psychohistory

American  

[sahy-koh-his-tuh-ree, -his-tree] / ˌsaɪ koʊˈhɪs tə ri, -ˈhɪs tri /

noun

1. history or the writing of history employing the techniques of psychoanalysis to explore motivations, explain actions, etc.

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psychohistory British  

/ -ˈhɪstrɪ, ˌsaɪkəʊˈhɪstərɪ /

noun

1. biography based on psychological theories of personality development

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Other Word Forms

• psychohistorian noun
• psychohistoric adjective

Etymology

Origin of psychohistory

First recorded in 1930–35; psycho- + history

Example Sentences

Harris plays Hari Seldon, creator of psychohistory, a mathematical crystal ball that has predicted a coming dark age, and as such he is anathema to the cloned triumvirate who have ruled the galaxy for centuries.

From Los Angeles Times • Jul. 28, 2023

Seldon has developed a theory of psychohistory, a mixture of history, sociology, and mathematical statistics, which he uses to make general predictions about the fate of future populations.

From Salon • Oct. 9, 2021

But I think part of my bigger issue with the show is Seldon and psychohistory as a whole.

From The Verge • Sep. 23, 2021

The story of his rise, roller-coastering through four decades of American history, is a hectic blend of psychohistory, domestic drama and sketch-comedy satire bound together by McKay’s ingenuity and indignation.

From New York Times • Dec. 17, 2018

More generally, Campbell had always been obsessed by the possibility of a truly scientific psychology, which he believed would have predictive power along the lines of the fictional science of psychohistory in Asimov’s Foundation series.

From Nature • Oct. 9, 2018