ChatGPT – A Shift in Our Culture?! A Holistic, Depth-Psychological Perspective

Foreword
After successfully completing my bachelor’s thesis at the end of 2023, I was asked to contribute an article for the magazine Zwischenschritte. But suddenly, I hit a mental block. During my sixth semester, Professor Schulte—a fascinating and inspiring figure to me, always somewhat of a mystery—had handed me a book shortly before his passing: Radical Holistic Psychology by Wilhelm Salber. He died just before my final oral examination. His thoughts and his unique worldview left a lasting impact on me. I especially remember how he described Salber’s exam criteria: “To pass my exam, you only need to understand a bit of psychology.”

Professor Schulte guided me through several modules—Introduction to Business Psychology, Cultural Psychology, and finally, Research Methods. During my oral exam, he asked me: “What can ChatGPT not do?” This question remained a riddle to me. Although I graduated with distinction, I paradoxically felt detached from my own work. It was as if I had become separated from the knowledge I had acquired.

I had long planned to venture out into the world after graduation to experience life. My gut feeling led me to Australia. I was searching for the meaning of life. But I “failed”—or so I believed at the time. I fell into a deep identity crisis, one I felt ashamed of. Until then, I thought I had life under control—until life itself stepped in and taught me otherwise. Ultimately, what I lacked was the support of friends and family, and the proper equipment to discover what I truly wanted to do.

Here’s an excerpt from my first essay with Prof. Schulte that reflects what morphology meant to me:

During my first semester, I gained a great deal—both personally and academically—in the field of business psychology. As I noted in the first part of my essay, I researched some topics in depth and others only superficially. I wanted to enter the program with an open mind and no preconceptions.

“It is what it is.”
(Armin Schulte, 2020, Excerpt 3, p. 21)

This sentence prompted deep reflection right from the start. A short phrase, yet applicable in countless areas. It may seem trivial, but it was one of the most significant and relevant insights I had come across. I’ve often struggled to accept unpleasant realities as they are. What you make of them is your personal responsibility. Of course, we’ve all heard such a phrase before, but we tend to forget it. For me, it was crucial to internalize it anew.

During the lectures, I sometimes found myself frustrated. There were moments—maybe five minutes—where I grasped a concept, only to lose the big picture again. Terms like experience reports, qualitative methods, morphology, and depth psychology came up repeatedly. While I had heard them before, I couldn’t properly organize them in my mind. I failed to see how they connected and began to feel lost and disoriented. At one point, I honestly wondered if morphologists were part of some sort of cult. Despite extensive research and effort, everything related to the subject seemed abstract. The content appeared overextended—stretching ordinary topics like cookies across eight pages. Things seemed simple on the surface, yet their presentation was so complex that I got lost in it. Everything felt foreign.

Still, I tried not to let frustration take over. I reminded myself that perhaps I simply needed time to see the “bigger picture.” It is what it is—and I had to accept that in my mind. Other seemingly trivial and unnecessary phrases in lectures, such as observing things with “trained restraint,” actually piqued my curiosity. For business psychologists, this mindset is essential for fully understanding a situation before taking action. It also made me reconsider my own behavior. I realized that I often interrupted people, trying to finish their thoughts for them. The expansion of thoughts, which once seemed redundant to me, suddenly helped me better understand how others think. I learned that my interpretations weren’t always correct and that I often reacted too hastily. Pauses in conversations—and even accepting brief silences—are more important than I ever thought. This way of understanding others may be different, but it’s no less significant. It simply requires patience.

I fully grasped the meaning of this approach when Dilthey, Goethe, and Descartes were discussed in Introduction to Business Psychology. I understood that humans have an innate need to categorize and structure everything. But why? Some things in life just can’t be organized—and again, the phrase applies: it is what it is. Everything I had learned turned out to be interconnected.

Ultimately, I believe I found orientation in business psychology through this alternative way of viewing it, especially thanks to parallel courses like Scientific Research Methods, General Psychology, and particularly Qualitative Methods. While quantitative research relies on experiments and statistics (as taught in General Psychology), qualitative research focuses more on describing and interpreting experiences.

Once you internalize the method of experience description and practice it a few times, the purpose becomes clearer. It felt like jumping into the unknown—and realizing I’d land on a soft cushion. I also learned the importance of not constantly distracting myself, and instead, simply allowing certain thoughts to surface. Even unpleasant or embarrassing thoughts are, simply put, just what they are. I learned this especially when reflecting on the effects of various advertising posters. Even uncomfortable initial thoughts are valuable and meaningful for a morphological analysis.

Furthermore, I came to see that economic thinking plays a role in almost every aspect of life.

All in all, I’d say my understanding of business psychology has taken shape in many ways. To me, business psychology is no longer just a study program. The qualitative insights I gained at BSP have become a way of life. The past year—and life itself—has taught me to think more holistically and to believe in myself again. Ultimately, you just have to think morphologically—think holistically.

And now, to my bachelor’s thesis…

ChatGPT – Between Submission and Dominance: A Depth-Psychological Analysis

The modern world is at a turning point. With the release of ChatGPT at the end of 2022, a new phase of human-machine interaction began. Public debate is marked by both excitement and skepticism. Some celebrate the technology’s potential to optimize work processes and expand creativity. Others fear a loss of human autonomy and authenticity. In the midst of this ambivalence, a depth-psychological study explores a central question: Why do people use ChatGPT? What conscious and unconscious motivations drive them?

Morphology as the Key to Understanding User Behavior
The study draws on the morphological psychology of Wilhelm Salber. Instead of linear-causal explanations, this approach relies on “units of effect,” where psychological processes are seen as organically interwoven wholes. To explore how users experience ChatGPT, in-depth psychological interviews were conducted with a diverse group. The goal: to uncover the psychological logic behind the usage—the interplay of separation and fusion, control and surrender.

Submissive Dominance – The Core Pattern
The results reveal a central paradox: users are engaged in an unconscious power struggle with the machine. On one hand, they try to control ChatGPT, positioning themselves as creators and active agents. They challenge the system, test its limits, and use it to optimize their tasks. On the other hand, they submit. They rely on its suggestions, are guided by its “omniscience,” and increasingly trust its outputs. This contradictory dynamic—a constant oscillation between control and surrender—is described as “submissive dominance.”

Fields of Tension – The Human-Machine Dynamic
This core dynamic unfolds across several key tensions:

• Distinction vs. Adaptation: Users want to preserve their individuality and distinguish themselves from the machine—yet they use it to compete in a high-performance culture.
• Omnipotence vs. Limitation: ChatGPT appears to offer infinite knowledge—yet it depends entirely on the user’s ability to ask the right questions.
• Support vs. Empowerment: The system promises unconditional assistance—but only if users are willing to engage and surrender to its logic.

Cultural Context and Outlook (with a few additions)
This ambivalence reflects our culture: a society geared toward efficiency and knowledge expansion depends on tools like ChatGPT, but also fears its own replaceability. The study shows that users engage in a psychological negotiation of boundaries: How much autonomy am I giving up? Where do I retain control? The answers will influence how AI technologies are integrated into our lives going forward.

Humans are not merely users but co-creators of digital reality. Whether we are driven by the machine or guide it in a humane direction remains an open—but crucial—question for the future.

A compelling comparison can be made between ChatGPT and the law of attraction. Both operate on the idea that focused thoughts or inputs lead to corresponding outcomes. The law of attraction suggests that positive thoughts attract positive results. ChatGPT, in turn, produces responses based on the user’s input. This illustrates how technology mirrors and transforms cultural concepts.

Culturally, ChatGPT shifts deductive worldviews into inductive ones. Rather than following fixed beliefs, interaction with the AI fosters exploration—generating knowledge through questioning and reflection. This opens the door to breaking conventional thinking patterns and gaining new perspectives.

A Current Example of Cultural Ambivalence: The Conflict in Israel
The events in Israel highlight how deeply rooted fears and anger can fuel tensions. In Germany, the conflict has led to antisemitic incidents that further intensify societal discord. These developments underscore the need for greater societal cohesion to face the challenges of the modern world (Wikipedia, 2025).

Final Thoughts
Technologies like ChatGPT are not just tools—they influence cultural and psychological processes. They offer opportunities for personal development and social progress but require a conscious and reflective approach to the changes they bring.

Because what can ChatGPT NOT do?

Express emotions.