel
Introduction
S
O, YOU MIGHT ASK, what are my qualifications to investigate
the psychology of the world-renowned Harry Potter series?
Well, to start, I did grow up some forty miles from where J. K.
Rowling wrote her first Harry Potter books. Much like Harry, I once
slept in a closet, where just my single bed fit (but not under the
stairs). I also used to travel on a train, just like Harry’s, to English
boarding school, where I wore a uniform like his and was “sorted”
into a group or House in a country mansion. Unfortunately, it was
not nearly as magical and interesting as Hogwarts, but I seemed to
have as much difficulty as Harry in following the rules.
So, after “six of the best” (six whacks on the rear with my choice
of the thin cane that stung or the thick cane that hurt), I was soon
shipped off home and ended up at St. Mungo’s. Fortunately, it was not
the infirmary, but St. Mungo’s Academy to finish my schooling. Yes,
there was a real St. Mungo who was the bishop of Glasgow around
the sixth century.
My other connection to Harry these days, aside from my fascina-
tion with the books, is that I developed something called Harry Potter
Therapy. If you’ve looked at any of the Harry Potter blogs about a
year or so ago, I seemed to have stirred a bit of controversy as I’ve
used and encouraged others to use Harry Potter images when helping
young people overcome moderate levels of worry, anxiety, or depres-
sive feelings. If you are interested in how this works, please read my
chapter in this book.
My work as a psychologist is in applying sound psychological the-
ories and practices to the treatment of helping those having mental-
emotional difficulties. Harry Potter Therapy often fits the bill.
It is my great pleasure to introduce you to a wide variety of psychol-
ogy professors and their fine contributions connecting various theo-
ries and research in psychology to aspects of the people and events
2 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HARRY POTTER
that have and could take place in Harry’s on-going story. If you are a
Potter fan I hope you fi nd these chapters an interesting study, com-
pared to some of the dry stuff that I had to read in my beginning years
of study in psychology.
Long may the “magic” live.
Neil Mulholland, Ph.D.
wwwwhhhhaaaatttt kkkkiiiinnnndddd
ooofff sssccchhhoooooolll
iiiiiissssss hhhhhhooooooggggggwwwwwwaaaaaarrrrrrttttttssssss??????
The Muggle world is fi lled with amazing, magical things—rockets
to the moon, the Internet, and miraculous medicines, just to name
a few. And the way we Muggles develop these amazing things is, as
Rosenberg points out, through a careful process of organized curi-
osity known as the scientifi c method. At Hogwarts, Rosenberg in-
sists, the scientifi c method doesn’t exist; the students learn how to do
magic, but they are not encouraged to fi nd out how magic works. Is
that any way to run a school?
ROBIN S. ROSENBERG, PH.D.
What Do Students Learn from
Hogwarts Classes?
A
LTHOUGH THE WORLD of Harry Potter is engrossing and in-
ventive, the educational system at Hogwarts is fi lled with disturbing
elements: Hogwarts promotes memorization and punishes experi-
mentation, creativity, and critical thinking skills, creating alumni
who are truly unprepared to handle calamities. Of course, not all
students are unprepared (as I’ll explain in detail later); Harry Potter
and some of his friends are notable exceptions.
Just what are Hogwarts’s educational goals? We can safely assume
that its primary objective is to help students learn the basics of witch-
craft and wizardry. Less clear is whether the school seeks to help stu-
dents learn how to solve problems on their own. That is, even after
they’ve mastered wizarding basics, can they properly recognize and
defi ne problems, ask relevant questions, obtain useful information,
generate approaches to solving problems, and experiment with pos-
5
6 THE PSYCHOLOGY OF HARRY POTTER
sible solutions (Bok)? Let’s examine what we know of the Hogwarts
educational system and see how well it prepares its students for criti-
cal thinking and problem solving.
Lack of Curiosity
Neither students nor teachers appear to be curious about the sources
of their magical powers—they take magic for granted. The six Harry
Potter books are notable for the characters’ utter lack of wonder about
why the magic they observe and learn works as it does. Consider the
owls as a means of transporting messages: How do the owls know
how to fi nd a message’s recipient, when even the message sender does
not know where the recipient is? No one in the books expresses curi-
osity about how this could be. In contrast, in our world, when people
hear about a new communication device, such as instant messaging,
Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), or cell phones, scientists (includ-
ing psychologists) would hope that people would express some sense
of wonder and curiosity about how such a communication method
functions. We want them to be aware that there is an underlying,
understandable mechanism.
In Harry’s world, even the origins of magical powers are unques-
tioned. There is no mention of curiosity about why some people with
Muggle parents are born with magical powers (as were Hermione,
Seamus Finnegan, and Harry’s mother, Lily Evans), or, conversely, why
some people born to parents who are both magical become Squibs (as
were Hogwarts’s Argus Filch and Harry’s neighbor on Privet Drive,
Arabella Figg). These fl ukes of nature—of genes, we can suppose—be-
come part of the landscape in the magical world. Yet who wants to dig
into the soil of the landscape to learn its composition?
In the Muggle world—our world—people are constantly digging
into the soil to understand the world around us. Many of us Muggles
do not take these matters on faith, assuming that the mechanisms
that make our world work are knowable and that we should strive
to discover them. This is part of what science classes try to impart
to students—the underpinnings of how to discover the mechanisms
underlying our world.
Hermione stands as a shining beacon of curiosity; she is not just a
voracious reader who retains what she reads, but is curious about the
