Some Reflections on the Golden Age of Interdisciplinary Social Psychology

Abstract

In the 25 years or so that began with World War II, there was a great wave of enthusiasm for interdisciplinary social psychology which resulted in the establishment of interdisciplinary social psychology training and research programs in some of the major universities in the United States. By the mid-1960s however, this seeming Golden Age had largely vanished. This article, by one of the participants in this movement, is devoted to an elaboration of how this Golden Age came about and the forces that led to its demise. Its origins are traced to the World War II experiences of social psychologists in interdisciplinary research on the adjustments of the American soldier under the leadership of Samuel Stoffer and with Rensis Likert on the US strategic bombing surveys in Germany and Japan. Many of the participants in this research were greatly impressed by the fruitfulness of interdisciplinary collaboration and were determined to establish interdisciplinary social psychology programs on their return to their universities. Several of these programs were very successful for a number of years, especially those at Harvard and Michigan, but failed to survive and become integrated into the institutional structure of the American university. The reasons for their failures are complex but at least four factors seem to have been important. First, the threat of these programs to the traditional departmental structure of the university—particularly in light of the relatively weak position of the social sciences in that structure. Second, the lack of adequate and appropriate funding from either university or federal sources. Third, the lack of a major breakthrough in social psychological theory. Fourth, advancements in research methods did not produce greatly increased understanding of social psychological phenomena. These factors are examined and contrasted with the situation in the natural sciences, particularly with molecular biology.