Psychohistory
![Rembrandt's painting of the sacrifice of Isaac (Gen.22). Psychohistory holds that ritual child sacrifice once occurred in most cultures.](/Images/godic/202502/05/Rembrandt_Harmensz._van_Rijn_0355533.jpg")
![](/Images/godic/202502/05/Image-Evolution_of_psychogenic_modes5533.png")
Psychohistory is the study of the psychological motivations of historical events. It attempts to combine the insights of psychotherapy with the research methodology of the social sciences to understand the emotional origin of the social and political behavior of groups and nations, past and present. Its subject matter is childhood and the family, and psychological studies of anthropology and ethnology.