THE PSYCHOLOGY OF STAMP COLLECTING
Every stamp collector has experienced it. After several years the difficult used value of a long butterfly set from an island state finally shows up. Or, one day after years of looking through dealers' cover boxes, what pops up but an example of a postmark that was known to exist but had never been seen.
The feeling of success, of exultation, of euphoria, is well out of proportion to what might be logically ascribed to the assembly of a few bits of hardly pristine paper, or the acquisition of a slightly soiled envelope with an ink imprint only slightly different than thousands of others.
To true collectors, however, this feeling is as real as the floor beneath them or a pay packet at the end of a hard week’s work. And, collectors might be surprised to learn, it is just as real and understandable to psychologists. For, to use a bit of psychological jargon, the fortunate finder has just "attained closure."
That is, the collector has set out to do something challenging and, despite setback after setback (and probably more than a little enjoyment, it must be admitted) has accomplished this very feat. You have fulfilled a human need, psychologists suggest, that in a way is every bit as compelling as hunger or thirst.
In fact, the psychological underpinnings of stamp collecting and other such hobbies are so strong that, once you think about it, it’s hard to understand why someone would not be a collector. David Weeks, an American-born but British-trained psychologist who practices in Edinburgh, Scotland, reels off psychological factors that figure in a potentially demanding endeavour such as stamp collecting:
-- Intellectual stimulation. Humans thirst for knowledge, and any activity that provides it in a useful or entertaining way will prove satisfying.
-- Aesthetic stimulation. Collectible items such as stamps often are highly attractive (even if, in some cases, it is only to the person who realises the rarity of an item in fine condition).
-- Rarity values and financial rewards. Most collectors dream of the fantastic discovery and its monetary worth -- even if, they would have to admit, they would not sell the item if they did uncover it.
Dr Weeks is not convinced by the hunter-gatherer theory put forward by some to explain the human penchant for collecting. He notes that hundreds of centuries of evolution have dimmed the life-or-death compulsion to collect or kill for food. And if the hunter-gathering instinct did motivate modern collectors, far more women would be avid collectors as they tended to be responsible for the gathering segment of the food chain.
AA Brill, in Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, wrote "that the collecting mania is a reaction to an unconscious need, to an inner feeling of voidness concerning some particular craving." Collectors might not be too happy, however, to learn that this comment was based on his observations of "collections made by the insane."
Collectors might be relieved to know, however, that Dr Weeks firmly places hobbies such as philately in the realm of normal psychology. People collect stamps because they find it rewarding although, admittedly, one huge reward might be enough to carry a collector through a dry spell lasting years.
While some extreme forms of collecting might seem irrational to some, Dr Weeks notes that deeply unbalanced people are not likely to find philately satisfying. People with two of the most common psychological disorders -- true perfectionism and obsessive-compulsive disorder -- would likely find stamp collecting either too untameable or too earthy (stamps and the places they've been stored over the decades are not as clean as hospital operating theatres).
Stranger forms of collecting (say gathering more material than can ever be examined in any detail) will be the result of a "normal" obsessive personality within the ranges of predictable and harmless activity. And there is no doubt that stamp collecting has a tendency to attract introverted people, as it is usually a solitary activity, although, to be sure, exceptions to the "rule" are numerous and many aspects of collecting are highly social.
At any rate, the undeniable attraction of collecting has long been noted by scientists and educators, and is even being used in a systematic way by the latter to help students learn to the best of their ability.
Dr Ann McGreevy, professor of education at Notre Dame College of Manchester, NH, has studied the collections of children over the past century or so and shed much light on the whys and wherefores of gathering collectible items.
She notes that while the majority of children collect something at some time in their youth, gifted children are especially likely to form advanced collections and learn from them. In a 1990 article for an educational journal, Early Child Development and Care, she wrote: "Research suggests that collections offer children broad opportunities for growth and have been influential in the lives of eminent individuals. Collections integrate many subject areas and thus are appealing as part of curriculum for the gifted. For example, a child who collects stamps learns about foreign cultures, maps, famous events and prominent people from a country." She adds that collections often lead children beyond textbooks and classrooms and help them "learn skills of selection, classification, labelling, organisation and presentation . . ."
As for an eminent individual whose collections may have been instrumental in a profoundly productive life, she points to none other than Charles Darwin, the naturalist and author of The Origin of Species. "As a young boy," she writes, "Darwin’s passion began with shells flowers, seals and signatures, coins and bird’s eggs but only one for each kind of bird." (This was pre-1840, remember).
Yet even a giant of intellect such as Darwin started to collect systematically only gradually. He wrote in his autobiography: "With respect to science, I continued collecting minerals with much zeal, but quiet unscientifically -- all that I cared for was a new NAMED mineral and I hardly ever attempted to classify them." (One obvious lesson here for collectors working with youths is the need to be patient and let budding philatelists find their own way.)
Interestingly, Dr McGreevy notes that the collective urge in children appears to have remained remarkably constant over the 20th century. She notes that in a turn-of-the-century study in California by G Stanley Hall, an eminent psychologist, found that most children were collectors, with an average of three gatherings apiece. The main collections of boys (in rank order) were cigar tags, stamps, birds’ eggs, marbles, shells, buttons, rocks and picture cards, Dr Hall found, while the ranking for girls was stamps, shells, picture cards, cigar tags, buttons, marbles, pieces of cloth, paper dolls and dolls.
When Dr McGreevy conducted a similar but smaller survey in the state of New Hampshire nearly a century later, she found that while a greater number of children were not collectors, those who were maintained an average of three collections. The age of most avid collecting continued to be about 9 or 10. The most popular collections for boys were sports cards, small cars and lorries, coins and foreign money, rocks, he-man figures, marbles and stuffed animals, while girls opted for stuffed animals, stickers, rocks, shells, books, posters and dolls. Philatelists might lament that stamps off dropped off the top of these lists, but Dr McGreevy had some consolation: "It was curious to see that rocks, stamps, marbles and picture cards have survived nearly a century as collectibles for boys," while the main common thread for girls was limited to dolls and shells.
While Dr McGreevy concentrates on the educational implications of collections, her findings do hold out some hope for the future of philately in that young people seem to still have an innate need to collect. No doubt stamps, as colourful and easily obtainable as they are, will continue to hold an attraction for many children, if only temporarily.
Indeed, psychologists give firm backing to the philatelic observation that adult collectors are likely to have had childhood collections. Dr Weeks feels that a major motivation for stamp collecting, particularly among men, could well be the nostalgic element, an activity "to capture a lost youth."
Indeed, this is a major reason, he suggests, that men are more likely to collect stamps. In addition, in very broad terms, women tend to be heavily committed to more practical and every-day matters such as raising a family and/or conducting a career or significant contributions to the family budget.
A retired social psychologist consulted informally for this article noted that men, on the other hand, often may have relatively little beyond work to command their attention and so may be more susceptible to the charms of a diversion such as collecting. This is particularly true if they have a highly demanding or unsatisfying job. Dr Weeks also noted that men tend to have more disposable income and more power to do as they please, in addition to more time.
While it could be highly dangerous to infer too much from what a person collects, it is interesting to note a comment by Karl Abraham, a psychiatrist: "A passion for collecting is frequently a direct surrogate for sexual desire, and in that case a delicate symbolism is often concealed behind the choice of objects collected."
Having read an early version of this article, one American philatelic observer commented: "Give those error-freak-and-oddity collectors a wiiiiide berth."
The feeling of success, of exultation, of euphoria, is well out of proportion to what might be logically ascribed to the assembly of a few bits of hardly pristine paper, or the acquisition of a slightly soiled envelope with an ink imprint only slightly different than thousands of others.
To true collectors, however, this feeling is as real as the floor beneath them or a pay packet at the end of a hard week’s work. And, collectors might be surprised to learn, it is just as real and understandable to psychologists. For, to use a bit of psychological jargon, the fortunate finder has just "attained closure."
That is, the collector has set out to do something challenging and, despite setback after setback (and probably more than a little enjoyment, it must be admitted) has accomplished this very feat. You have fulfilled a human need, psychologists suggest, that in a way is every bit as compelling as hunger or thirst.
In fact, the psychological underpinnings of stamp collecting and other such hobbies are so strong that, once you think about it, it’s hard to understand why someone would not be a collector. David Weeks, an American-born but British-trained psychologist who practices in Edinburgh, Scotland, reels off psychological factors that figure in a potentially demanding endeavour such as stamp collecting:
-- Intellectual stimulation. Humans thirst for knowledge, and any activity that provides it in a useful or entertaining way will prove satisfying.
-- Aesthetic stimulation. Collectible items such as stamps often are highly attractive (even if, in some cases, it is only to the person who realises the rarity of an item in fine condition).
-- Rarity values and financial rewards. Most collectors dream of the fantastic discovery and its monetary worth -- even if, they would have to admit, they would not sell the item if they did uncover it.
Dr Weeks is not convinced by the hunter-gatherer theory put forward by some to explain the human penchant for collecting. He notes that hundreds of centuries of evolution have dimmed the life-or-death compulsion to collect or kill for food. And if the hunter-gathering instinct did motivate modern collectors, far more women would be avid collectors as they tended to be responsible for the gathering segment of the food chain.
AA Brill, in Fundamental Concepts of Psychoanalysis, wrote "that the collecting mania is a reaction to an unconscious need, to an inner feeling of voidness concerning some particular craving." Collectors might not be too happy, however, to learn that this comment was based on his observations of "collections made by the insane."
Collectors might be relieved to know, however, that Dr Weeks firmly places hobbies such as philately in the realm of normal psychology. People collect stamps because they find it rewarding although, admittedly, one huge reward might be enough to carry a collector through a dry spell lasting years.
While some extreme forms of collecting might seem irrational to some, Dr Weeks notes that deeply unbalanced people are not likely to find philately satisfying. People with two of the most common psychological disorders -- true perfectionism and obsessive-compulsive disorder -- would likely find stamp collecting either too untameable or too earthy (stamps and the places they've been stored over the decades are not as clean as hospital operating theatres).
Stranger forms of collecting (say gathering more material than can ever be examined in any detail) will be the result of a "normal" obsessive personality within the ranges of predictable and harmless activity. And there is no doubt that stamp collecting has a tendency to attract introverted people, as it is usually a solitary activity, although, to be sure, exceptions to the "rule" are numerous and many aspects of collecting are highly social.
At any rate, the undeniable attraction of collecting has long been noted by scientists and educators, and is even being used in a systematic way by the latter to help students learn to the best of their ability.
Dr Ann McGreevy, professor of education at Notre Dame College of Manchester, NH, has studied the collections of children over the past century or so and shed much light on the whys and wherefores of gathering collectible items.
She notes that while the majority of children collect something at some time in their youth, gifted children are especially likely to form advanced collections and learn from them. In a 1990 article for an educational journal, Early Child Development and Care, she wrote: "Research suggests that collections offer children broad opportunities for growth and have been influential in the lives of eminent individuals. Collections integrate many subject areas and thus are appealing as part of curriculum for the gifted. For example, a child who collects stamps learns about foreign cultures, maps, famous events and prominent people from a country." She adds that collections often lead children beyond textbooks and classrooms and help them "learn skills of selection, classification, labelling, organisation and presentation . . ."
As for an eminent individual whose collections may have been instrumental in a profoundly productive life, she points to none other than Charles Darwin, the naturalist and author of The Origin of Species. "As a young boy," she writes, "Darwin’s passion began with shells flowers, seals and signatures, coins and bird’s eggs but only one for each kind of bird." (This was pre-1840, remember).
Yet even a giant of intellect such as Darwin started to collect systematically only gradually. He wrote in his autobiography: "With respect to science, I continued collecting minerals with much zeal, but quiet unscientifically -- all that I cared for was a new NAMED mineral and I hardly ever attempted to classify them." (One obvious lesson here for collectors working with youths is the need to be patient and let budding philatelists find their own way.)
Interestingly, Dr McGreevy notes that the collective urge in children appears to have remained remarkably constant over the 20th century. She notes that in a turn-of-the-century study in California by G Stanley Hall, an eminent psychologist, found that most children were collectors, with an average of three gatherings apiece. The main collections of boys (in rank order) were cigar tags, stamps, birds’ eggs, marbles, shells, buttons, rocks and picture cards, Dr Hall found, while the ranking for girls was stamps, shells, picture cards, cigar tags, buttons, marbles, pieces of cloth, paper dolls and dolls.
When Dr McGreevy conducted a similar but smaller survey in the state of New Hampshire nearly a century later, she found that while a greater number of children were not collectors, those who were maintained an average of three collections. The age of most avid collecting continued to be about 9 or 10. The most popular collections for boys were sports cards, small cars and lorries, coins and foreign money, rocks, he-man figures, marbles and stuffed animals, while girls opted for stuffed animals, stickers, rocks, shells, books, posters and dolls. Philatelists might lament that stamps off dropped off the top of these lists, but Dr McGreevy had some consolation: "It was curious to see that rocks, stamps, marbles and picture cards have survived nearly a century as collectibles for boys," while the main common thread for girls was limited to dolls and shells.
While Dr McGreevy concentrates on the educational implications of collections, her findings do hold out some hope for the future of philately in that young people seem to still have an innate need to collect. No doubt stamps, as colourful and easily obtainable as they are, will continue to hold an attraction for many children, if only temporarily.
Indeed, psychologists give firm backing to the philatelic observation that adult collectors are likely to have had childhood collections. Dr Weeks feels that a major motivation for stamp collecting, particularly among men, could well be the nostalgic element, an activity "to capture a lost youth."
Indeed, this is a major reason, he suggests, that men are more likely to collect stamps. In addition, in very broad terms, women tend to be heavily committed to more practical and every-day matters such as raising a family and/or conducting a career or significant contributions to the family budget.
A retired social psychologist consulted informally for this article noted that men, on the other hand, often may have relatively little beyond work to command their attention and so may be more susceptible to the charms of a diversion such as collecting. This is particularly true if they have a highly demanding or unsatisfying job. Dr Weeks also noted that men tend to have more disposable income and more power to do as they please, in addition to more time.
While it could be highly dangerous to infer too much from what a person collects, it is interesting to note a comment by Karl Abraham, a psychiatrist: "A passion for collecting is frequently a direct surrogate for sexual desire, and in that case a delicate symbolism is often concealed behind the choice of objects collected."
Having read an early version of this article, one American philatelic observer commented: "Give those error-freak-and-oddity collectors a wiiiiide berth."
posted by Chad Neighbor at
14.12.07
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