-Arthur Combs

Arthur Combs was a psychologist who researched education. his contributions to the field of education are many.

One can hardly mention Arthur Combs without mention of Donald Snygg. Together these two psychologists developed and educational theory of the phenomenal field. In their book Individual Behavior, they discuss the concept of phenomena. According to Combs and Snygg, “if we wish to understand and predict people’s behavior, we need to get at their phenomenal field. Since we can’t observe it directly, we need to infer it from the things we can observe....If we have a variety of observers, we will eventually come to understand the person’s phenomenal field (online).

In the book the authors addressed concepts such as motivation, differentiation, threat, and meaning. They contend that “As long as teachers insist on forcing material that, from the students’ perspective, has no relevance to them or their lives, education will be an arduous process. Teachers must get to know their students, because the motivation to learn is inside of them, in their phenomenal fields and phenomenal selves (online).

Ten years after the publication of Individual Behavior, Combs released a new addition called Individual Behavior: A Perceptual Approach to Behavior. This book replaced the phenomenological with the perceptual, which was believed to be a response to a predominantly behaviorist audience. Later, Combs, with Donald Avila and William Purkey wrote Helping Relationships, which has gone through four editions, and applies the theory to education, social work, therapy, etc. In the book they attempt to set down principles of behavior which are accepted among psychologists as well as to examine what these concepts mean for those who work in the helping professions.

Dr. Combs was a professor of education, chairman of the Foundations in Education Department and director of the Center of Humanistic Education, all at the University of Florida.


In relation to the phenomenal field there are a number of issues that effect this. Motivation is one such issue. What motivates a person to enhance their phenomenal self? Another issue is that of threat. According to Combs and Snygg: “Threat is the awareness of menace to the phenomenal self.” (online) When a “self” faces a threat the individual takes action, and addresses the source of threat. These issues and more are address in the book Individual Behavior or the latest edition Individual Behavior: A perceptual Approach to Behavior by Combs and Snygg.

Arthur Combs died recently at the age of 77. Up until the time of his death he was still working as a psychotherapist, and writer.

Books Written

Individual Behavior (with Donald Snygg)

Individual Behavior: A Perceptual Approach to Behavior (later edition)

Helping Relationships (with Avila and Purkey)