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www.all-about-psychology.com 
(Article Originally Published in American Psychologist 1961)
This article forms part of an initiative to make important, insightful andengaging public domain works freely available. See following links toaccess material that has already been published under this initiative.
http://www.all-about-psychology.com/psychology-ebook.html http://www.all-about-psychology.com/psychology-journal-articles.html http://www.all-about-forensic-psychology.com/forensic-psychology-ebook.html
 A similar initiative relating to forensic science publications has also beenlaunched.
http://www.all-about-forensic-science.com/forensic-science-ebook.html 
 
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All professions are becoming appreciably more concerned with the importance of their"public image." Psychology, under the auspices of the APA, is no exception. The APAPolicy and Planning Board (1948) suggested in its Annual Report that the associationshould try to create a better and more accurate public understanding of Psychology.Subsequently, in 1952, funds were appropriated for a professional public relationsofficer to be attached to the APA Central Office. More recently, Newman (1957) hasstated that, in addition to causing the public to perceive psychology clearly andwithout distortion, "we must see ourselves accurately in the present situation andthen we may go about our job in the future more usefully."To assess one component of the public image of the psychologist - to see him throughthe eyes of others, and perhaps in true perspective - the present writers havetheorized that a content or thematic analysis of cartoons might be relevant. It isbelieved that cartoon analysis has not been employed in this respect. Cartoonsdramatize the issues and attitudes of the clay, and cartoon characters reflect the roleexpectations held by the public, for a person or group of people.Newspapers, magazines, and journals provide the facts, the statistics, and the historyof a society. However, Mills (1958) stated that, it is the cartoonists who hold to lightthe faults and failings and who point up the fads, foibles, and follies that amuse andworry society.In order to determine how the psychologist appears, through the eyes of thecartoonist, the following general hypotheses were investigated:1. Considerable overlap would occur between the public's role expectations of psychologist, psychiatrist, and various other undifferentiated but psychologicallyoriented personnel.2. Psychology, both as a science and as a profession, generates little in the way of public interest regarding inter - or intraprofessional issues, or public issues, asindicated by the relative frequency of cartoon themes concerning psychologists.
 
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3. While the APA increased its membership by over 250% from 1949 to 1959, publicinterest would not have kept pace as shown by the relative frequency of cartoonthemes concerning psychologists.4. Psychology has not kept pace in terms of the ratio of cartoon themes concerningpsychology to total cartoon themes featuring the members of the family of professionsand occupations requiring additional education beyond the AB.
DESIGN
The total cartoon production obtained from the following magazines was counted,classified, and analyzed in terms of content and apparent cartoonist attitude: SaturdayEvening Post, (1949 and 1959), Ladies' Home Journal (1949 and 1959), New Yorker(1949 and 1959), Esquire (1949 and 1959), Colliers (1949), and Look (1959).The magazines were selected on the basis of their popularity (circulation), the quantityof their cartoon production, the range of interest indicated in terms of the "types" of magazines included, and the magazines' availability as determined by their inclusion ina large library's reading list. Four of the magazines met all of the criteria for selection.Two magazines, Colliers and Look, met all of the criteria except the criterion of "availability." Colliers was available until 1957 when it ceased publication. Look wasnot available in the library until 1954. The present writers decided to include these twomagazines in view of the fact that they met the other criteria very well, and becausethe criteria were stringent enough to eliminate nearly all other popular magazines.Upon analysis of the cartoons, all psychologically oriented professions were classifiedin terms of occupational role as: psychologist, psychiatrist, or undifferentiated butpsychologically oriented personnel (including high school or vocational counselor,social worker, etc.).Cartoons dealing with all professions were defined as those professions or occupationsrequiring additional education beyond (the 4-year baccalaureate. These professionsand occupations include: physician, lawyer, judge, optometrist, scientist(undifferentiated), psychologist, dentist, psychiatrist, veterinarian, professor, andcounselor.
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