Gustav Jahoda

18 OBITUARIES

the local community, due to her extensive voluntary projects.

Gustav’s first academic post was at Lagon University in Ghana (then the Gold Coast). Living and researching there proved transformative in developing an interest in the role of culture in human affairs. He broke new ground in the 50s with his book White Man. This inverted the frequent studies of perceptions of black people by whites and explored how white people were viewed by black Ghanaians.

Gustav’s research and writings covered a wide spectrum within psychology. He enjoyed devising practical as well as the theoretical tools for his work. In a pioneering study for the Scottish Home and Health Department he was faced with the challenge of evaluating young children’s recognition of and attitude to, the effects of alcohol. His innovative ideas included hiring a young actor to depict various states of inebriation on film. The finding that children as young as six could recognize drunkenness, and associate it as a negative trait, led to a recommendation, radical at the time, to talk openly about alcohol to primary school children.

As a head of department he set high standards, but would overlook many failings if someone “did their stuff”. His focus was on substance and intellectual integrity. Many of his former students went on to leading positions in academia.

In his writing he was never frightened to question, even if it meant challenging orthodoxies held dear by friends or colleagues. For example, his book Psychology and Anthropology criticised psychology for its “Western cultural blinkers” and its failure to take account of the richness and variety of human behaviour across the globe. Conversely, he suggested that anthropologists could benefit from testing their observations from the field in a more rigorous way. He relished the cut and thrust of academic argument, but never ad hominem.

Gustav carried some of his intellectual gravitas into home life, where visitors who arrived expecting chit chat could be subject to fairly in-depth interrogation on a range of topics. However, guests were equally likely to be invited into the garden for an intensive bout of log chopping, or commandeered to join a foraging party on Cardross shore to collect driftwood. A combination of physical strength and stamina with scholarly clout made for a powerful persona, and Gustav was not averse to occasionally using colourful vocabulary picked up while learning English in the army.

Although Gustav travelled widely, with lengthy sabbatical stays in Japan, and the Netherlands Institute of Advanced Studies, he declined many offers of permanent posts in England and overseas. He had a deep affection for Scotland, and special fondness for Loch Lomond where he kept a small motorboat.

In his spare time Gustav was a keen fisherman, and walker, and late into his 80s he made a solo (though incomplete) attempt to climb the Cobbler. His penchant for bonfires, and pipe smoking were curtailed in later years. Latterly he was able to undertake more leisure travel, and pursue his interests in the arts. These activities were nurtured and greatly enriched by Andrea Jack who, a few years after Jean’s death, became his devoted partner for 24 years.

Not a religious believer, he took a keen interest in a wide range of scientific and cultural affairs as well as politics. However, academic work continued to give him a keen sense of purpose and besides working at home, he took the train to the psychology department at Strathclyde twice a week. Retaining an office and the support of his colleagues there was vital for him. In return, he was actively writing and publishing in academic journals up until his death.

Latterly Gustav was saddened by the decline of cross-cultural research in the UK, and very critical of the shift in universities from academic control to business management models. As a refugee who always appreciated the acceptance and opportunities afforded to him by Britain, the vote to distance the country from the rest of Europe dismayed him. When asked near the end of his life what he was most proud of, he said that it was his work to challenge lazy assumptions about cultural superiority.