Paul Julius Adolf Helwig (27 May 1893 – 7 August 1963) was a German stage-manager, script-writer, philosopher and psychologist, who has contributed in an original way to the analysis of human behavior.
His psychological approach has as a starting-point the chains of reactions and events which normally result from acting, and in which one remains involved because they present one possibilities to seize, problems to solve as well as challenges to take.
Problematic, if not pathological, behavior may arise if conditions for starting and continuing such a "drama of life" are insufficiently met.
If it is too much acting will be blocked, if it is too small action will be short-lived and be in want of intensity and impact.
Helwig characterizes his approach both as dramaturgical (1958) and behavioristic (1964), the latter because overt behavior is seen as the primary phenomenon, to be explained from the interaction action-environment instead of hypothetical inner forces and features.