How Is One Flew Over The Cuckoo's Nest Related To Psychology

Many different principles and aspects of psychology can be seen throughout the film One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest. In the movie, a con artist named Randle Patrick McMurphy, played back Jack Nicholson, gets transferred from a prison farm to a mental institution for evaluation. McMurphy believes the ward will be a less restricted atmosphere and that he will have more freedom. In contrast, he is immediately exposed to the harshness of the head nurse, Nurse Ratched, and how the irrational treatment of the mental patients affects them. As he settles into the ward, he meets several of the other patients who are affected by not only their treatments, but also by McMurphy’s actions that rebel against the authority of the institution. The movie

highlights the role of psychology on the life of mental patients through their interactions with each other and their behaviors.
Among the branches of psychology, social psychology is a large factor in the film. The fundamental attribution error is committed several time throughout the plot. This occurs if a person misinterprets or overestimates the effect of someone’s disposition on their behavior. (Myers, 644) People are more likely to believe that a person’s actions are due to their personality and not the situation that they’re put in. People easily make the fundamental attribution error towards others rather than themselves. They believe their own actions are justified but other peoples’ are inadequate.
In the film, the patients are required to attend group discussions where Nurse Ratched tries to make them talk about their personal situations in front of the others. (Forman) This seems to be challenging for the men because nobody raises their hand to speak first and they all seem to tense up when they are called on. During on of the first group therapies, Dale Harding, played by William Redfield, offers to speak about his wife and the problems they were having before he was committed to the ward. He had suspected that she was cheating on him and that he wouldn’t be able to live without her. As he was telling his story, Taber, played by Christopher Lloyd, yells at Harding, telling him to stop rambling on about his problems with his wife. This aggravates Harding because Taber assumes Harding’s depression is due to only his sexual life with his wife when really it is caused by all of the people in his life, his religion, and the content of his life. When Harding uses higher-level words during the discussion, such as peculiar and speculate, Taber makes fun of him for trying to hide his troubles with his wife by sounding intelligent. Taber has committed the fundamental attribution error. He believes that Harding’s attachment to his wife is the only cause of his problems but does not see the situation he has been put in and the true reasons for his depressed state.
Conformity, which involves both thought and behavioral adaptations in order to agree with a specific group of opinion, can be seen across the past and modern world.

(Myers, 651) It is the result of the human need and desire to fit in and not stray from societal standards. After Solomon Asch’s experiments, it became evident that there was a certain discomfort affiliated with being outside of the group’s popular idea that causes the uncomfortable person to conform to the ideas of the group. This is more likely if the group has more than three people, they are unanimous, and they are admired by the conforming person. Social influence is also a contributing factor as to why people conform. Roles and norms are set out for society and make it hard for people to veer from them. The normative social influence causes people to follow these norms to avoid their drastic fear of being left out. (Myers, 653) Another type of social influence would be the informational social influence, which results in people adopting others’ opinions and beliefs of the world around them. These two influences show the ominous presence of Maslow’s hierarchy of needs. In order to satisfy a person’s higher level needs, such as self-actualization and esteem, the lower level needs must first be met, such as hunger and safety. (Myers, 330) A low level need is belongingness. People want to feel like they belong and feel loved in order to avoid isolation. This desire is one factor that directly causes conformity. In order to avoid being left out and lonely, a person willingly accepts another person’s opinions and thoughts even if they are the opposite of their own or if they know they are wrong. Conformity is due to the person being in an unfamiliar situation, being ignorant on the topic, wanting to impress and be liked by the members of the group, and being willing to conform their opinion on themselves. (Zimbardo, 2006) To avoid conformity, the person must identify what their actual

beliefs are and how powerful others’ opinions of them are.
The mental institute is full of conformity and patients wanting to fulfill their needs. Nurse Ratched pushes the men to agree with her authoritarian rule through negative punishment and no tolerance for rebellion. Although conformity is seen throughout the movie, a specific scene where the Nurse Ratched’s totalitarian control is exemplified would be when McMurphy is trying to get the schedule changed in order to watch the World Series. (Forman) After the second vote, all nine of the participants in the group discussion have sided with McMurphy and voted to have the schedule changed. To avoid changing the schedule, the nurse says that nine people are only half the ward because the ward also includes nine, unresponsive chronics. Even when McMurphy gets the Chief , played by Will Sampson, to be the tenth vote that gives him the majority, Ratched says his vote doesn’t count because the meeting has adjourned. She cannot allow any form of democracy among the men. Over time, the patients are stripped of their individual freedoms and forced to adapt to Ratched’s tight schedule and rules.
The treatment of the mentally ill has been a controversial topic for many years. One of the most ethically questioned techniques is the lobotomy, which is now very rarely used. In the past, it was used to reduce uncontrollably violent and emotional mental patients. With this method, the prefrontal cortex and the other parts of the brain that control emotion is severed from the frontal lobe in attempt to control the patient's’ aggressive behavior. (The Editors, 2014) It was also used on patients with schizophrenia and bipolar disorder. The lobotomy was criticized and its use was expunged unless it was absolutely necessary or the only plausible form of treatment for a patient.