For more than a hundred years, psychology at the University of Basel was marginalized among disciplines and faculties. But in 1978, the era of mere teaching assignments and extraordinary professorships came to an end: on the first of January, the Institute for Psychology was established within the Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. However, the number of professorships remained modest until the turn of the millennium. Psychology experienced sustained growth only a quarter-century after the institute’s founding, when the discipline became a faculty.

After four years of holding visiting positions and being a candidate in two unsuccessful academic searches for the position, Gerhard Steiner was appointed full professor of “general psychology and developmental psychology” at the end of 1977. This position was linked to the role of head of the institute, supported by five assistants and one administrative employee. Psychology in Basel was not only under a new roof but also faced new scientific tasks and questions. Its independence was primarily demonstrated by no longer being the child of philosophy. The existing requirement to combine a major in psychology with philosophy as the first minor subject was abolished with the revised study regulations of 31 August 1978.

An empirical turn in psychology in Basel
The break with these philosophical origins quickly became evident in terms of methodology, as well. Steiner, previously a fellow at Stanford University in the United States, advocated in Basel for an empirical shift in the field. Experimental and statistical methods were employed for data collection and analysis, which were to serve as the foundation for scientific research. Psychology in Basel moved away from the path of classical humanities and shifted its focus from hermeneutic understanding to empirical explanation.

The institute's new direction was also supported by colleagues alongside Steiner. Similarly at the beginning of 1978, Viktor Hobi was appointed as an extraordinary (associate) professor for “clinical psychology,” a position he held (since 1985 as a full professor) until his retirement in the winter semester of 1998/99. In the year he was promoted to full professor, he published the manual Basler Befindlichkeitsskala: Ein Self-Rating zur Verlaufsmessung der Befindlichkeit (Basel affect scale: a self-rating protocol for monitoring well-being), following newer empirical standards. While both Steiner and Hobi were students of Hans Kunz, in 1979 Walter Perrig, an assistant from Fribourg who was trained in experimental and statistical methods during his studies, joined the faculty. Perrig worked intensively on methodological aspects of research in Basel and was appointed extraordinary (associate) professor in 1988 with this focus. After he left for Bern, his chair was upgraded to a third full professorship. The position, devoted to “general psychology and methodology,” was assumed by Klaus Opwis in 1997, who holds it to this day.

With a firm hand: reconceptualizing the study of psychology
At the end of the 1970s, psychologists had the highest unemployment rate among Swiss university graduates (for one report, see the supplement of the Basler Zeitung  from 15 July 1978). Psychology accordingly suffered from a poor reputation at the time – not only within academia but also in the eyes of the public.

In his report from 27 October 1978, “Zur Situation der Psychologie: Lagebeurteilung in Stichworten” (On the situation of psychology: a concise assessment), Steiner described his conclusions, as reflected in the new study regulations of August 31 of the same year. The core of the curriculum redesign was the alignment of studies with concrete professional profiles. Depending on the expected professional path in education, business, welfare, or clinical settings, compulsory first minors were established. The main curriculum was regularized and streamlined; centrally organized events were declared obligatory; and an intermediate examination to be taken after four semesters was introduced. The guiding concern was to train “useful psychologists” who could gain a foothold in various sectors of society. Internships were intended to establish contacts with the nonuniversity world of banks, insurance companies, and industry to create perspectives for future employment.

These were the academic trends from Stanford that Steiner wanted to bring to Basel. The associated hopes primarily concerned reducing the unemployment rate of graduates, shortening the duration of studies, and regulating the influx of students: “To avoid having those students enroll in psychology who simply don’t know what else they should study,” is how it was bluntly put in Steiner’s succinct assessment.

The revolt of the 78ers
Among the student body, there was a refusal to bend to the Stanford spirit; resistance to the curricular reform was robust from the start. The student magazine kolibri served as one outlet for this dissatisfaction. In December 1978, writing on the pages of kolibri, the former head of the disciplinary group of psychology, Urs Aregger, exploded in anger: “On 1 January 1979, the Institute of Psychology will be able to celebrate its first anniversary. But can we celebrate? Who would willingly raise their glass at this anniversary to the well-being of the new institute and its overseer, Prof. Steiner? ... Since Prof. Steiner has set up his authoritarian teaching operation, which reminds students of the climate of middle schools and boot camps, the atmosphere in the psychology department has been poisoned” (kolibri, no. 8, WS 78/79).

Two main points of criticism were voiced. One target was the more regimented curriculum, which made it difficult to choose courses freely based on individual preferences; another – and more importantly – was Steiner’s lack of openness to student participation. The disciplinary group and its outgoing president Urs Aregger especially took issue with Steiner’s study regulations, which they found to be dictatorially rigid: “The ‘Study Regulations for the Subject of Psychology’ issued on 31 August 1978, have taken away the last hopes for a collaborative form of teaching and have likely cemented the situation at the institute for years to come.”

“Better none than one like Steiner”
The situation at the institute was not only a source of dissatisfaction for the disciplinary group: “Lieber keiner als einer wie Steiner” – “Better none than one like Steiner” – was the slogan echoed by many of those opposed to the changes (kolibri, no. 8, WS 78/79). And actions followed words. In droves, students proceeded to disenroll – changing not only their field of study, but cities. The exodus from Basel led many to find refuge in Zurich, where the study structures still resembled those they were accustomed to. While the field of psychology in Basel counted about eighty students in 1978, by the winter semester of 1980/81, the number had reduced by about half. Only gradually did the influx of students recover. After a dip in demand between 1995 and 2000, leading to another loss of students, there was a rapid upswing starting in 2001, relatively shortly before the foundation of the faculty, which continues to this day.