Star Trek is an American science fiction media franchise created by Gene Roddenberry. The franchise has been made into over a dozen films, TV series, Youtube series, comic books, and much more. Most stories depict the adventures of humans and aliens who serve in Starfleet, a space-borne humanitarian and peacekeeping arm of the United Federation of Planets. Think of it like the United Nations but for the galaxy. The characters in the series have altruistic values that must apply to dilemmas and ethical quagmires. The various challenges, tales, and representations through the Star Trek franchise aid psychologists in the exploration of human nature.
The show often debates logic versus emotion. Characters like Spock, Data, Odo, and T’pol represented pure logic throughout the series. They highlighted the role of emotions in times of crisis. The competition between reason and emotion is easily identifiable in the everyday lives of clients and psychologists. Knowing how to balance the roles that both logic and emotions serve is necessary when determining how to live long and prosper.
The question needs to be asked: what does it mean to prosper? The series often explores staying present in reality or retreating into fantasy to have a meaningful or good life. In Star Trek, the original series (TOS) episode The Menagerie, the crew must decide if a planet where they can be in a fantasy of their truest desires is worth sacrificing their freedom to alien overlords. Although some characters believed freedom was far too important, other characters in the episode experienced more freedom in fantasy and illusion. Each side of the debate made the right choices for themselves and what fits their needs based on their unique circumstance.
Discovering needs and wants is not just an external pursuit. In an early TOS episode, The Enemy Within, a transporter accidentally splits Captain Kirk into two people, one embodying his aggressive nature and the other nonaggressive. Aggressive Kirk is not purely evil, nor is nonaggressive Kirk an effective leader. Both sides must merge into a single individual for Captain Kirk to use all his strengths. Freudians and the psychologically curious may find this episode particularly enjoyable.
According to Freud’s psychoanalytic theory, the id is the primitive and instinctual part of the mind that contains sexual and aggressive drives, the superego is the moral conscience, and the ego is the realistic part that mediates the id and the superego. To function in the world, we need the id to drive us, but we cannot let it get out of hand, so it is necessary for all parts of self to come together. Star Trek’s exploration may be in the stars. Still, the questions and exploration of the self are also incredibly fascinating.
The franchise explores other aspects that apply to psychology and human experience and the show has had a tangible impact on psychology and society. Between 1960 and 1999, Star Trek was found over time to have correlations with the de-stigmatization of numerous psychological disorders through more accurate portrayals of these disorders (Basilowski et al., 2018). The franchise depicted what would be classified as anxiety disorders and post-traumatic stress disorders in a way that was less stigmatizing and portrayed the treatment of these disorders as helpful for the alleviation of suffering (Basilowski et al., 2018).
In addition to Star Trek’s role in stigmatization, the franchise also provided societal commentary. Star Trek was the first American interracial kiss shown on TV. The show placed minorities and women in leadership roles that had not been seen until that point. Even Martin Luther King, a renowned Trekkie, told Nichelle Nichols, the black-female lead who played Nyota Uhura, that she was a part of history for her role. Therefore, even if the psychological exploration is not of interest the role Star Trek played in society is important to be aware of and more information can be found in Star Trek Psychology: The Mental Frontier by Travis Langley who examines not only the psychology of the franchise’s characters but the role of Star Trek in society and culture.
-Max Edward Riser, MS