The Society for Descriptive Psychology
The world makes sense, and so do people. -Peter G. Ossorio, Ph.D.
The world makes sense, and so do people. -Peter G. Ossorio, Ph.D.
Descriptive Psychology is common sense about people, made precise and scientific. Many people hear that and say, “Interesting. Have you got anything I can read?” This article is for anyone who wants an Introduction that clarifies what Descriptive is and what it has to say.
“Discovery consists in seeing what everybody else has seen and thinking what nobody else has thought.” – Nobel Laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Descriptive Psychology (DP) takes a fundamentally different approach to understanding people and behavior—not by introducing another theory, but by clarifying what all psychological theories describe. Instead of aligning with a single framework like behaviorism or psychoanalysis, it articulates the shared concepts that allow us to meaningfully agree, disagree, and integrate diverse perspectives. Its scope extends beyond psychology, influencing fields as varied as space exploration, law, and artificial intelligence. Founded by Dr. Peter G. Ossorio, it provides a precise, comprehensive framework for understanding persons, behavior, reality, and language. We invite you to engage with our diverse community of scholars and professionals applying Descriptive Psychology across disciplines.
Dr. Peter G. Ossorio founded Descriptive
Psychology, a discipline providing precise ways to
understand persons, behavior, and their worlds. A
distinguished professor at the University of
Colorado, Boulder for over 30 years, he mentored
over 50 dissertations and was renowned as a
teacher and clinical supervisor. His extensive
publications form the foundation of Descriptive
Psychology, influencing fields from artificial
intelligence to business and spirituality. Invited to 18
universities worldwide, he also conducted
pioneering research through his companies. Born in
Los Angeles in 1926, he passed away in Boulder in
2007. His papers are archived at CU Boulder, with
his LRI Reports accessible online.
Descriptive Psychology is “a set of systematically related distinctions designed to provide formal access to all the facts and possible facts about persons and behavior—and therefore about everything else as well.” -Peter G. Ossorio (1982)
“Descriptive Psychology (“ DP”) is first and foremost a conceptual framework for the science of Psychology. Created in its original form by Peter G. Ossorio in the mid-1960s at the University of Colorado, it has subsequently been the subject of hundreds of books and papers that have updated, refined, and elaborated it, and that have applied it to domains such as psychotherapy, psychopathology, artificial intelligence, spirituality, organizations, communities, psychological theory creation, and research methodology. What DP primarily attempts to do is to provide the kind of precise, systematic, and comprehensive conceptual framework that is a pre-empirical requirement for the adequate conduct of psychological theorizing, research, and application” -Raymond Bergner, Advances in Descriptive Psychology—Vol. 9
Descriptive Psychology provides a coherent conceptual framework for all of behavioral science. Descriptive Psychologists organize and articulate the implicit structure of that discipline.
-Nobel Laureate Albert Szent-Gyorgyi
Please note that all “Sample Topics” lists are drafts. Please contact us about recommended changes.
